An Akiko Flashback

Akiko on the Planet Smoo

Akiko, the charming SF adventure comic series by Mark Crilley, celebrated its 20th anniversary at the end of last year. I loved this comic! (I have a piece in issue #50 saying so.) It was published by Sirius Entertainment, which also put out Artesia, Joseph Michael Linsner’s Dawn, Poison Elves, and the Scary Godmother comics, but no longer appears to exist.

Akiko on the Planet Smoo

Akiko was the story of a girl’s journey through space with an alien, a robot, a scuzzy rogue, and a fuzzy professor type. It reminded me, with its sense of whimsy, of The Wizard of Oz, with plenty of imagination. There are over 50 issues and seven collections, now out of print.

Crilley has posted a retrospective video with some fun bits of information about the history of the series (and his early use of Photoshop) as he walks through the first 10 issues. Ah, what memories.

Crilley now has a very popular YouTube channel full of art tips and how-tos. He’s also written a series of reference books, Mastering Manga.



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