If you know Ramón K Pêrez, you know he’s not one to sit idle or sing his own praises. He’s one of the most effortlessly talented storytellers in comics, with a career spanning nearly three decades.
He’s won multiple Eisner and Harvey Awards, tackled everything from indie passion projects to Marvel superheroes, and built a reputation for dynamic, profoundly human storytelling. But that’s just one side of him.
Ramón isn’t just a guy with a pencil—he’s an architect of creative spaces. As the driving force behind the Royal Academy of Illustration & Design (R.A.I.D.), he’s cultivated an internationally renowned and thriving hub for artists in Toronto. It’s more than just a studio; it’s a creative incubator and ecosystem, a home for creators, and a community café and gallery. He’s constantly juggling projects, whether publishing through RAID Press, launching new ventures through RAID Creative, or keeping RAID Gallery’s walls fresh.
For all his success, Ramón is still the guy who nerds out over a good comic, gets lost sketching alongside friends, and is the last to leave a party because the conversation is too good. He’s an equal parts artist, entrepreneur, and storyteller, but most importantly, he brings people together, fostering ideas and creating a little chaos with the vision of building something much bigger.
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Which ’hood are you in?
Having called Toronto home for well over three decades, I’ve called many of its neighbourhoods home. These days my stomping ground takes me from West Queen West to Parkdale.
What do you do?
I have worked as a freelance artist from the day I graduated from Sheridan College in Oakville, ON. Working in editorial illustration, animation, kid’s books, comic books, and so much more. My first love though, is comics and sequential storytelling — whether it’s a Sunday funnies-style comic strip to the latest adventure of a globe-trotting superhero!
Over the past decade though, I’ve also begun building up R.A.I.D. as a community for artists and creatives — creating an ecosystem for community, potential work, and artist expression.
What are you currently working on?
Aside from Building R.A.I.D. as a publishing house and creative agency, I am also working on a couple comic related projects — both of which are currently under NDA — so I can’t say much.
That said though — my priority this year is to finish my creator-owned graphic novel Kukuburi
Where can we find your work?
Aside from a quick Google search, and a placeholder website, you can best connect with me and my work on ramonperez.substack.com
