9 Reasons I Adore Jillian Tamaki and You Should Too

Kate Beaton, comic creator extraordinaire responsible for Hark! A Vagrant, calls Jillian Tamaki “King Midas.” Kate Beaton does not lie. I’ve loved everything Jillian Tamaki has written or illustrated from Skim to This One Summer to SuperMutant Magic Academy to her illustrations for book covers to her freelance work and on. Here are nine reasons you should love her too. 1. She can draw anything from a stunning, lushly detailed landscape… … to a little girl rocking out with so much movement it jumps off the page… … to a quick, pared-down sketch that still communicates just as much feeling. (Also, I totally ship Marsha and Wendy.) 2. She and her cousin Mariko Tamaki co-create characters who feel real and reflect actual people with different sexualities and body types, like Skim, a “not-slim” lesbian teenager who’s trying to figure herself out and who I related to so much. 3. She created one of my favorite characters, Frances from SuperMutant Magic Academy, who fights back against the male gaze… … and makes feminist statements through performance art. 4. She defends all-around appreciation of asses. 5. Her attention to detail can make you time travel back to your childhood and your messy bedroom… … and your angsty teenage years, mutant or not. 6. She has illustrated the covers for some of the most beautiful books you’ve ever seen, from Black Beauty… … to The Secret Garden… … to Emma… … to Les Miserables… … to Obasan… … to Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas… … and Goblin Market. 7. She understands the importance of a quest for that one special food. 8. Her illustrations for freelance clients, like these portraits for the New York Times’ By the Book series, have the most beautiful use of colors… … and are a moving addition to articles, like in this personal essay about trichotillomania. 9. Plus she was really nice to me even though I was super awkward to her when I met her at TCAF.