Marjorie Liu Becomes First Woman to Win Eisner Award for Best Writer

Marjorie Liu became the first woman to ever win a prestigious Eisner Award for Best Writer.

The writer of Monstress won the award last night during the annual Eisner Award celebrations, which celebrates the best creators and comics published the previous year. Liu shared this year’s award with Batman writer Tom King in a rare tie.

Finalists are chosen by a selection committee and then put up to a semi-public vote. Voting is limited to comics creators and professionals, which includes librarians, academics, and select members of the media.

Past Best Writer winners include Alan Moore, Brian K. Vaughan, and Brian Bendis. This marks the first time that either Liu or King has won the Best Writer award.

Monstress co-creator Sana Takeda was also honored with Eisner Awards for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist and Best Cover Artist. Monstress also won the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series and Best Publication for Teens.

The series is set in a world filled with humans and Arcanics, magical creatures who can sometimes pass as human, but typically have some animal parts. Arcanics are hunted by the Cumaea, a group of sorceress who consume Arcanics limb by limb for their magical properties. The lead character of Monstress, Maika, is missing her left arm, but has a powerful link to a mysterious monster that lives inside her. Maika pursues revenge against the Cumaea for the death of her mother years ago.

Monstress is currently published by Image Comics and has 18 issues out so far. The first 12 issues have been collected into trade form and a third volume is expected out later this year.

Congratulations to Liu, Takeda, and the Monstress team for their accomplishments.