Bill Wray

Bill Wray

William York Wray (b. March 24, 1956, Fort Meade, Maryland) is an American cartoonist and landscape painter, notable for his Urban Landscape series of paintings, his many pages for Mad and his contributions to The Ren & Stimpy Show. He has used the name Bill Wray for his cartoon creations and William Wray for his work as a fine artist.

Wray spent much of his childhood traveling about as an Army brat, reading comic books and watching animated cartoons. At the age of 15, he received training in Newport Beach, California, from a retired Disney animator. He then entered the animation industry, working for a variety of studios, including Disney, Hanna-Barbera and Filmation.

In 1985, he moved to New York, doing comic book work for Marvel and DC Comics, while studying at New York's Art Students League. A phone call from John Kricfalusi sent him back West in the early 1990s to work on The Ren & Stimpy Show, Samurai Jack, The Mighty B! and other shows. His long-run "Monroe" series appeared in more than 100 issues of Mad, and he has also co-created Dark Horse Comics Hellboy Junior with Mike Mignola based on the Hellboy character. His cartoon influences include Hank Ketcham, Harvey Kurtzman, Erich Sokol and Wally Wood.