Ross Wood Studlar (1982- ) was born in Kentucky, and lived in Oklahoma then West Virginia for significant parts of his youth. He kept a tarantula and various frogs, toads, lizards, and turtles as pets, and his family kept guinea pigs. Of the many comics that affected Ross as a youngster, the Marvel 2099 comics are especially notable, as they inspired him to write and draw his own speculations about the future.

Concerns about the future and present of society are evident is Ross’ life as well as his art. While a student at Denison University (Ohio), Ross was a member of a unique intentional community with a focus on ecological sustainability, called The Homestead. At The Homestead, Ross helped to build a strawbale-insulated cabin, grow organic gardens, raise free-range chickens, and learned how to brew biodeisel. Post-graduation, Ross sailed the Delaware Bay and taught about its ecology as a crewmember on the restored oyster schooner A. J. Meerwald. He then travelled to southwestern Mexico to be part of an international team of volunteer “Turtle Herders” in a project designed to help save sea turtles. These experiences inform Ross' artistic work. In it, themes of technology and responsibility are abundant, and a love of animals is evident.

Although Ross has been creating comics since he was very young, his first comic book to be published (small-press) was A Humble Joy (2004). The story centers around interactions between a research physicist and his pet guinea pig, and explores philosophical questions such as whether life has an essence that defies reductionism. In his subsequent comic book Myths from the Future (2005), Ross reinvents classic stories to explore contemporary issues such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and corporate corruption. Ross also contributed to the comics anthology Rock Paper Scissors (2006), and has had one-shot journalism or memoir comics published in The Connecticut Valley Spectator (2006), and The Cover Page (2006).

At present, Ross is at work on a graphic novel titled Arridaba. It is a story set in a dark near future, and sea turtles play a prominent role in the plot. The book is Ross' thesis project in the graduate program of study at The Center for Cartoon Studies (Vermont). Ross expects to graduate from the program in May 2007.