Toby Morris is a New Zealand cartoonist, comics artist, illustrator and writer, best known for non-fiction online comics that highlight social issues. His work has reached worldwide audiences. On A Plate is an online comic Morris created to explain privilege by contrasting the lives from infancy to adulthood of two imaginary people: one wealthy, the other poor. It was shared globally and has been translated into several other languages. Animated graphics created in collaboration with Siouxsie Wiles for The Spinoff's coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic were similarly widely shared and translated.
Life
Morris has attributed his love of comics to his family having moved frequently for his father's army career. He started making his own comics at the age of seven, during an extended break from school caused by a broken leg. After unsuccessfully applying to study design at Massey University, Morris did a BA in English literature and political science at Victoria University of Wellington. During that time his comics were published in the magazine of Victoria University's students' association, Salient, and he worked for Salient in 2002. During his early twenties, Morris played bass for Wellington band Batrider and moved to Melbourne with them. After leaving the band he relocated to Amsterdam with his wife, freelance photographer Sonya Nagels. They had their first child in Amsterdam and later returned to New Zealand. Morris lives in Auckland with Nagels and their sons Max and Iggy.
Work
Morris's comic On A Plate was part of his series of non-fiction comics The Pencilsword, published by Radio New Zealand on its website The Wireless. Since moving on from RNZ, Morris has been creating non-fiction comics for online magazine The Spinoff. The series is titled The Side Eye. The Spinoff has also published a web seriesTwo Sketches in which Morris interviews another illustrator while they each complete a drawing. Interviewees for Two Sketches include Sharon Murdoch and Metiria Turei. He has published several books, including two collections of his cartoons depicting daily life: Alledaags: A Year in Amsterdam and Don't Puke On Your Dad: A Year In The Life of A New Father; and two children's books: Capsicum, Capsi Go and The Day The Costumes Stuck. The latter was nominated for the Russell Clark Award for Illustration in the 2017 NZ Book Awards. Morris was the illustrator of a special edition of the School Journal focused on Te Tiriti O Waitangi, which was supplied to schools in 2018. A book version of the School Journal work was subsequently made available for purchase by the general public, and sold well. Flatten the Curve, a slightly animated comic that Morris created in 2020 with Siouxsie Wiles for The Spinoff to describe how simple citizen actions could vastly reduce the death toll, went viral during the Coronavirus disease 2019 viral pandemic and was seen worldwide. Called "the defining chart of the Coronavirus", it was based on earlier graphics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rosamund Pearce of The Economist, and Thomas Jefferson University professor Drew Harris. The World Health Organisation hired The Spinoff to deliver content in support of the global effort to combat the pandemic, after WHO's communications director encountered some of the work Morris and Wiles had produced. Morris was creative director for the WHO contract.
