Fantastic Four's Ryan North Talks Meaningful Art Gifted Throughout His Career - Creator Owned Art

Ryan North is a Canadian comic book writer whose work includes The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (with Erica Henderson and Rico Renzi), Adventure Time (with Derek Charm, Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb). Currently, North is writing Fantastic Four (with artists Iban Coello, Carlos Gomez, Steven Cummings and Jesus Aburtov), the One World Under Doom event (with R.B. Silva and David Curiel), and Star Trek: Lower Decks (with Jack Lawrence and Charlie Kirchoff).

I spoke with Norh about his favorite piece of art from his collection as part of my Creator Owned Art series, where I talk with creatives about art from their collection that’s meaningful to them. Here’s what he said:

The first, "Rex's First Birthday" was sent to me by Andy Runton as a birthday gift when I was just starting out in comics, and I still haven't quite gotten over it. Andy was one of the first people I met in comics - at MoCCA in something like 2005 or 2006 maybe, and despite me being a total newbie with a wordy clip-art dinosaur webcomic and him being an established cartoonist with the exact opposite style (lushly-drawn wordless comics about an owl), he treated me like a peer and we quickly became friends. And for him to draw my characters like this - it was an incalculable act of kindness that felt incredibly validating. He drew my characters, in his style! It was like a visual representation of friendship. Andy Runton is a great man and this hangs proudly in the hallway to my office.

The next item is from KC Green, and he gave it to me at TCAF one year, completely out of the blue: an original piece of my character T-Rex working at a diner. I love it, and I loved that it wasn't for any special occasion: he just made it, gave it to me, totally touched my heart, and went on with his day. KC Green is a great man!! And it makes me happy just to look at it. A gift for no reason from a friend: we should all do this more often.

Then we've got the "You're Rad" sketch from Anthony Clark, who slipped it in on an order of art I got from him one year - I was ordering a Christmas gift for my wife. And SHE also ordered something from him too, and he managed to keep it a secret from us until we both exchanged gifts on Christmas. It was like that short story where the guy sells his watch to buy a comb for his wife, and the wife sells her hair to buy a watch chain for her husband, only we both just really love the same guy and used money instead of hair or timepieces! Anthony Clark is a great man too and I have this up on my wall behind my desk, so I can see it if I'm ever wondering if I'm rad or not.

And finally, the most recent addition is the poster of my late dog Chompsky with the word "WOW!" above it. This was a gift from a reader, Nathan, who is a great man and who has a last name, but he's not a public figure so I don't know if he'd want me to share it. I wrote a Dinosaur Comic about posters in March 2024 and as the archive text wrote "a poster with a picture of a good dog and the words "WOW" underneath. i'll take 200 copies please". He made the poster real using a photo of me and Chompsky from Wikipedia, had it printed, and then shipped it to my PO box. He dropped me a line telling me to check my mail and I wasn't expecting this - I was sincerely touched. Chompsky WAS a truly great dog, and a poster with him and the words "WOW!" fits him perfectly. This is hanging up so I can see it when I walk into my office every morning. Nathan made a gift of this to someone he'd never met, just because he liked my comics, and that means a whole bunch! You never know where you'll come across kindness in the world, or how you'll touch people's lives.

So basically they're four pieces that remind me that I am loved in a bunch of different ways by a bunch of different people, and that's why they're hanging up on my walls.