12 Facts About Rich Burlew

Rich Burlew was born on September 1,1974 and is an American author, game designer, and graphic designer.

Rich Burlew is best known for The Order of the Stick webcomic, for which he was ranked fifth on ComixTalk's list of the Top 25 People in Webcomics for 2007.

Rich Burlew owns and operates a small press publishing company, Giant in the Playground, which he formed to publish his comic work.

Rich Burlew frequently assumed the role of the Game Master, a role he has likened to writing a webcomic, but his interest in the hobby lapsed until 2000 when Wizards of the Coast released the third edition ruleset for the game.

Rich Burlew attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, where he earned a degree in illustration.

Rich Burlew was asked by Wizards of the Coast to produce a 100-page setting bible for his world to compete against two other designers.

Rich Burlew was able to take advantage of the attention and popularity he got from the Setting Search contest by launching his "Giant in the Playground" website and the comic The Order of the Stick.

Rich Burlew announced the publication of the first strip compilation in December 2004.

Rich Burlew drew a short-lived webcomic for the Role-Playing Game Association website, Five Foot Steps, that featured more traditional cartoon art instead of stick figures.

In January 2012, Rich Burlew launched a Kickstarter campaign to get The Order of the Stick: War and XPs back into print, which eventually raised enough money to reprint the whole book series.

Rich Burlew has an undisclosed chronic illness which sometimes impedes his ability to draw comics and causes periodic delays in schedule.

In September 2012, Rich Burlew seriously injured his right hand in an accident that required emergency surgery and prevented him from drawing for an extended period.