Chris Ryall
Encyclopedia
Christopher "Chris" Ryall (born on April 2, 1969) is best known as the Chief Creative Officer and Editor-in-Chief of IDW Publishing
(2004–Present), and as a writer in the comic book industry. In February 2011, his Eisner Award
-nominated series, Zombies vs. Robots, co-created with artist Ashley Wood
, was optioned by Sony Pictures for Michael Bay
’s Platinum Dunes
. He lives in San Diego with his wife Julie and daughter Lucy.
’s short stories while a KISS
album or Steve Martin
comedy record was playing on the stereo. Patricia would often act as a sounding board and barometer for her son’s tastes, coupled with his own insatiable appetite for reading and writing (skills that would surface in Chris’ early work in such various capacities as a music reviewer for local newspapers, an advertising copywriter, a technical automotive writer, and a corporate speechwriter).
Ryall says he has known he wanted to be a writer since the age of ten, and gives credit to Stan Lee
and Ray Bradbury
’s The Martian Chronicles
for fostering his love of the written word.
In 1995 Ryall graduated from Cal State Fullerton.
.
After a rather fortuitous encounter with Smith, who contacted Ryall after disagreeing with an online review Ryall had posted about Smith’s take on the Green Arrow
comic book, the two began trading emails with a tone that eventually shifted from defensive to friendly. Perhaps seeing a kindred spirit at the time, Smith was won over by Ryall’s quick wit and honest opinions.
In 2002 Smith offered Ryall his highest profile opportunity up to that point, that of running the entertainment-based MoviePoopShoot.com, one of Smith’s first forays outside of filmmaking. Ryall saw the potential, but there was one major hurdle: there was a domain name and a site built as a snarky parody of movie sites such as Ain’t It Cool News
. Ryall seized the opportunity to turn the site into a true pop-culture portal and dove in headfirst, building the ambitious enterprise from the ground-up, wearing many hats including that of chief content provider, copy editor, Webmaster, and editor to 20+ freelancers, ranging from film critics to comic book artists.
With Ryall’s round-the-clock work ethic and ability to keep his finger firmly on the pulse of pop culture, MoviePoopShoot.com became a resounding hit on the Internet and garnered a massive following of its own. In 2003 it was named one of Entertainment Weekly’s
“100 Sites to Bookmark Now,” along with receiving write-ups in USA Today
, Variety
, Hollywood Reporter, L.A. Business Journal, Los Angeles Times
, and mentions on CNN Headline News
. It was also named Yahoo.com’s Site of the Week for July 2002.
When Ryall announced his departure from the site in 2006, Kevin Smith said:
“Chris managed to shape my whims into viable version of an all-purpose entertainment web destination and build it into an oft-visited community that maintains the most consistent traffic of the many web sites I lay claim to. He’ll be missed.”
Ryall’s exit was not a total surprise to the online community. Some had expected it as early as 2004, when Ryall accepted the position of Editor-in-Chief at IDW Publishing
, a San Diego-based comic-book publisher. Everything had come full circle, and Ryall’s career would grow by leaps and bounds at a rather unprecedented pace (along with that of IDW’s own growth rate).
Not only would Ryall act as an editor-in-chief, he also finally received his chance to live out his boyhood dream by using his creative writing and overactive imagination to full effect. He started by writing and/or adapting comics based on licensed properties such as Shawn of the Dead; horror mag revival Doomed (for which he and artist Ashley Wood received an Eisner nomination for their adaptation of Richard Matheson’s “Blood Son” short
story); George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead
; Masters of Horror
: the first Transformers Movie Prequel; Beowulf
; Gene Simmons’ House of Horrors; a prose short in 30 Days of Night
, a DVD pack-in comic for the movie Role Models
; and Weekly World News
. He was gaining valuable insight and on-the-job training, and by the time he adapted the epic Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show
, Ryall truly began to flex his creative muscles and find his legs.
Author/Filmmaker/Artist Clive Barker
praised Ryall’s work by stating “Chris is the man. I trust him as a friend and as a collaborator. He's just a thoroughly decent human being who just so happens to be brilliant." http://www.clivebarker.info/graphicidw.html http://www.clivebarker.info/intsrevel12.html
Ryall’s influences would span the gamut from Stephen King
, Stan Lee
, Jack Kirby
, Frank Miller
, Bill Mantlo
, Danny Elfman
, Norton Juster
, Gene Simmons
and Paul Stanley
of KISS
, Rod Serling
, Ray Bradbury
, Steve Martin
, Anthony Michael Hall
, Harlan Ellison
, the Marquis de Sade, and Lemmy Kilmister
. This eclectic, arguably absurd mix would contribute to Ryall’s writing style and the general joie de vivre found in his work.
Certainly it’s on display in all of the comic book properties that he had a hand in personally creating, including Zombies vs. Robots (and its sequel Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons) both co-created with artist Ashley Wood
, Groom Lake (co-created with artist Ben Templesmith
and one of Ryall’s pet projects, the Weekly World News comic book series. In total, Ryall has written over three dozen successful, acclaimed comics based on licensed properties for IDW (excluding his creator-owned and/or non IDW comics writing).
In February 2006, IDW recognized Ryall’s contributions and promoted him with the title of Publisher. Ted Adams, CEO of IDW Publishing
, said: “Chris’ contribution to the company can’t be overstated. He works as hard as anyone I’ve ever met and is fiercely loyal to the company that he’s helped build.” http://www.majorspoilers.com/chris-ryall-named-cco-of-idw-publishing
Ryall’s track record in the comic book industry continued to shine and reach new heights by the day. Among the properties he helped develop and shepherd to IDW Publishing were: the critically acclaimed Locke & Key (which was optioned by Dimension Films
and then Fox Studios); Toho’s
Godzilla
(which became the best-selling comic book in the history of IDW), Star Trek, HBO and Alan Ball’s
True Blood
and scores of others with authors like James Patterson
, Harlan Ellison, Joe Hill
, and Anne Rice
.
With Ryall’s direction, IDW Publishing made the decision to pursue a partnership with Hasbro on the immensely popular Transfomers property. The toy company subsequently awarded IDW the G.I. Joe
and Dungeons & Dragons
properties.
In 2009, Ryall and co-writer Scott Tipton released the prose primer on the comic-book industry, Comic Books 101, through IMPACT Publishing. In addition to featuring Ryall and Tipton’s overview of comics’ long history and creators, the book features new contributions from such luminaries as Stan Lee, Harlan Ellison, Gene Simmons, Mark Waid
, Joe Hill, Brian Lynch, and many others.
Also independent of IDW Publishing, Ryall published Frank Frazetta’s
Neanderthal with Jay Fotos and Tim Vigil
, through Image Comics
.
July 2010 saw Ryall receive a third promotion at IDW: Chief Creative Officer, and justifiably so. When Ryall joined the IDW staff in 2004, the company ranked sixth among American graphic novel publishers; now IDW is the third largest (behind only Marvel
and D.C. Comics). No new publisher had attained the third spot for well over a decade before IDW claimed the spot in 2009. In March 2010, IDW attained Premier status with the sole comic distributor, Diamond
, the first time ever an indie publisher has attained this status.
In October 2010, Ryall contrbuted a prose story, "Twilight of the Gods," to Classics Mutlated, a prose "monster-lit" anthology. About his story, Creature Cast said "Riffing on both the Twilight series and Norse mythology, this clever little parody boasts some of the funniest, most charming storytelling of the book. Loki replaces the Bella character and his rakishly sociopathic take on her romance is absolutely hilarious. Of all the stories in the book, this is the one I'm most likely to recommend to people."
Sony Pictures and blockbuster director Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production company announced in February 2011 that they acquired the rights to co-produce the film adaptation of Ryall and Wood’s Zombies vs. Robots.
His projects for 2011 include a fourth Zombies vs Robots series, UnderCity, and Infestation: Outbreak, a four-issue series co-written with Tom Waltz and spinning out of Infestation, the first-ever event in IDW’s history. Infestation, spearheaded by Ryall and Waltz, wove elements from IDW’s titles, such as CVO and Zombies vs Robots, into the worlds of their licensed comics such as Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Trek
, and Ghostbusters
. Ryall will contribute a new story to Doomed Quarterly, coming Fall 2011.
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
(2004–Present), and as a writer in the comic book industry. In February 2011, his Eisner Award
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, and sometimes referred to as the Oscar Awards of the Comics Industry, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books. The Eisner Awards were first conferred in 1988, created in response to the...
-nominated series, Zombies vs. Robots, co-created with artist Ashley Wood
Ashley Wood
Ashley Wood is an Australian comic book artist and illustrator who is well known for his cover art, concept design and his work as an art director....
, was optioned by Sony Pictures for Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...
’s Platinum Dunes
Platinum Dunes
Platinum Dunes is a production company created in 2001 by filmmakers Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form. The company specializes in horror films, particularly remakes.Their website is part of Bloody Disgusting's site....
. He lives in San Diego with his wife Julie and daughter Lucy.
Personal life
Ryall was born in Long Beach, California. He is the son of Ken and Patricia Ryall, who encouraged Chris’ creativity from an early age. In particular, Patricia’s love for pop culture would begin to influence Chris’ own sensibilities, providing him with a healthy balance of and appreciation for high art to the low brow. It was not uncommon for there to be discussions about Richard MathesonRichard Matheson
Richard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
’s short stories while a KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
album or Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
comedy record was playing on the stereo. Patricia would often act as a sounding board and barometer for her son’s tastes, coupled with his own insatiable appetite for reading and writing (skills that would surface in Chris’ early work in such various capacities as a music reviewer for local newspapers, an advertising copywriter, a technical automotive writer, and a corporate speechwriter).
Ryall says he has known he wanted to be a writer since the age of ten, and gives credit to Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
and Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
’s The Martian Chronicles
The Martian Chronicles
The Martian Chronicles is a 1950 science fiction short story collection by Ray Bradbury that chronicles the colonization of Mars by humans fleeing from a troubled and eventually atomically devastated Earth, and the conflict between aboriginal Martians and the new colonists...
for fostering his love of the written word.
In 1995 Ryall graduated from Cal State Fullerton.
Career
After a brief stint working as a Project Director writing for Dick Clark Communications, one that would leave Ryall feeling unfulfilled personally and stifled creatively, he made a concerted effort to break into the entertainment industry on his own terms while still working as an advertising copywriter in Santa Monica, CA. While Ryall always had a proactive approach to his professional career and a gregarious nature that gave him a knack for networking, his writing (and opinions) began maturing to the point where others took a genuine interest in his valuable feedback. One such person was writer-director-actor Kevin SmithKevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
.
After a rather fortuitous encounter with Smith, who contacted Ryall after disagreeing with an online review Ryall had posted about Smith’s take on the Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...
comic book, the two began trading emails with a tone that eventually shifted from defensive to friendly. Perhaps seeing a kindred spirit at the time, Smith was won over by Ryall’s quick wit and honest opinions.
In 2002 Smith offered Ryall his highest profile opportunity up to that point, that of running the entertainment-based MoviePoopShoot.com, one of Smith’s first forays outside of filmmaking. Ryall saw the potential, but there was one major hurdle: there was a domain name and a site built as a snarky parody of movie sites such as Ain’t It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...
. Ryall seized the opportunity to turn the site into a true pop-culture portal and dove in headfirst, building the ambitious enterprise from the ground-up, wearing many hats including that of chief content provider, copy editor, Webmaster, and editor to 20+ freelancers, ranging from film critics to comic book artists.
With Ryall’s round-the-clock work ethic and ability to keep his finger firmly on the pulse of pop culture, MoviePoopShoot.com became a resounding hit on the Internet and garnered a massive following of its own. In 2003 it was named one of Entertainment Weekly’s
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
“100 Sites to Bookmark Now,” along with receiving write-ups in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Hollywood Reporter, L.A. Business Journal, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, and mentions on CNN Headline News
CNN Headline News
HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News and CNN2, is a cable television news channel based in the United States and a spinoff of the cable news television channel, CNN. Initially airing tightly-formatted 30-minute newscasts around the clock, since 2005, the channel has increasingly aired long-form...
. It was also named Yahoo.com’s Site of the Week for July 2002.
When Ryall announced his departure from the site in 2006, Kevin Smith said:
“Chris managed to shape my whims into viable version of an all-purpose entertainment web destination and build it into an oft-visited community that maintains the most consistent traffic of the many web sites I lay claim to. He’ll be missed.”
Ryall’s exit was not a total surprise to the online community. Some had expected it as early as 2004, when Ryall accepted the position of Editor-in-Chief at IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
, a San Diego-based comic-book publisher. Everything had come full circle, and Ryall’s career would grow by leaps and bounds at a rather unprecedented pace (along with that of IDW’s own growth rate).
Not only would Ryall act as an editor-in-chief, he also finally received his chance to live out his boyhood dream by using his creative writing and overactive imagination to full effect. He started by writing and/or adapting comics based on licensed properties such as Shawn of the Dead; horror mag revival Doomed (for which he and artist Ashley Wood received an Eisner nomination for their adaptation of Richard Matheson’s “Blood Son” short
Blood Son
"Blood Son" is a short story that was written by Richard Matheson. It was first published in 1951 under the title "Drink My Red Blood". It was recently adapted as short film by Michael McGruther. It is the first production of BuffaloNickel Films....
story); George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead
Land of the Dead
For the disambiguation page on anything else on this topic, come here to Land of the Dead .Land of the Dead is a 2005 horror film written and directed by George A...
; Masters of Horror
Masters of Horror
Masters of Horror is an informal social group of international film writers and directors specializing in horror movies and an American television series created by director Mick Garris for the Showtime cable network.- Origin :...
: the first Transformers Movie Prequel; Beowulf
Beowulf (2007 film)
Beowulf is a 2007 American animated fantasy film written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary inspired by the Old English epic poem of the same name. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film was created through a motion capture process similar to the technique he used in The Polar Express...
; Gene Simmons’ House of Horrors; a prose short in 30 Days of Night
30 Days of Night
30 Days of Night is a three-issue horror comic book mini-series written by Steve Niles, illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and published by IDW Publishing in 2002. All three parties co-own the property....
, a DVD pack-in comic for the movie Role Models
Role Models
Role Models is a 2008 American comedy film directed by David Wain about two energy drink salesmen who are ordered to perform 150 hours of community service as punishment for various offenses. For their service, the two men work at a program designed to pair kids with adult role models. The film...
; and Weekly World News
Weekly World News
The Weekly World News was a supermarket tabloid published in the United States from 1979 to 2007, renowned for its outlandish cover stories often based on supernatural or paranormal themes and an approach to news that verged on the satirical. Its characteristic black-and-white covers have become...
. He was gaining valuable insight and on-the-job training, and by the time he adapted the epic Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show
The Great and Secret Show
The Great and Secret Show is a novel by British author Clive Barker. It was released in 1989 and it is the first "Book of the Art" in a trilogy, known as The Art Trilogy by fans, but it also can be read on its own....
, Ryall truly began to flex his creative muscles and find his legs.
Author/Filmmaker/Artist Clive Barker
Clive Barker
Clive Barker is an English author, film director and visual artist best known for his work in both fantasy and horror fiction. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories which established him as a leading young horror writer...
praised Ryall’s work by stating “Chris is the man. I trust him as a friend and as a collaborator. He's just a thoroughly decent human being who just so happens to be brilliant." http://www.clivebarker.info/graphicidw.html http://www.clivebarker.info/intsrevel12.html
Ryall’s influences would span the gamut from Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
, Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
, Bill Mantlo
Bill Mantlo
Bill Mantlo is an American comic-book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics, best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: the Eagle Award-winning Micronauts and the long-running Rom. An attorney, he also worked as a public defender...
, Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
, Norton Juster
Norton Juster
Norton Juster is an American architect and author. He is best known as an author of children's books, including The Phantom Tollbooth and The Dot and the Line.- Biography :...
, Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, actor, and rock bassist. Known as "The Demon", he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
and Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley
Stanley Harvey Eisen , better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, musician, painter and songwriter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and primary lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's...
of KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, Rod Serling
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
, Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
, Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
, Anthony Michael Hall
Anthony Michael Hall
Michael Anthony Hall , known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor, film producer and director who starred in several teen-oriented films of the 1980s. Hall began his career in commercials and on stage as a child, and made his screen debut in 1980...
, Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
, the Marquis de Sade, and Lemmy Kilmister
Lemmy Kilmister
Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister is an English heavy metal musician....
. This eclectic, arguably absurd mix would contribute to Ryall’s writing style and the general joie de vivre found in his work.
Certainly it’s on display in all of the comic book properties that he had a hand in personally creating, including Zombies vs. Robots (and its sequel Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons) both co-created with artist Ashley Wood
Ashley Wood
Ashley Wood is an Australian comic book artist and illustrator who is well known for his cover art, concept design and his work as an art director....
, Groom Lake (co-created with artist Ben Templesmith
Ben Templesmith
Ben Templesmith is an Australian comic book artist best known for his work in the American comic book industry, most notably the Image Comics series Fell, with writer Warren Ellis, which is credited with pioneering a new format for commercial comics, and IDW's 30 Days of Night with writer Steve...
and one of Ryall’s pet projects, the Weekly World News comic book series. In total, Ryall has written over three dozen successful, acclaimed comics based on licensed properties for IDW (excluding his creator-owned and/or non IDW comics writing).
In February 2006, IDW recognized Ryall’s contributions and promoted him with the title of Publisher. Ted Adams, CEO of IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
, said: “Chris’ contribution to the company can’t be overstated. He works as hard as anyone I’ve ever met and is fiercely loyal to the company that he’s helped build.” http://www.majorspoilers.com/chris-ryall-named-cco-of-idw-publishing
Ryall’s track record in the comic book industry continued to shine and reach new heights by the day. Among the properties he helped develop and shepherd to IDW Publishing were: the critically acclaimed Locke & Key (which was optioned by Dimension Films
Dimension Films
Dimension Films is a motion picture unit currently a part of The Weinstein Company. It was formerly used as Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax Films, to produce and release genre films...
and then Fox Studios); Toho’s
Toho
is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...
Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
(which became the best-selling comic book in the history of IDW), Star Trek, HBO and Alan Ball’s
Alan Ball (screenwriter)
Alan E. Ball is an American writer, director, actor and producer for film, theatre and television.-Early life:Ball was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Frank and Mary Ball, an aircraft inspector and a homemaker...
True Blood
True Blood
True Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
and scores of others with authors like James Patterson
James Patterson
James B. Patterson is an American author of thriller novels, largely known for his series about American psychologist Alex Cross...
, Harlan Ellison, Joe Hill
Joe Hill (writer)
Joseph Hillstrom King , better known by the pen name Joe Hill, is an American author and comic book writer. He has published two novels—Heart Shaped Box and Horns—and a collection of short stories entitled 20th Century Ghosts. He is also the author of the graphic novel series Locke & Key...
, and Anne Rice
Anne Rice
Anne Rice is a best-selling Southern American author of metaphysical gothic fiction, Christian literature and erotica from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history...
.
With Ryall’s direction, IDW Publishing made the decision to pursue a partnership with Hasbro on the immensely popular Transfomers property. The toy company subsequently awarded IDW the G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a military-themed line of action figures and toys in Hasbro's G.I. Joe franchise. The toyline lasted from 1982 to 1994, producing well over 500 figures and 250 vehicles and playsets. The line reappeared in 1997 and has continued in one form or another to the...
and Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
properties.
In 2009, Ryall and co-writer Scott Tipton released the prose primer on the comic-book industry, Comic Books 101, through IMPACT Publishing. In addition to featuring Ryall and Tipton’s overview of comics’ long history and creators, the book features new contributions from such luminaries as Stan Lee, Harlan Ellison, Gene Simmons, Mark Waid
Mark Waid
Mark Waid is an American comic book writer. He is well known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America...
, Joe Hill, Brian Lynch, and many others.
Also independent of IDW Publishing, Ryall published Frank Frazetta’s
Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...
Neanderthal with Jay Fotos and Tim Vigil
Tim Vigil
Timothy B. Vigil is a comic book artist, mostly working in the horror/adult genre. His main graphic novel Faust was adapted by Brian Yuzna as the 2001 movie Faust: Love of the Damned. The followup Faust: Book of M, was nominated for the 1999 Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative...
, through Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
.
July 2010 saw Ryall receive a third promotion at IDW: Chief Creative Officer, and justifiably so. When Ryall joined the IDW staff in 2004, the company ranked sixth among American graphic novel publishers; now IDW is the third largest (behind only Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
and D.C. Comics). No new publisher had attained the third spot for well over a decade before IDW claimed the spot in 2009. In March 2010, IDW attained Premier status with the sole comic distributor, Diamond
Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
, the first time ever an indie publisher has attained this status.
In October 2010, Ryall contrbuted a prose story, "Twilight of the Gods," to Classics Mutlated, a prose "monster-lit" anthology. About his story, Creature Cast said "Riffing on both the Twilight series and Norse mythology, this clever little parody boasts some of the funniest, most charming storytelling of the book. Loki replaces the Bella character and his rakishly sociopathic take on her romance is absolutely hilarious. Of all the stories in the book, this is the one I'm most likely to recommend to people."
Sony Pictures and blockbuster director Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production company announced in February 2011 that they acquired the rights to co-produce the film adaptation of Ryall and Wood’s Zombies vs. Robots.
His projects for 2011 include a fourth Zombies vs Robots series, UnderCity, and Infestation: Outbreak, a four-issue series co-written with Tom Waltz and spinning out of Infestation, the first-ever event in IDW’s history. Infestation, spearheaded by Ryall and Waltz, wove elements from IDW’s titles, such as CVO and Zombies vs Robots, into the worlds of their licensed comics such as Transformers, G.I. Joe, Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, and Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
. Ryall will contribute a new story to Doomed Quarterly, coming Fall 2011.
Selected Bibliography
- Shaun of the Dead (2005)
- Zombies vs. Robots (2005)
- George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead (2005)
- Masters of Horror (2005)
- Doomed (2006)
- Transformers Official Movie Adaptation (2007)
- Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show (2007)
- Beowulf Official Movie Adaptation (2007)
- Doomed (2007)
- Zombies vs. Robots vs. Amazons (2008)
- Gene Simmons House of Horrors (2008)
- Zombies vs. Robots Aventure (2009)
- Groom Lake (2009)
- Frank Frazetta’s Neanderthal (2009)
- "The Adventures of Booby-Watcher" for the film Role Models (2009)
- Comic Books 101: The History, Methods, and Madness (2009)
- Transformers Robot Heroes: I am Optimus Prime (2009)
- Weekly World News (2009)
- Classics Mutilated (2010)
- Zombies vs Robots: UnderCity (2011)
- Infestation: Outbreak (2011)
Guest Appearances (Other)
- Extra on The Mighty Morphin’ Power RangersMighty Morphin Power RangersMighty Morphin Power Rangers is an American live-action children's television series based on the 16th installment of the Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Both the show and its related merchandise saw unbridled overnight success, catapulting into pop culture in mere months...
(1991) - Extra in Jersey GirlJersey Girl (2004 film)Jersey Girl is a 2004 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It stars Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Raquel Castro, George Carlin, Jason Biggs, Jennifer Lopez and Will Smith...
(2004) - Guest judge on WB reality show Beauty and the GeekBeauty and the GeekBeauty and the Geek is a reality television series on The CW. It has been advertised as "The Ultimate Social Experiment" and is produced by Ashton Kutcher, Jason Goldberg and Nick Santora....
(2007) - Bi-weekly Guest on Fictional Frontiers radio show (2009–present)
- Guest Lecturer at Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer’s WorkshopClarion WorkshopClarion is a six-week workshop for new and aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Knight and Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, USA, it was founded in 1968 by Robin Scott Wilson at Clarion State College in...
(2009)
Recognition
- Nominated for Eisner Award for Best Short Story (2006)
- Multiple Eagle Award nominee for Best Editor
- Voted Indispensable Comics Editor of 2005 (ComicBookResources.com)
External links
- http://www.ryalltime.blogspot.com
- http://www.idwpublishing.com
- The Space(man) Between Panels: An Interview with Chris Ryall - The Cult, the Official Chuck Palahniuk website.
- In-depth with Comic Book Publisher Chris Ryall - ComicBookResources.com
- "Is There a Steve Jobs in the Comic Book Industry?" - ComicBookBin.com