Meet the author

Ben Hatke.

Writer & illustrator · United States · b. 1976

Ben Hatke: American cartoonist behind Zita the Spacegirl, Mighty Jack and Little Robot — warm, painterly, Studio-Ghibli-inflected middle-grade graphic novels for ages 7–11.

Ben Hatke is an American cartoonist born in 1976, best known for the Zita the Spacegirl middle-grade graphic-novel trilogy (Zita the Spacegirl, Legends of Zita the Spacegirl, The Return of Zita the Spacegirl) and the Mighty Jack series. Hatke also writes and illustrates picture books, Julia's House for Lost Creatures, Nobody Likes a Goblin, Little Robot, which share Zita's distinctively warm, slightly Studio-Ghibli-inflected sensibility. His style is character-led, painterly and emotionally generous, with a strong feel for outsider-protagonists and found-family stories. A core middle-grade graphic-novel author for ages 7–11, particularly for readers who like sci-fi adventure with real emotional centre.