KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 ― Local animator and illustrator Erica Eng has won the much-coveted Eisner Award for comics, with her webcomic Fried Rice.

In a post today on her Twitter account @paprikapeprica, Eng congratulated her parents, family and friends for her success, and to all Malaysians for inspiring her to set her story in the nation.

“Thank you mom and dad for your unending support and prayers. Thank you to my extended family and friends for your prayers, affection and support,” Eng wrote.

She also thanked the judging panel for honouring her story.

“And thank you to my Malaysian brothers and sisters who’ve inspired me with your lives to set this story in our own beautiful country,” she added.

 

She first received her nomination on June 5 for her charming webcomic which centres around a young girl from Batu Pahat, Johor named Min who visits her cousin in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur while applying to an art school in New York.

Readers are given a glimpse into daily Malaysian life from sudden tropical downpours to familiar colloquialisms.

The 21-year-old who left secondary school in 2015 completed a Digital Animation diploma last year and is currently pursuing a 3D character animation degree with the Academy of Art University.

Eng is the second Malaysian female to receive an Eisner nomination after Reimena Yee in 2018 for her graphic novel The Carpet Merchant Of Konstantiniyya.

The Eisner Awards is the comics industry’s Oscar-equivalent that is presented annually at the San Diego Comic-Con in July.

Besides Eng and Yee, previous Eisner nominees include Seremban-born, Singapore-based comics artist Sonny Liew received six nominations for his acclaimed graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye in 2017.

More than a decade prior, Tan Eng Huat also known by his pseudonym Kutu, took home the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award in 2002.