Dinosaur Comics

Dinosaur Comics
Author(s) Ryan North
Website qwantz.com
Current status / schedule Updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday except Canadian holidays
Launch date February 1, 2003
Genre(s) Humour

Dinosaur Comics is a constrained webcomic by Canadian writer Ryan North. It is also known as "Qwantz", after the site's domain name, "qwantz.com". The first comic was posted on February 1, 2003,[1] although there were earlier prototypes. Dinosaur Comics has also been printed in three collections and in a number of newspapers.[2][3] The comic centers on three main characters, T-Rex, Utahraptor and Dromiceiomimus.[4]

Comics are posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Every strip uses the same artwork and panel layout;[5] only the dialogue changes from day to day. There are occasional deviations from this principle, including a number of episodic comics.[6] North created the comic because it was something he'd "long wanted to do but couldn’t figure out how to accomplish... [he doesn't] draw, so working in a visual medium like comics isn’t the easiest thing to stumble into."[7]

Cast

  • T-Rex, the main character that appears in all six panels.
  • Utahraptor, T-Rex's comic foil, appears in the fourth and fifth panels of the comic.
  • Dromiceiomimus appears in the third panel. She is generally friendly to T-Rex, answering either neutrally or with mild, friendly criticism.
  • The tiny woman in panel 4 and the house in panel 3 have contributed dialogue although they are usually silent.
  • A number of other regular unseen characters occasionally contribute dialogue. For example, "God" speaks from off panel in bold all-caps, "Satan" speaks from off panel in dark red all-caps, T-Rex's sinister neighbours (raccoons and cephalopods) speak in italicized all-caps from off panel.

Reception

Dinosaur Comics has received several awards and recognitions. It was named one of the best webcomics of 2004 and 2005 by The Webcomics Examiner.[8][9] Wired listed Dinosaur Comics as one of "Five Webcomics You Can Share With Your Kids"[10] and PC Magazine included the comic in its "10 Wicked Awesome Webcomics" list.[11] Cracked.com named Dinosaur Comics one of the 8 funniest webcomics on the internet.[5]

In 2005, it won "Outstanding Anthropomorphic Comic" in the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards.[12] Soon after, in August 2005, Dinosaur Comics was accepted into the Dayfree Press. In 2006, the blook Dinosaur Comics: Huge Eyes, Beaks, Intelligence, and Ambition was a runner up for the Lulu Blooker Prize for comics.

Collected editions

  • The Best of Dinosaur Comics: 2003–2005 AD: Your Whole Family Is Made Of Meat (April 15, 2006, Quack!Media) ISBN 0-7560-0518-3
  • Dinosaur Comics fig. d: Dudes Already Know About Chickens (2010, TopatoCo) ISBN 978-0-9824862-6-9
  • Dinosaur Comics fig. e: Everybody knows failure is just success rounded down (2011, TopatoCo) ISBN 978-1-936561-90-2
  • Dinosaur Comics fig. f: Feelings are boring, kissing is awesome (2012, TopatoCo) ISBN 978-1-936561-86-5

See also

References

  1. ↑ North, Ryan (February 1, 2003). "Dinosaur Comics No. 1". Dinosaur Comics. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  2. ↑ Warmoth, Brian (2006-06-19). "North by T-Rex". Wizarduniverse. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Is Dinosaur Comics printed anywhere else off the Internet?
    It was in a few papers, but they tended to go bankrupt, so that was the end of that. There were a lot of university papers. If a university paper or a school paper asks to run the comics, I'm like, 'Sure! Don't worry about payment, just putting it in will be great.' But for large papers I ask for a little bit of money. Then they go bankrupt.
  3. ↑ Doctorow, Cory. "Dinosaur Comics collection: improbably fantastic re-use of dinosaur clip art". Boing Boing. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  4. ↑ Elfring, Matt (May 30, 2012). "Web Comic Spotlight: 5/30/12: Dinosaur Comics". Comic Vine. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  5. 1 2 Swaim, Michael. "The 8 Funniest Webcomics". Cracked.com. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  6. ↑ North, Ryan (March 19, 2003). "Dinosaur Comics No. 35". Dinosaur Comics.
  7. ↑ Mitchel, Bill (August 13, 2009). "In Depth: Ryan North". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  8. ↑ Dale, Beran; Hellman, David. "The Best Webcomics of 2004". The Webcomics Examiner. Archived from the original on 2010-07-19.
  9. ↑ Dale, Beran; Hellman, David. "The Best Webcomics of 2005". The Webcomics Examiner. Archived from the original on 2010-07-25.
  10. ↑ Richards, Brent (July 1, 2009). "Five Webcomics You Can Share With Your Kids". Wired. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  11. ↑ Reynolds, Whitney (June 4, 2007). "10 Wicked Awesome Webcomics". PC Magazine. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards". Ccawards.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
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