Akiko is an American comic book series written and drawn by Mark Crilley and published by Sirius Entertainment. The comics have spawned a series of children's novels from Random House. The story has been described as a cross between The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars, centering on the adventures of Akiko, a Japanese American girl, on and around the planet Smoo accompanied by extraterrestrials Mr. Beeba, Spuckler, Gax, and Poog. Akiko was created while Crilley was teaching English in Japan in December 1992. It was inspired by Japanese anime and manga and classic American comics such as Little Nemo and Calvin and Hobbes. Upon publication in the US it did not become mainstream, but gained an audience nonetheless. Crilley describes his work as safe for children but written for adults. Akiko has been nominated in the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards over a dozen times since 1995. In 1998, Mark Crilley and Akiko were nominated for Best Serialized Story, Best Continuing Series, Best Title for Younger Readers, and Best Cover Artist. Characters in the series Protagonist Akiko: a Japanese-American girl initially reluctant to distinguish herself, but gradually becomes heroic. Supporting characters Mr. Beeba: a pedantic polymath and librarian who often quarrels with Spuckler. Spuckler Boach: a self-appointed adventurer and part-time mechanic, who often quarrels with Mr. Beeba. Gax: a ramshackle robot belonging to Spuckler, equipped with artificial intelligence and a variety of tools. Poog: an airborne, bodiless head, capable of psychokinesis and occasional telepathy. Production Akiko on the Planet Smoo, the first comic in the series, was published in December 1995. Since then, 52 issues of the comic have been published. The story in which Akiko rescues a captive prince (in the first eighteen issues) was originally a reversal of the traditional fairy tale's gender roles, but Crilley said that, later, "...the whole Prince-rescuing plot became little more than a pretext for a long and obstacle-packed journey. I wanted Akiko to start out as quite weak, but have her acquire strength over time." When Crilley originally shopped his comic around, Sirius Entertainment believed it could work as an adult series, despite its child-safe tone. Crilley later expressed some surprise at Akiko's relative success. "The people in the comics world expect grittiness, a certain amount of violence, certainly a lot of bang for their buck, and it's kind of a surprise that it has been so warmly embraced by the