R.A.I.D. STUDIO: A Super-Fun Comics Chat With Ramón Pérez
This interview was conducted by Chris Doucher, Editor-in-Chief, Writer and Comics Moderator for FAN EXPO and GeekNerdNet. (image and audio credits to: Ramón Pérez, and GeekNerdNet)
Ramón Pérez, award-wining artist, cartoonist & creator (image credit: GeekNerdNet/Chris Doucher)
The location: RA.I.D. (Royal Academy of Illustration & Design): Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was a hot summer in July 2025 when I first had the chance to visit this absolutely awesome creative space. I met and sat down for a chat with Ramón Pérez, award-wining artist, cartoonist & creator, and R.A.I.D. Creative Director. Such a great guy, and the same goes for the entire RA.I.D. crew I met while there. Everyone was fantastic and accommodating, and that even includes their resident studio dog. Thank you, all. Also, there’s no particular reason why it took me this long to publish our interview. I’ll chalk it up to life getting in the way of very fun things. Seriously though, my apologies to Ramón for that. Okay, let’s get to this interview because you’re in for a treat. And, if you don’t know Pérez, you’re about to. Special shout out goes to Jordan Middlebrook, becasue as I mention in the opening of this interview, I had very little time to prep, so I checked out a great interview he did with Pérez on an episode of BY THE WAYSIDE. I also can’t wait to check out his shop (WAYSIDE COMICS & COCKTAILS) next time I’m in Newmarket, Ontario.
Pérez and i cover so much in this interview, I won’t type ot all out here. You’ll enjoy it much better by listening to it. A few highlights, though. We start out by talking about the first web comic Pérez and his good friend (and now business partner) Rob, and their first web comic series called BUTTERNUT SQUASH. They started transcribing their early Toronto adventures, and at the time it was early onset internet and they had an audience of 140,000 unique views online, and they were big in….wait for it…Germany! We then go on to talk about the award-winning book, TALE OF SAND, a screenplay by the late Jim Henson, which won Pérez EISNER AWARD, his Marvel work on Skottie Young’s first book, and of course the formation of RA.I.D. and the powerhouse of Canadian comics they’re promoting. creating and publishing. Still reading? Great! Now hit play and start listening. Thanks again for making time for me, Ramón!
*SPECIAL NOTE: You can meet Ramón Pérez at this week’s FAN EXPO CANADA (he’ll be there every day of the show at the R.A.I.D. Studio booth)