Shōjo manga pioneer Moto Hagio has received the Inkpot Award from Comic-Con International in San Diego on Friday. The convention presented the award to Hagio, who is a special guest of the event, at the beginning of her ongoing panel.

Hagio helped pioneer both modern shōjo manga and modern science fiction manga. Along with To Terra's Keiko Takemiya and Rose of Versailles' Riyoko Ikeda, she co-founded the Year 24 Group — a group of innovative female manga creators who were born in or around the Year Shōwa 24 (1949) and who shaped the now diverse field of shōjo manga. Along the way, Hagio earned the Shogakukan Manga Award, Seiun Award, Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize, and Nihon SF Taisho Award.

Hagio's appearance marks the launch of Fantagraphics's new manga line in September. Fantagraphics will ship A Drunken Dream and Other Stories (a collection of short stories by Hagio) that month.

Comic-Con International presents the Inkpot Awards every year to a selection of its guests, as well as members of its committee and Board of Directors. Studio Ghibli co-founder and anime director Hayao Miyazaki received the award at the beginning of his Comic-Con International panel last year.