Arts and Entertainment

'Menopause: A Comic Treatment' wins two prestigious Eisner Awards

Penn State University Press anthology honored by San Diego ComicCon

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — "Menopause: A Comic Treatment," edited by MK Czerwiec and published by Penn State University Press in 2020, has been awarded the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Anthology, and Mimi Pond’s “When the Menopausal Carnival Comes to Town,” one of the comics contained in the anthology, has been named Best Short Story. The 33rd Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, sponsored by comiXology and presented by the San Diego Comic Convention (Comic-Con), were announced at a virtual ceremony as part of Comic-Con@Home on Friday, July 23.

Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Featuring contributions from Lynda Barry, Leslie Ewing, Joyce Farmer, Ellen Forney, Teva Harrison, Ajuan Mance, Mimi Pond, and many others, "Menopause" was released in August 2020 as part of Penn State University Press’ "Graphic Medicine" series. The collection of short comics unapologetically depicts the condition and all its attendant symptoms in order to combat social stigma and empower those undergoing menopause. The anthology was previously named a Best Graphic Novel of 2020 by the New York Times, where columnist Hillary Chute called it “eclectic and often humorous” and praised editor and former nurse MK Czerwiec’s inclusion of genderqueer and trans perspectives. It was also named one of the top ten graphic novels of the year by Booklist.

MK Czerwiec is the author of the autobiographical graphic novel "Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371," and a coauthor of the Eisner-nominated "Graphic Medicine Manifesto," both of which were also published in the "Graphic Medicine" series. Both "Menopause" and "Taking Turns" will be re-released this fall as part of Penn State University Press’s new graphic novel imprint, Graphic Mundi.

Last Updated August 11, 2021