Results tagged “ryannorth”

By Ryan North and Unknown Artist

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

Torontoist has already done a pretty good job of letting you know how rad Posterchild is. In fact, the extent to which Torontoist writes about Posterchild could be seen as the textual equivalent of a marriage proposal. So without rehashing what has already been said about our favourite local street artist/public space crusader, just know that his radness is still on the upswing with new and improved versions of what he’s known best for:...

The best things in life are free: long walks on the beach, make-outs in the dark and, for one day a year, comic books. Comics nerds around the globe will unite in spirit this Saturday to celebrate Free Comic Book Day, which means a trip to your local comic book store will result in a handful of free stuff and a general sense of well-being.

Can you still call yourself a webcartoonist if you don't actually draw your own strip? Toronto resident Ryan North proves that the answer is a resounding "yes". Three years ago, he launched Dinosaur Comics, the conversational adventures of T-Rex and his friends Dromeceiomimus and Utahraptor, where characters are rendered in archaic clip art and the panel structure never changes. Dinosaur Comics' popularity has been increasing ever since: Ryan's site averages 70,000 hits per day and he supports himself financially through t-shirt and book sales. The former computer science student now spends his days answering fan-mail, working on several internet-related side projects, and talking to Torontoist over soup and sandwiches.

It's old news now, but just in case you didn't hear, Boing Boing editor and former Torontonian Cory Doctorow is one of three judges for the 2006 Blooker prize. The Lulu Blooker prize is awarded to the best non-fiction, fiction and comic books inspired by a blog (or blog turned into books). The most impressive title on the short list, in Torontoist's humble opinion is Julie Powell's Julie and Julia, the New York secretary that cooked every recipe in Julia Child's epic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But we also have a soft spot for Toronto artist Ryan North's Dinosaur Comics. (pictured above)