Mark Crilley

Mark Crilley is an American manga creator and children's book author/illustrator. He is the creator of Miki Falls, Akiko, and Brody's Ghost. He is also noted for his instructional videos for drawing on YouTube in various styles, including manga-styles. He was at one point an English teacher in Fukushima, Japan, as well as Taiwan.

Early life

Mark Crilley was born on 21 May 1966. He was raised in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.
Crilley began drawing from a very young age. He graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1984, proceeding to Kalamazoo College, where he befriended children's book writer/illustrator (and 2001 Caldecott award winner) David Small. Small greatly affected Crilliey's artistic development as an illustrator and as a writer.
Upon graduating from college in 1988, Crilley moved to Taiwan, then Japan, and once more in Taiwan in 1993. He made his living by teaching English. It was while living in Japan, in the fall of 1992, that Crilley came up with the comic book Akiko and created his first adventure comic book.