Super Mutant Magic Academy FCBD 2015

by Jillian Tamaki

DRAWN & QUARTERLY (W/A/CA) Jillian Tamaki, Kate Beaton Drawn & Quarterly celebrates its 25th year in publishing with this special edition all-ages FCBD previewing two of its biggest books for 2015. Kate Beaton is back with Step Aside, Pops! her 2015 follow-up to her bestselling debut, Hark! A Vagrant, with more irreverent and hilarious comics on history and literature. Sharing the billing is Jillian Tamaki, best known for co-creating Skim and This One Summer - moody and atmospheric award winners. SuperMutant Magic Academy, which Jillian 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 humor. Drawn & Quarterly's FCBD showcases two of the best known women in comics today and is ideal for retailers looking to expand and diversify their customer base. All-Ages

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

Comic

First published May 2, 2015

About the author

Jillian Tamaki is a cartoonist and illustrator living in Toronto. A professional artist since 2003, she has worked for publications around the world and taught extensively in New York at the undergraduate and graduate level. She is the co-creator, with her cousin Mariko Tamaki, of Skim and This One Summer, the latter of which won a Caldecott Honor in 2015. She is the author of the graphic novels SuperMutant Magic Academy, originally a serialized webcomic, and Boundless, a collection of short comic stories for adults. Her first picture book, They Say Blue, was released in 2018.

Reviews

[CC Crum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually made me laugh, cerebral, adorable, reminds me of being in highschool. Just full of bits that I want someone else to read so we can reference them.

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fantastic! I especially liked Kate Beaton's little teaser comic at the back, so funny!!

[CS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bullet Review:

I really enjoyed the Super Mutant Magic Academy (what crazy, sometimes dark, humor!) but the "Step Aside, Pops" was just meh.

[Zizeloni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super mutant was good, the rest meh...

[☁︎ ☾ ｡⋆ morgan ⋆｡☽ ☁︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

a quirky and queer comic with fox girls and talking animals about the woes of high school!!

i wasn't a huge fan of this one, not because i thought it was bad, but because there wasn't a strong main plot. it's an anthology, so it's to be expected that some of the stories are all over the place. i thought that was fitting because like high school, things were indeed all over the place. Tamaki really said, "i'm going to take the 'everything sucks' of high school and show how it could suck while attending a magic academy" and yeah. yeah, that was definitely apparent.

Wendy was my favorite character overall because duh. she's a fox girl and she's me. can't believe Jillian Tamaki wrote yet ANOTHER character inspired by me. Marsha was pretty cute too. i wasn't hooked on their relationship, but i completely understand why others would be. adorable queer love with fun magic should always win!!

for lovers of short story comics, i'd recommend this! it flows much like a Sarah Andersen story and has similar vibes to Cryptid Club. in essence, Super Mutant Magic Academy is charming in an i-hate-high-school and am-in-love-with-my-best-friend type of way.

⁺₊✧ kin list: Wendy

[Oldnoah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tremendously amusing and whimsical look at life through the eyes of superpowered high school students. Maybe that sounds like a comics trope, but in Jillian Tamaki’s capable hands it’s not.

Narratively, the book takes form as a series of one-page windows into the kids’ lives that almost read like comically philosophical newspaper strips, a la Peanuts. Similarly, the drawing is deceptively simplistic, getting the mood across with an expressive economy of line. At first, there seems to be no through-line, but as we visit and revisit each character and get to know them, their personalities become the through-line. From artistic, rebellious Frances to old-souled Cheddar to the timeless and observant “Everlasting Boy”, each find a place in the heart. There’s even a queer romance “subplot”.

Ultimately, there is a sort of story arc that builds to a surprisingly satisfying conclusion, but this book is really about how our unique “powers” can make us experience life both differently and in the same way as each other.

[Chris Tower · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is very fun. Seems like a collection of strips that may have been published one-by-one. Maybe not. Jillian Tamaki has catapulted to among my favorite artists/creators, especially when considering THIS ONE SUMMER that I read a few weeks ago.

The edition I read of SUPER MUTANT MAGIC ACADEMY is not loaded into Good Reads so the edition above is not right.

This book does not quite get a 10/10, more like a 9.4/10... but it's good, VERY GOOD!

Recommended.

[Ahna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

[Jordan Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, fun, memorable. Loved the structure of it all and the sweet ending.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Maya Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious yet deep. Loved it.

[Casey Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serial comic in book form - no overall plot. But high school levels of sardonic make for a fun and nostalgic read.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gave me all the niche humor and cringe vibes of my high school self. Totally loved it!

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a 3.5 not just a 3
I love the ending and audibly laughed at SOME of the other pages but some of the characters and their “gags” just didn’t do anything for me

[Tomb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Both are really great. I will check out the SuperMutant magic Academy book when it comes out.

[Valérie Rioux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! Now I want more Jillian Tamaki comics in my life.

[Taylor Cayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever.

[Cat Arden · Rating 4 out of 5]

a book i'm lucky to have randomly picked up in my senior year of highschool