Fans of Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s bestselling, Eisner award winning series Monstress will have plenty to celebrate heading into the Fall with a special limited edition Monstress Book One hardcover hitting shelves this week; a new installment of the ongoing series—Monstress #30 single issue—and Monstress, Vol. 5 trade paperback hitting shelves in September; and a two issue miniseries—Monstress: Talk-Stories—launching in November from Image Comics.
Longtime fans and new readers will want to get their hands on the deluxe limited edition of Monstress Book One hardcover—each copy signed by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda—a limited print run of only 500 copies. It collects the same interiors as the standard Monstress Book One hardcover edition: Monstress #1-18 single issues of the beloved and multiple award-winning comic series, plus extras, but with a stylish new cover.
Monstress #30 will conclude the current story arc and asks: Who will win this crucial first battle between the Federation and Arcanics? And whose side is Maika on, anyway?
Bridging the gap between the fifth and sixth arc (which resumes in January 2021), Monstress returns with Talk-Stories, a two-part limited series that invites you to eat dumplings beside the fire and listen as Kippa recounts a defining moment from her childhood.
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Available now:
- On sale Wednesday, August 5 – Monstress Book One Limited Edition Deluxe Hardcover (Diamond Code: JAN209110, ISBN: 978-1-5343-1432-0)
Available for pre-order:
- On sale Wednesday, September 2 – Monstress #30 (Diamond Code JUN200256)
- On sale Wednesday, September 30 – Monstress, Vol. 5 (Diamond Code JUL200117, ISBN: 978-1-5343-1661-4)
- On sale Wednesday, November 25 – Monstress: Talk-Stories #1 (of 2)
Accolades & select praise for Monstress:
2018 Eisner Award winner, Best Writer
2018 Eisner Award winner, Best Painter/Multimedia Artist
2018 Eisner Award winner, Best Continuing Series
2018 Eisner Award winner, Best Publication for Teens
2018 Eisner Award winner, Best Cover Artist
2018 Harvey Award winner, Book of the Year
2019, 2018, 2017 Hugo Award winner, Best Graphic Story
2018, 2017 British Fantasy Award winner, Best Comic/Graphic Novel
2018, 2016, 2015 Entertainment Weekly’s The Best Comic Books of the Year”
2018, Newsweek’s Best Comic Books of the Year
2018, The Washington Post’s 10 Best Graphic Novels of the Year
2018, Barnes & Noble’s Best Books of the Year
2018, YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens
2018, Thrillist’s Best Comics & Graphic Novels of the Year
2018, Powell’s Best Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Graphic Novels of the Year
“A Woman Has Finally Won the Top Writing Award in Comic Books” —TIME
“Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda take eastern and western comics storytelling traditions and styles, and create something wholly their own and remarkable: a beautifully told story of magic and fear, inhumanity and exploitation, of what it means to be human and the monsters we all carry inside us. Also, some of the best cats in comics. A delight.” —Neil Gaiman
“Liu’s accomplishment is impressive. She’s created characters who feel larger than life, but whose motivations and values are almost always obscure.” —NPR
“Liu and Takeda have created a vivid, dynamic world, sort of a steampunk Asia of a century ago, and populated it with sharp characters and an intricate mythology that incorporates gods, monsters and everything in between. Female characters dominate Liu’s story line—which unfolds bit by bit like a novel through Takeda’s gorgeous sequential panels—and touches on themes of race, war, duality, friendships and the meaning of family. In all my decades of reading comics, I’ve never seen anything quite like Monstress, and even though it falls in the category of epic fantasy, it also confirms my suspicion that sarcastic cats are secretly in charge of everything.” —The New York Times
“If you want big, beautiful, terrifying, violent magic, Monstress is your next favorite comic.” —Cosmopolitan
“The best way to understand the complicated mythos of Monstress is to dive in headfirst and let it wash over you…On top of that, you don’t need to know much to appreciate the breathtaking beauty of Takeda’s art. No other comic looks like Monstress. Takeda’s painting creates a world where dreamlike and horrific fantasy creatures exist side-by-side with incredibly complex steampunk technology.” —Entertainment Weekly
“…as ambitious as George R.R. Martin or J.R.R. Tolkien…” —The Los Angeles Review of Books
“Monstress is a sprawling epic fantasy that drops readers into the middle of a magic-filled alternate history. Described as a kind of ‘matriarchal Asia,’ Maika’s universe is wracked by a race war and inhabited by violent witch-nuns, vicious deities, and innocent civilians—all of which is brought to life by Takeda’s exquisite manga-style, Art Deco–inspired art.” —The Atlantic
“Takeda’s visuals recall realistic, gritty manga such as Lone Wolf and Cub, with magic and monsters to rival those of Hayao Miyazaki’s films.” —Publishers Weekly
“Intricate and detailed, with a definite manga influence, Takeda’s artwork creates a lush and dangerous world for Liu’s equally dangerous characters. The work is infused with feminist themes; almost all of the characters are strong—and deadly—women.” —School Library Journal
“Filled to the brim with awesome.” —Kirkus Reviews
“World-building on a scale rare in mainstream comics.” —The Hollywood Reporter
“In the center of this world is Maika, a girl who lost her mother and most of her left arm and is on a quest for answers or vengeance, whichever comes first. She’s defensive, quick to anger, and not entirely convinced of her own sanity. In other words, she’s a fictional woman imbued with all the faults and flaws of a real one.” —New York magazine/Vulture
“Feels like a battle cry.” —Vox.com
“Monstress mixes steampunk and fantasy in the best way.” —Complex
Brian Isaacs - Executive Editor / Publisher