And lots of other stuff too: you probably know Ryan from his writing on the Adventure Time and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl comic book series. He’s also the mind behind the iconic Dinosaur Comics, in which clip art T-Rex, Utahraptor and Dromiceiomimus philosophize on the tri-weekly. He may be the biggest comics star out there who doesn’t draw!? Regardless, I’d like to see a challenger face off against him; he is, apparently, very tall. I caught up with Ryan just as he was in the midst of ECCC 2018:
When did you know you wanted to be a writer, or did it just kind of happen?
There was no “sit straight up in bed at midnight, suddenly wide awake, and whisper ‘I want to be a writer’” moment, if that’s what you’re wondering! But it’s always been something I enjoyed. I went to school for computer science (and have a masters in computational linguistics) but when I graduated I had the choice to a) get a real job, or b) be a writer, and all I had to do to become a writer was fail to get a real job. And it turns out it’s really easy to not get a job!
Having studied computer science, you created tech for webcomic authors – how did those projects come about? What other ways have your programming skillz intersected with your creative career?
That’s true! The thought process was basically, “There is a service that does not exist, so I guess I’ll have to write it.” There were a couple: RSSPECT for rss feed generation (remember RSS? I MISS IT), and Project Wonderful for advertising that doesn’t suck. That continues on to this very day! And of course when it came to writing Squirrel Girl for Marvel, I made her a computer science student too, so there’s the intersection.
So if you don’t draw, what motivated you to get into comics – were you just that big a fan?
I was more of a fan in abstract, really – I couldn’t get comics growing up, and this was before the internet. But then when I got a job as an undergrad, I took my first paycheque and walked into a comic shoppe and just started buying things at random, and loved them all, so it was nice that my theoretical interest in comics was actually real. I started Dinosaur Comics – my fixed art webcomic – in my last year of undergrad.
Did you discover the dinosaur artwork for Dinosaur Comics – or did they find you?
Some would argue, quite convincingly, that they are a universal constant, and can never be either created or destroyed.
What do you consider your finest accomplishment?
I would like to go to two places: Antarctica and space. I sell plush T-Rexes from Dinosaur Comics at topatoco.com/qwantz, and some AMAZING READERS brought him to both the South Pole, and the edge of space. It is a weird feeling to be jealous of a fictional character you created, but it’s a good one. And I’m gonna take all the credit for T-Rex’s accomplishments here, even though I had nothing to do with them.
What can you tell us about your writing process? What would you recommend to young writers trying to get disciplined/motivated?
Figure out where and how you work. You have to be honest with yourself. For example, I know that I work best in the morning, and I rarely do good work after 5pm. So I get up at 7am and I write until it’s 5pm, and then I stop. I also know that I work best alone, so I don’t go to coffee shops or hang out with friends to write. If I’m working, I’m alone. Knowing this lets me set up the circumstances that help me get work done. It’s more fun to hang out with friends, but at least this way when I do it I know it’s hanging out, so I don’t try to work during it, and I can enjoy it for what it is instead of feeling guilty about not working.
Does it work pretty smoothly, writing comics like Squirrel Girl and Adventure Time and having them illustrated by other (super talented) folks?
I’ve been really lucky, I think, in always collaborating with amazing people. Braden Lamb and Shelli Paroline were my partners on Adventure Time, and we just clicked as a team and we’re still great friends, years after the book ended. We even made our own comic together: The Midas Flesh, published by Boom! BOX – it’s about King Midas in space. And with Squirrel Girl it’s the same – Erica (Henderson) and I get along great and my favourite thing is getting back art from her – or any artist – because you get to see your words and scenes transformed into pictures that are even better than you imagined.
What are your thoughts about writing branching narratives / “make your own story” books – are they the Future? What are the biggest challenges, and what have you been most proud of in that area?
I mean, I like them! I like how they capture a lot of the semantics of gaming in a different medium. The challenge is keeping track of state: in a game you can pick up a sword or not pick up a sword, and that’s easy: just set a variable. In a book you need to have a choice to pick up that sword, and then every option after that choice has to be duplicated, or else you lose track of whether they picked up the sword or not. There are ways to get around this but most of them involve cheating in some way (ie: just asking the reader if they have the sword, to which they will always say, “Oh yes absolutely, I just love swords especially now that I know they’re useful.” So it’s always something to keep in mind.
I guess the most impressive thing we had happen was the Kickstarter for To Be or Not To Be: my chooseable-path version of Hamlet. We raised over $580,000 (for a book!), which was the most-funded publishing project on Kickstarter at the time. That was a crazy book.
How did you come to write for Bravest Warriors?
I was already a fan of the show (having come in after the first season) so it was a matter of saying yes when I was asked if I was interested! I WAS.
What are your favorite things about Beth, Danny, Wallow and Chris?
For me it’s the teamwork: these are people who mess up – and save – the universe on the regular. Also, I love competent characters, and Beth is clearly the most competent character of the bunch. BETH4EVER.
What’s your favorite thing about Bravest Warriors in general?
The series is set both in the future AND in space, which are my favourite time periods / general locales to be in. It opens things up to basically any kind of story you can imagine, which is terrific. No idea is too out-there for the Bravest Warriors, which is super fun for a writer, and hopefully super-fun to watch too! In my first episode (RoboChris) I got to invent an evil robot Chris, and everyone said “Okay, awesome, let’s absolutely go with that”.
If you had to describe your writing style in a few words, how would you?
Enthusiastic! And also maybe a little teeny eensie bit wordy.
What are your favorite cartoons, and the biggest inspirations of your work?
I grew up on The Real Ghostbusters, and I loved that that show wasn’t afraid to tackle big ideas in what was supposed to be just a tie-in show for a goofy movie (SORRY BUT GHOSTBUSTERS IS GOOFY). It’s a lesson I try to take with me: you don’t need to talk down to kids, teens, anyone: they’re smart, and they’ll pick up what you’re laying down. Plus that show had Slimer, which I will argue RIGHT NOW is the original Catbug. The longer I get into answering this question the more parallels I see!
Would you ever want to make your own cartoon?
OBVIOUSLY, THAT WOULD BE AMAZING.
(Slimer. Anyone want to draw him and Catbug as best pals?!)
Which 5 books / comics / movies / seasons of TV would you have on a desert island – a desert island with a functional entertainment center?
1. Babylon 5 (all 5 seasons, though we all know you only really need seasons 1-4 and then the “Sleeping in Light” finale in Season 5)
2. A complete print-out of Wikipedia, bound as a book in order to satisfy the requirements of this question.
3. Star Trek TNG (all 7 seasons, thank you)
4. A complete run of Action Comics (because that’s gotta keep me busy for a while)
and let’s say for the last one…
5… the Bravest Warriors comics by my good friend Joey Comeau (THEY ARE AWESOME AND SO IS HE).
Are you living the dream? Cause it kinda seems like you’re living the dream?
I’m 2m tall and I’ve got my own dog and I’ve only gotten trapped in a hole once! THAT IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF LIVING THE DREAM.
Thanks for the interview Ryan! Best of luck in all current and future projects. We look forward to seeing more of the work you do and the holes you get yourself out of.
– Cooper
