The Enchanting Beauty And Wisdom Of Monstress

From the outset, the premise of Monstress and its tale is a dire one: imagine a 1900s alternative universe controlled by a cruel matriarchal society in Asia.

Maika Halfwolf, the protagonist, is a traumatized yet wild and defiant beauty at the center of this survivor’s tale. Sculpted by rage and emotional walls —through war and betrayal — this strong woman embarks on an epic and fantastical journey about making peace with external (and internal) demons. But perhaps the biggest draw to this award-winning series is that it has always been grounded in heartfelt humanity.

In honor of Women’s History Month as well as celebrating this comic book’s 10th anniversary, I chatted with legendary co-creators Marjorie Liu (writer) and Sana Takeda (artist) and asked the duo to reflect upon how this story celebrates independence, unwavering strength, and Divine Feminine Energy.

Here are ten profound revelations explored in Monstress that not only dovetail into many real-life societal issues that women contend with today, but whose challenges are confronted head-on with bravery, hope, and inspiration.

1 Vulnerability is a strength.

Introducing a new comic book series can be daunting for anyone but Liu and Takeda perceived the task as more of a storytelling opportunity than anything: “ I try to capture the essence of character, conflict, and world right on the first page, in the first paragraph, even in the first sentence, if at all possible,” explains Liu. In the very first scene, even though Maika is stripped down, restrained, and placed on display — she uses what could be interpreted as a vulnerable moment to showcase strength instead. “Her gaze is unwavering and defiant. She does not shrink, does not avert her eyes. Her missing limb isn’t hidden — it’s part of who she is, a sign of survival. As the first panel makes clear, you cannot escape from her presence. She demands to be seen. And we know immediately from the lettering that she chose to be in this situation — that this is part of a plan. She is in charge, no matter what it might look like,” she adds.

2 Hold on to your power.

There are key moments in the series where antagonists will attempt to strip Maika of her dignity and autonomy — but somehow, even with all the trauma and chaos she’s enveloped in — she draws strength from within. “Maika holds on to her power. Her strength is not just in her ability to fight, but in her refusal to disappear. In a world that often averts its gaze from anything uncomfortable, Maika’s very existence challenges that impulse,” says Liu. Takeda also asserts that while there are many unreasonable tragedies we can’t bear in the world, to remember that even in moments of fragility — to know that are not defined by anyone or anything, “nobody can rob us of it — it’s an existential aspect of our experience.”

3 Divine Feminine Energy will always be in our possession, even in hardship.

With the realities of working in an industry primarily dominated by males, the duo reflected upon what it means to be a woman and Liu noted that this quote from Labyrinth resonated with her (it’s when the character Sarah stands before the Goblin King): ‘Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here…for my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great. You have no power over me —’ Sarah defiantly declares.

“For my younger and older self, those words capture something essential about the divine feminine, a power that is inherent and always present, always in our possession, even when the world tells us that we are small, even when the world tries to erase that power and put limits on how it can be expressed,” Liu says.

4 Divine Feminine Energy is not always filled with light and love

There’s something to be said about how women are pressured to always be ‘poised’, ‘precious’, and ‘pretty’ — but DFE is also about honoring and embracing the so-called ‘unsavory’ elements of the female psyche — because these states are also the most telling of our mental and emotional well-being. “I think it can also be rageful, savage, merciless, heartsick — whatever is required to carve out space in the world and be a force upon it, no matter how small,” says Liu. She explains that Maika’s energy is oftentimes fuelled by rage and vengeance, which have helped her survive. The challenge is to cultivate awareness of such driving forces and transition it into something more sustainable…. “without transformation, she can burn out… that’s something Maika struggles with throughout the series—how to move beyond simple survival to become someone who thrives, who is no longer content with just enduring, but who carves her own path, kingdom, and story…someone whose energy is eventually fueled by ferocious love, instead of ferocious hate,” Liu offers.

5 Channel the feminine spirit in nature

Takeda explains that nature can (also) help you cultivate power and beauty of the feminine spirit, “it has power to purify, regenerate, and embrace many living things in itself. Sometimes it turns into a terrific destroyer as disasters as well as brings about the way regeneration and advancement. They are awesome beyond our imagination and give me a power for creation.” She adds that much of this ethos permeates Monstress, “you can find similar feminine energy throughout our series. Like the scene regarding Maika’s exodus from terrible situations or the process of knowing each other between Maika and Zinn through their conflict — in each scene you can find energy for advancement and beautiful spirits in humanity,” Takeda offers.

6 Be unabashedly hungry

The raw beauty depicted in the series also destabilizes a lot of toxic and stereotyped ideologies about women and how they’re ‘supposed’ to ‘behave’ in our real-life society. “There’s a lot of intense female energy in Monstress — from the worldbuilding to the way that power is pursued and embodied. For example, take Maika’s hunger, which is primordial, terrifying, and magnificent. It’s not just about the violence it represents — it’s about how women and hunger are linked and pathologized in our culture, how often female hunger is viewed as dangerous and destabilizing, and I wanted to talk about that — to explore it in a very extreme way,” Liu explains.

7 Challenge the Status Quo

Takeda and Liu assert that creating Monstress has affected them on a deeply personal and cultural level, “it’s been a process of reckoning with identity, power, and the weight of the past.” Particularly they note that when the duo started out twenty years ago, the dialogue surrounding Asian-American creativity was narrow-minded, “we’d get remarks like ‘Asian-Americans aren’t creative. Why aren’t you a doctor or lawyer?’ or ‘I thought you were supposed to be good at math.’ If you were an artist, people assumed you must be into manga — as if that was the only reference point they could imagine for an Asian storyteller.”

Then Monstress exploded onto the scene and started to shift and evolve the reductive narratives plaguing them. Thanks to its vast, varied, and meaningful stories —Liu and Takeda have felt that things have changed since then… “but it’s important to keep pushing forward — making sure there’s space for future generations of Asian creatives to tell their stories in every medium without having to justify their presence or prove their worth.”

8 Healing and evolving through pain

One of the key themes explored in Monstress is healing. “The question isn’t just about survival, but about reintegration—how do you reconcile the different parts of yourself after erasure or violence? How do you come to terms with the monsters inside you, the ones that feel like they’re consuming you?” offers Liu. She explores this through Maika and the character’s respective struggles with trying to reconcile the past, present, future — all while determining whether she can be made ‘whole’.

Liu and Takeda are adept at parsing out all these complex social realities through their supernatural lens (thereby carving out an accessible pathway for readers to navigate). “Monstress is deeply entwined with themes of colonialism, racism, and oppression…I’ve learned that the supernatural is a way for me to process these ideas, to create a sense of estrangement that allows both me and the reader to engage with difficult, sometimes painful realities from a different perspective. Some stories need that layer of fantasy to be told.”

9 Self-expression and growth through style

The visually textured world that Takeda has created is not just about relishing in the intricately-drawn outfits, but that it also serves as an emotional and mental gateway into each character’s state. “I’ve said it repeatedly, but Sana should be a fashion designer. She’s created a look for the characters where beauty and power co-exist, where the clothing reflects the richness of culture, history, and personal identity rather than serving as a tool for objectification. The fashion in Monstress tells its own story — it’s intricate, layered, ornate—designed to reflect status, heritage, and self-expression. Always with an eye toward function and meaning rather than the male gaze,” explains Liu. She has a savant-like ability to see into each character’s soul and draw that out externally through her art. “I try to focus on their lines (dialogue) and behavior in (Liu’s) script as if I’m listening to and providing counseling to them,” Takeda explains.

10 Self-actualization > sexualization

Oftentimes, one assumes that a (female) character needs to be docile to garner sympathy, but Liu and Takeda refused to yield to such expectations imposed on women, real and/or imagined. “Monstress rejects the idea that femininity is inherently tied to fragility, seduction, or submission. Instead, femininity is strength. It is cunning. It is survival,” says Liu.

“Monstress was learning how to write Maika as someone who isn’t nice—and being okay with that. There’s an expectation, especially for female protagonists, that they should be likeble, or at least sympathetic in a conventional way. But Maika isn’t here to be liked. She’s not soft, she’s not easy, and she doesn’t care about making people comfortable,” explains Liu. She says that it was challenging at first, but once she understood how to finesse Maika’s sharp edges with a deeply emotional core — that this was far more powerful than succumbing to the expectations that female characters were expected to be ‘palatable’. “Her journey isn’t just about fighting external enemies; it’s about whether she can let herself trust, whether she can allow herself to care without seeing it as a weakness. That tension—between her survival instincts and the relationships she forms—has become one of the most rewarding parts of writing her. She isn’t always nice, but she is always true to herself—” Liu asserts.

The future of Monstress

The world of Monstress is vast and limitless and it is hoped that with their pioneering efforts, that Liu and Takeda have encouraged more female creators to pursue comics in this long-form narrative style, “there’s definitely more than enough story to fill another ten years of volumes — but more importantly, we love these characters. From the very beginning, this has been a deeply personal project for me and Sana, one that has grown and evolved alongside us. As long as readers are willing to take this journey with us, we’ll keep Monstress alive,” says Liu.

Monstress Issue #56 hits comic book shelves on March 26th; and Monstress Issue #57 lands on April 23rd, 2025.

For all collected editions and archives of Monstress, visit Image Comics.