Here Be Monstress

Recently, when I was flipping through one of the many book catalogs I browse throughout my work day, and image caught my eye. It was the cover of Monstress: The Awakening, written by Marjorie Liu and illustrated by Sana Takeda. I’d been away from reading graphic novels and comics for a while, so I’d never heard of it. But apparently Neil Gaiman, who got me into reading graphic novels with his Sandman series, had heard of it. “Remarkable: A beautifully told story of magic and fear,” he was quoted as saying on the cover. I decided to take his advice and give the book a try.

An image from Monstress.

Now, less than a week later, I’ve got Monstress: The Haven waiting for me on my desk. It’s the third volume in the series. I could barely make the second volume, The Blood, last two days. I tore through the first volume in less than twenty four hours: staying up until midnight to read it despite turning into a pumpkin at 10 PM. I imagine that my friends and coworkers wish I would stop talking about it, and that every time I talk about it I confuse them more. Evil women with vertical eyes? Necromancer cats with multiple tails? A one-armed girl inhabited by a hungry god? Yes. It has all of that, and much more. In fact, the L.A. Review of Books said that Monstress is “as ambitious as George R.R. Martin and J.R.R. Tolkien”.


Beyond its expansive storyline, the illustrations are gorgeous and terrifying by turns. In 2018 both the author and the illustrator of the series won recognition by receiving Eisner awards. This includes Best Writer for Marjorie Liu, who is the first woman to win that award since the creation of the Eisner Awards 30 years ago. Sana Takeda won Best Cover Artist and Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art). She’s only the second woman to ever win Best Cover Artist, and was the first woman of color to receive it.

Eisner Winners Sana (left) and Marjorie (right).

Have I convinced you to give Monstress a try? Remember, you don’t have to take my word on how great it is. You can take Neil Gaiman’s word, the Eisner Awards, or the word of the L.A. Review of Books. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.