The multi-award-winning Laura Pérez (Valencia, 1983), who considers herself a "storyteller," fell in love with the graphic medium after publishing Náufragos (Shipwrecked) with Pablo Monforte, a work that earned her the IX Fnac Salamandra Graphic Award. Pérez, who received special recognition in 2022 for designing the animated opening credits for the Disney+ series Only Murders in the Building, is now among seven Spanish artists nominated for the Eisner Awards.

Her latest work, Nocturnos (Nightfalls), is an intimate journey into the night and the mysteries of sleep. Pérez approached the subject by asking herself, "What am I going to say that hasn't been said before?". After two years of creative process, she shaped a comic that, according to many readers, brings "calm" and explores the night as "a place that doesn't entirely belong to us," serving as a reflection on the passage of time and the boundary between life and death.

The illustrator explains that she had the courage to move away from the short, ephemeral stories she was accustomed to, focusing instead on a metaphorical main character: the night. Pérez also highlights the connection she has made with readers who work night shifts, such as doctors or security guards, "who come saying they felt identified," something she kept in mind during the creation process.

Although Nocturnos is her most recent work, Pérez does not consider herself particularly nocturnal, feeling she has "a divided soul": "At night I'm more visual, and during the day I'm more narrative." What truly drives her are emotions, and she believes the most beautiful aspect of a graphic novel is "that it takes you through different states," achieved by playing with panels, characters, and color psychology. She assures she is not afraid to experiment with each book to avoid feeling like a "robot."

The Eisner nomination, in the 'Best U.S. Edition of International Material' category for the Fantagraphics edition, came as a surprise while she was signing books at the Prague Book Fair. Nocturnos had already been recognized as one of the best comics of the year by the New York Public Library and had received the Antifaz Award at the Valencia Comic Fair in 2025, along with nominations in Naples and Comic Barcelona. Previously, her comic Ocultos (Hidden) won the RNE Critical Eye Award for Comics in 2020.

Pérez states that "you make books because you want to make them, and then, the recognition comes or it doesn't." For her, being nominated is already an award, as she has gained the certainty that she "did the right thing" with her comic.