Lilah Sturges (; born Matthew Sturges, October 1970) is an American

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novels. She is best known for co-writing with

Bill Willingham William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series '' Elementals'' and ''Fables''. Career William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. During his father's military career the fam ...

the Eisner-award-nominated '' Jack of Fables'', and other comics published by

Vertigo Comics DC Vertigo, also known as Vertigo Comics or simply Vertigo, is an Imprint (trade name), imprint of the American comic book publisher DC Comics. Vertigo publishes comics with adult comics, adult content, such as nudity, drug use, profanity, and ...

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

Career

In the 1990s, Sturges was a member of the writers' collective

Clockwork Storybook Clockwork Storybook (CWSB) was a writer's collective and independent book publisher based in Austin, Texas. It specialized in the fantasy, horror and adventure genres. History Clockwork Storybook was formed in the late 1990s by fellow Austin- ...

, which also included Willingham, Chris Roberson, and Mark Finn. Beginning in 2006, she and Willingham co-wrote the 50-issue ''Jack of Fables'' (a spin-off from Willingham's popular ''

Fables Fable is a literary genre defined as a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse (poetry), verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphized, and that ...

'' series). In 2008 she began writing the 42-issue ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror comics, horror, fantasy comics, fantasy, and mystery fiction, mystery comics anthology, comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets (DC Comi ...

'' as well. After signing an exclusive deal with DC Comics later that year, Sturges wrote ''

Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three superheroes appearing in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the rights to the ...

'' from #29 to its end with #36, and ''

Final Crisis "Final Crisis" is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely ...

Aftermath: Run!'' featuring the

Human Flame The Human Flame (Michael Miller) is a supervillain in DC Comics' main shared universe. He is mostly known as an enemy of Martian Manhunter. Publication history He first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #274 (December 1959), and was created by Jac ...

. In 2009 she partnered again with Willingham writing ''

Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It first appeared in '' ...

'' beginning with issue #29. She is the author of two novels—''Midwinter'' (2009) and its sequel ''The Office of Shadow'' (2010)—and a book of short horror fiction, ''Beneath the Skin and Other Stories'' (2000). In September 2020, she announced her first graphic novel with Oni/Lion Forge, ''Girl Haven'', with Meaghan Carter and Joamette Gil. She says that "the book is for anyone who loves a fantasy adventure, but it has a special message for young trans kids—that they are okay, that they are allowed to be who they are and also to be confused sometimes, and that they are worthy of love and friendship."

Personal life

Sturges was born in October 1970 in Rhode Island. In December 2016, Sturges announced via her Twitter and Facebook accounts that she is a transgender woman. She has two daughters, Emerson and Camille. On April 2, 2021, Lilah married Michelle (Misha) Sturges at a private ceremony in Austin, Texas. Lilah announced this via her Twitter account on that date.

Bibliography

Graphic novels

*''

Lumberjanes ''Lumberjanes'' is a comic book series created by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Gus Allen, and ND Stevenson and published via the ''Boom Box!'' imprint of Boom! Studios. The story follows a group of girls spending summer at a scout camp, and th ...

'' (drawn by polterink,

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (stylized as BOOM! Studios), is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher. They are headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company is a subsidiary of Random House division of Penguin Random House sin ...

) ** ''The Infernal Compass'' (October 23, 2018) ** ''The Shape of Friendship'' (November 26, 2019) ** ''True Colors'' (October 20, 2020) *''The Magicians: Alice's Story'' (with

Lev Grossman Lev Grossman (born June 26, 1969) is an American novelist and journalist who wrote ''The Magicians Trilogy'': '' The Magicians'' (2009), '' The Magician King'' (2011), and '' The Magician's Land'' (2014). He was the book critic and lead technolo ...

, art by Pius Bak, July 16, 2019) *''The Magicians: New Class'' (with Lev Grossman, art by Pius Bak, August 25, 2020) *''Girl Haven'' (cocreated with Meaghan Carter and Joamette Gil, Oni-Lion Forge, February 9, 2021)

Comics

*'' Jack of Fables'' #1–50 (cowritten with Bill Willingham, Vertigo, September 2006 – March 2011) *''

Shadowpact The Shadowpact is a fictional group of magic-based heroes who fought against the Spectre in the 2005 limited series '' Day of Vengeance'', published by DC Comics. Their self-titled series ended in May 2008, after 25 issues and a two-year run, b ...

'' #17–25 (DC Comics, September 2007 – July 2008) *'' Countdown to Mystery'': " A Syzygy in Plastic" #1–8 (DC Comics, November 2007 – June 2008) *''

Salvation Run ''Salvation Run'' is a seven-issue 2007-2008 DC Comics limited series which was designed to tie into the company's major event series ''Final Crisis'' in 2008. Premise The series, which is based on a pitch from George R. R. Martin, follows a wor ...

'' #3–7 (DC Comics, March–July 2008) *''

'' #1–42 (Vertigo, July 2008 – 2011) collected as: **''Room and Boredom'' (collects ''House of Mystery'' #1–5, 128 pages, January 2009, ) **''Love Stories for Dead People'' (collects ''House of Mystery'' #6–10, 128 pages, June 2009, ) *''

'' #29–36 (with artists

Rafael Albuquerque Rafael Albuquerque (born April 12, 1981) is a Brazilian comic book creator primarily for his artwork on titles such as DC Comics' '' Blue Beetle'' and as illustrator and co-creator of ''American Vampire''. Though primarily a penciler and inker o ...

, André Coelho, and Carlo Barberi; DC Comics, September 2008 – April 2009) *''

Aftermath: Run!'' (with Freddie Williams, DC Comics, 6-issue limited series, 2009) *''

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

: Season One'' (with Pepe Larraz, Marvel Universe, 178 pages, September 2013, )''Thor: Season 1'' details
at Marvel Comics * ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

Double Shot'' #1 (2008) * ''

'' Vol. 3 #24, 29–33, Annual #2 * ''The Literals'' #1–3 * ''

'' #83–85, 143, 148 * ''

Booster Gold Booster Gold (Michael Jon "Booster" Carter) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the character first appeared in ''Booster Gold (comic book), Booster Gold'' #1 (February 1986) and has be ...

'' Vol. 2 #21–25, 28-29 (Blue Beetle backup story, 2009) * ''JSA 80-Page Giant 2010'' #1 * ''JSA All-Stars'' #1–18 (2010–2011) * ''The Web'' (2009) #6–10 * ''DC Universe'' #57 * ''The Mighty Crusaders Special'' #1 * ''

G.I. Combat ''G.I. Combat'' is an American comics anthology featuring war comics, war stories. It was published from 1952 until 1956 by Quality Comics, followed by DC Comics until its final issue in 1987. In 2012 it was briefly revived. Publication histor ...

'' Vol. 2 #1 (2010) * '' Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life'' #1–4 (

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

, 2011) * ''

Zatanna Zatanna Zatara (), known mononymously as Zatanna, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in ''Hawkman (comic book), Hawkman'' #4 (N ...

'' Vol. 2 #12 * '' The Spirit'' #14 * ''

Power Girl Power Girl, also known as Kara Zor-L, Karen Starr, and Paige Stetler, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books by DC Comics, making her first appearance in ''All Star Comics'' #58 (January/February 1976).''Who's Who in the DC Unive ...

'' Vol. 2 #26 * ''Fairest'' #7 (2012) * ''Damsels: Mermaids'' #0–5 * '' The Witching Hour'' Vol. 2 #1 * ''Fables: The Wolf Among Us'' #1–16 (Digital Chapter 1–48) * ''Muirwood: The Lost Abbey'' #2–5 * ''Public Relations'' #1–13 (cowritten with Dave Justus) * ''The Four Norsemen of the Apocalypse'' (2016) OGN SC * ''Mix Tape 2016'' nn

Prose

Novels

*''Midwinter'' (2009) *''The Office of Shadow'' (2010)

Short story collections

*''Beneath the Skin and Other Stories'' (2000)

Games

*'' Lifeline: Crisis Line'' (2016)

References

External links

*
In the House of Mystery with Lilah Sturges interview by Jay Tomio
January 16, 2009
Inside the Comic Writer's Studio interview
Comicbloc.com, September 2007
Sequential Tart interview
September 2006

Newsarama ''Newsarama'' is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website ''GamesRadar+'', also owned by Future US. Hi ...

, February 5, 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturges, Lilah 1970 births American comics writers Fables (comics) American fabulists Living people Transgender women writers American transgender writers American transgender women Writers from Rhode Island Marvel Comics writers DC Comics people LGBTQ comics creators LGBTQ people from Rhode Island 21st-century American writers Inkpot Award winners