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

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

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 (Comico Comics), Elementals'' and ''Fables (comics), Fables''. Career William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. ...

the Eisner-award-nominated ''

Jack of Fables ''Jack of Fables'' is a spin-off comic book series of ''Fables'' written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main ...

'', and other comics published by

Vertigo Comics Vertigo Comics, also known as DC Vertigo or simply Vertigo, was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, ...

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

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-b ...

, which also included Willingham, Chris Roberson, and

Mark Finn Mark Finn (born October 1969) is the pseudonym of Mark Farr-Nash, an American science fiction and fantasy writer, essayist, and playwright. In 2007 he was nominated for World Fantasy Special Award: Professional. Biography Finn's earliest publis ...

. 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: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular moral ...

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

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror, fantasy, and mystery Comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets''. It is also the name of the titular setting of the series. First serie ...

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

Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes who appear 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 ri ...

'' 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 b ...

Aftermath: Run!'' featuring the

Human Flame The Human Flame 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 Jack Miller and Joe ...

. In 2009 she partnered again with Willingham writing ''

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

'' 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.

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 named Mal, Ripley, Molly, April, and Jo s ...

'' (drawn by polterink,

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Origins In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Holly ...

) ** ''The Infernal Compass'' (October 23, 2018) ** ''The Shape of Friendship'' (November 26, 2019) ** ''True Colors'' (October 20, 2020) *''Girl Haven'' (cocreated with Meaghan Carter and Joamette Gil, Oni-Lion Forge, February 9, 2021)

Comics

*''

'' #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 (DC Comics character), Spectre in the 2005 in comics, 2005 Limited series (comics), limited series ''Day of Vengeance'', published by DC Comics. They are a so ...

'' #17–25 (DC Comics, September 2007 – July 2008) *''

Countdown to Mystery ''Countdown'', also known as ''Countdown to Final Crisis'' for its last 24 issues based on the cover, was a comic book limited series published by DC Comics. It debuted on May 9, 2007, directly following the conclusion of the last issue of '' 52' ...

'': " 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 premise of the series, which is based on a pitch by George R. R. Martin, ...

'' #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 Brazilians, Brazilian comic book creator primarily for his artwork on titles such as DC Comics' ''Jaime Reyes, Blue Beetle'' and as illustrator and co-creator of ''American Vampire''. Though primarily ...

, 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 non, Þórr ) is a prominent 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 groves ...

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

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

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 Carter) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Dan Jurgens, the character first appeared in ''Booster Gold'' #1 (February 1986) and has been a member of the Justice League. ...

'' 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 The Mighty Crusaders is a fictional superhero team published by Archie Comics. The team originally appeared in ''Fly-Man'' No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title, ''Mighty Crusaders''. Written by Superman co-creator Jerry ...

Special'' #1 * ''

G.I. Combat ''G.I. Combat'' was an American comics anthology featuring 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 history The focu ...

'' 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), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

, 2011) * ''

Zatanna Zatanna Zatara () is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in '' Hawkman'' #4 (November 1964). Zatanna is a stage magician with a ...

'' Vol. 2 #12 * ''

The Spirit The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page, tabloid (paper size), tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday editio ...

'' #14 * ''

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

'' 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 FutureUS. History N ...

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