9 Reasons I Adore Jillian Tamaki and You Should Too

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. Ive 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 whos 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… This series has French flaps that are illustrated too. And the inside of the cover looks like the back of a piece of embroidery! … to The Secret Garden… THOSE FRENCH FLAPS THAT INSIDE DETAIL … to Emma… Seriously. French flaps. Still swooning at that level of detail. … to Les Miserables… … to Obasan… … to Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas… THOSE ENDPAPERS AND it has illustrations by her inside. … 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. Sign up to The Stack to receive  Book Riot Comic's best posts, picked for you. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.