SuperMutant Magic Academy

Illustrator Jillian Tamaki is best known for co-creating the award-winning young adult graphic novels Skim and This One Summer — moody and atmospheric bestsellers. SuperMutant Magic Academy, which she has been serializing online for the past four years, paints a teenaged world filled with just as much ennui and uncertainty, but also with a sharp dose of humour and irreverence. Tamaki deftly plays superhero and high-school Hollywood tropes against what adolescence is really like: The SuperMutant Magic Academy is a prep school for mutants and witches, but their paranormal abilities take a back seat to everyday teen concerns.

Science experiments go awry, bake sales are upstaged, and the new kid at school is a cat who will determine the course of human destiny. In one strip, lizard-headed Trixie frets about her nonexistent modeling career; in another, the immortal Everlasting Boy tries to escape this mortal coil to no avail. Throughout it all, closeted Marsha obsesses about her unrequited crush, the cat-eared Wendy. Whether the magic is mundane or miraculous, Tamaki's jokes are precise and devastating. (From Drawn & Quarterly)

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Interviews with Jillian Tamaki

Q13:07Jillian Tamaki on the angst of SuperMutant Magic Academy

Fresh off her prestigious Caldecott Medal, acclaimed illustrator Jillian Tamaki explains why she's drawn to characters teetering on the cusp of adulthood.

The Next Chapter5:49Jillian Tamaki answers the Proust Questionnaire

The cartoonist and illustrator shares her idea of perfect happiness and more...

Other books by Jillian Tamaki