# SuperMutant Magic Academy
**SuperMutant Magic Academy** is a webcomic and print comic collection by the Canadian cartoonist and illustrator Jillian Tamaki, set at a prep school for mutants and witches whose paranormal abilities take a back seat to everyday teenage concerns. Tamaki began serializing it online in 2010, drew it over roughly four years, and collected it in a 2015 Drawn & Quarterly volume of the same name.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/24/jillian-tamaki-comics-graphic-novel-supermutant-magic-academy) • [2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/) • [3](https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/supermutant-magic-academy/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Creator | Jillian Tamaki, a Canadian illustrator and cartoonist known for co-creating *Skim* and *This One Summer* with her cousin Mariko Tamaki[3](https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/supermutant-magic-academy/) |
| Webcomic run | Started in 2010 on Tumblr (mutantmagic.com); Tamaki made roughly one or two strips a week over four years[1](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/24/jillian-tamaki-comics-graphic-novel-supermutant-magic-academy) • [4](https://comicsalliance.com/jillian-tamaki-supermutant-magic-academy-interview/) |
| Print edition | Drawn & Quarterly, April 2015, 224 pages, black and white with occasional color, ISBN 978-1-77046-198-7[5](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781770461987) • [6](https://thequietus.com/culture/books/behold-quietus-comics-round-up-november-adrian-tomine-frontier-edward-ross-jillian-tamaki/) |
| Awards | Ignatz Award for Outstanding Online Comic in 2011 and 2012; an Eisner Award in 2016[7](https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/comic-art/about-this-exhibition/webcomics/super-mutant-magic-academy/) • [8](https://school.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?did=136227&wid=60) |
| Central story | Marsha, a tomboyish broom-flyer, secretly and painfully in love with her best friend Wendy, who can transform into a fox[5](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781770461987) • [2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/) |
| Format | A collection of mostly standalone one-page strips, typically six black and white panels, not an extended narrative[6](https://thequietus.com/culture/books/behold-quietus-comics-round-up-november-adrian-tomine-frontier-edward-ross-jillian-tamaki/) • [4](https://comicsalliance.com/jillian-tamaki-supermutant-magic-academy-interview/) |
| Adaptation | An animated series led by J.G. Quintel, creator of *Regular Show*, has been in development for Adult Swim and Cartoon Network[9](https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/regular-show-creator-new-series-mutant-magic-academy/) |
## Premise and format
The title invites comparison to a mash-up of the X-Men's school for gifted youngsters and [Harry Potter](https://www.edgepedia.org/harry-potter)'s Hogwarts, and Tamaki has described the concept as intentionally a joke premise, half Harry Potter and half X-Men but more like the teen drama *Degrassi*.[10](https://www.tcj.com/supermutant-children-an-interview-with-jillian-tamaki/) • [11](https://roommagazine.com/whats-new/interview/in-conversation-with-jillian-tamaki-mariko-tamaki/) She has said she is not a fan of those source works and knew little about them beyond two or three Harry Potter films.[4](https://comicsalliance.com/jillian-tamaki-supermutant-magic-academy-interview/)
Unlike the stories it spoofs, nothing supernatural drives the plot: the students are not threatened by dark forces, only by school, each other, and their own insecurities and flaws.[2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/) • [12](https://theslingsandarrows.com/supermutant-magic-academy/) When a character uses her powers, the reason is invariably petty or needy; nobody saves the world.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/24/jillian-tamaki-comics-graphic-novel-supermutant-magic-academy) The humor is sometimes slapstick but more often consists of ultra-dry observations on modern disengagement, with the teenagers dealing with unrequited crushes, sexism, and coming out alongside sexting and social media.[5](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781770461987) • [6](https://thequietus.com/culture/books/behold-quietus-comics-round-up-november-adrian-tomine-frontier-edward-ross-jillian-tamaki/)
The book is a collection of strips rather than a graphic novel with an extended narrative. Most pages are standalone, with six black and white panels, occasional color flourishes, and some sequences spread over two pages.[4](https://comicsalliance.com/jillian-tamaki-supermutant-magic-academy-interview/) • [6](https://thequietus.com/culture/books/behold-quietus-comics-round-up-november-adrian-tomine-frontier-edward-ross-jillian-tamaki/) Tamaki had first wanted a horizontal format referencing the *Calvin and Hobbes* or *Garfield* anthology books, but Drawn & Quarterly's creative director Tom Devlin declined the idea.[4](https://comicsalliance.com/jillian-tamaki-supermutant-magic-academy-interview/)
## Creation
Tamaki started the strip in 2010 as a replacement for her sketch blog, after finishing *Skim* and wanting a project that was fast and immediate, where she could practice writing and developing characters without making the art look polished or publishable.[10](https://www.tcj.com/supermutant-children-an-interview-with-jillian-tamaki/) An earlier influence was her contribution to Marvel's *Strange Tales* anthology, in which indie cartoonists drew Marvel characters; she drew the disco-themed superhero Dazzler and found she was more interested in the character's day job and older lover than in her superpowers.[10](https://www.tcj.com/supermutant-children-an-interview-with-jillian-tamaki/) • [1](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/24/jillian-tamaki-comics-graphic-novel-supermutant-magic-academy)
**A deliberate change of process.** After the years of intensive, photograph-referenced work on *This One Summer*, Tamaki wanted the opposite: fleeting ideas jotted down in half an hour and posted online, with no planned arc and deliberately sketchy, loose art.[13](https://www.maifeminism.com/on-contradictory-emotions-complexity-time-a-conversation-with-jillian-tamaki/) She has called the strip the most personal of her works, feeling like a diary because she made the installments unprompted, and said the project built her confidence as a writer.[10](https://www.tcj.com/supermutant-children-an-interview-with-jillian-tamaki/) • [13](https://www.maifeminism.com/on-contradictory-emotions-complexity-time-a-conversation-with-jillian-tamaki/)
## Characters
The large cast of students includes:[2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/)
- **Marsha**, the main protagonist, a bespectacled, closeted outsider who hides her vulnerability under a mask of cynicism, and a tomboyish, frumpy broom-flyer.[2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/) • [5](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781770461987)
- **Wendy**, the pretty, sweet-natured popular girl with fox ears, able to transform into a fox, whom Marsha is secretly in love with.[2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/) • [5](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781770461987)
- **Trixie**, a lizard-headed, amphibious girl who frets about her nonexistent modeling career and wants to be pretty, popular, and have a boyfriend.[2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/) • [3](https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/supermutant-magic-academy/)
- **Evan, the Everlasting Boy**, an immortal, ever-transmogrifying student who can wrap himself in the stars and repeatedly tries to escape mortality to no avail.[2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/) • [3](https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/supermutant-magic-academy/)
- **Frances**, a brooding, would-be transgressive performance artist, and **Gemma**, whose large cranium holds anxieties about her writing aspirations.[2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/)
- **Cheddar** and **Trevor** among the boy students, and **Ms. Grimdorff**, the only teacher given much attention, who remains mostly peripheral.[2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/)
The new kid at school is a cat who will determine the course of human destiny.[3](https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/supermutant-magic-academy/)
## The print collection
Drawn & Quarterly published the collection in April 2015, combining the most popular webcomic strips with new, previously unseen material.[5](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781770461987) • [14](https://webservices.macmillan.com/macmillan-us/maccatalog/assets/previous/DWQ_Spring-2015_07_2014.pdf) Exclusive to the volume is a final section of more than 40 sequential pages chronicling the end of school, complete with prom, which Tamaki modeled loosely on the intensified end-of-series *Degrassi* movie.[6](https://thequietus.com/culture/books/behold-quietus-comics-round-up-november-adrian-tomine-frontier-edward-ross-jillian-tamaki/) • [10](https://www.tcj.com/supermutant-children-an-interview-with-jillian-tamaki/) Reviewers noted that the early one-page vignettes feel choppy and abrupt, and that the characters become clearer and the vignettes more developed as the book progresses.[5](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781770461987)
A German translation by Jan Dinter was published by Reprodukt on 12 September 2018, at 280 pages.[15](https://letterheart.de/3-comic-rezensionen-abwechslung-im-hause-reprodukt/) The Library of Congress preserves the webcomic in its Webcomics Web Archive, including a strip archived on 2 September 2014.[7](https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/comic-art/about-this-exhibition/webcomics/super-mutant-magic-academy/)
## Reception and adaptation
The webcomic won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Online Comic in both 2011 and 2012, and the book won an Eisner Award in 2016.[7](https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/comic-art/about-this-exhibition/webcomics/super-mutant-magic-academy/) • [8](https://school.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?did=136227&wid=60) On Goodreads the book holds a rating of 3.99 from more than 8,000 ratings.[16](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22752445-supermutant-magic-academy) Critics singled out the realism of the teenagers: The Comics Journal's review described the book as melding satire of magical-fantasy tropes with real-world teenage drama, observational comedy, and poetic surrealism, and the Quietus review argued that Tamaki's characters, unlike Harry Potter, seem like genuine teenagers.[2](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/) • [6](https://thequietus.com/culture/books/behold-quietus-comics-round-up-november-adrian-tomine-frontier-edward-ross-jillian-tamaki/) The book contains adult content and passes the [Bechdel test](https://www.edgepedia.org/bechdel-test), according to one review site.[12](https://theslingsandarrows.com/supermutant-magic-academy/)
**Screen adaptation.** J.G. Quintel, creator of *Regular Show*, has said he found the comic in 2015, met Tamaki, and suggested she make it into a show; she replied that she could not, but that he could. About seven years later he called her when he got a development deal, and an animated series has been in development for [Adult Swim](https://www.edgepedia.org/adult-swim) and [Cartoon Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/cartoon-network), with Quintel showing new art and an animatic at a Cartoon Network panel.[9](https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/regular-show-creator-new-series-mutant-magic-academy/)
## References
1. [Jillian Tamaki: 'I need to spend less time in the minds of straight men', The Guardian (Chris Randle, 24 April 2015)](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/24/jillian-tamaki-comics-graphic-novel-supermutant-magic-academy)
2. [SuperMutant Magic Academy, The Comics Journal (Robert Kirby, 6 August 2015)](https://www.tcj.com/reviews/supermutant-magic-academy-2/)
3. [SuperMutant Magic Academy, Drawn & Quarterly](https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/supermutant-magic-academy/)
4. [This One Summer School: Cartoonist Jillian Tamaki on 'SuperMutant Magic Academy', ComicsAlliance (J. Caleb Mozzocco, 29 May 2015)](https://comicsalliance.com/jillian-tamaki-supermutant-magic-academy-interview/)
5. [SuperMutant Magic Academy review, Publishers Weekly (6 April 2015)](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781770461987)
6. [Jillian Tamaki – SuperMutant Magic Academy, The Quietus (Pete Redrup, November 2015)](https://thequietus.com/culture/books/behold-quietus-comics-round-up-november-adrian-tomine-frontier-edward-ross-jillian-tamaki/)
7. [Super Mutant Magic Academy, Comic Art: 120 Years of Panels and Pages, Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/comic-art/about-this-exhibition/webcomics/super-mutant-magic-academy/)
8. [Eisner Awards, 2011–2026, TeachingBooks](https://school.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?did=136227&wid=60)
9. [Regular Show's Creator J.G. Quintel Talks New Series, ComicBook.com](https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/regular-show-creator-new-series-mutant-magic-academy/)
10. [SuperMutant Children: An Interview with Jillian Tamaki, The Comics Journal (Hazel Cills, 20 April 2015)](https://www.tcj.com/supermutant-children-an-interview-with-jillian-tamaki/)
11. [In Conversation with Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki, ROOM Magazine](https://roommagazine.com/whats-new/interview/in-conversation-with-jillian-tamaki-mariko-tamaki/)
12. [SuperMutant Magic Academy, Slings & Arrows (Ian Keogh)](https://theslingsandarrows.com/supermutant-magic-academy/)
13. [On Contradictory Emotions, Complexity & Time: A Conversation with Jillian Tamaki, Mai Feminism (Shoshana Magnet, 30 March 2023)](https://www.maifeminism.com/on-contradictory-emotions-complexity-time-a-conversation-with-jillian-tamaki/)
14. [Jillian Tamaki: SuperMutant Magic Academy, Macmillan Spring 2015 catalog](https://webservices.macmillan.com/macmillan-us/maccatalog/assets/previous/DWQ_Spring-2015_07_2014.pdf)
15. [3 Comic-Rezensionen, Letterheart (German edition details)](https://letterheart.de/3-comic-rezensionen-abwechslung-im-hause-reprodukt/)
16. [SuperMutant Magic Academy, Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22752445-supermutant-magic-academy)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Visual arts and design › Illustration and illustrators › Comic books and characters*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license