Markus Witzel, aka Mawil, was born in 1976 in Berlin, where he now lives. He began publishing his comics in fanzines and anthologies while still at school. After graduating from high school, he studied graphic design at the Berlin-Weissensee School of Art, where he founded the comic group Monogatari with other like-minded people. During his studies, he created his first longer album "Strand Safari" featuring Mawil's alter ego, a bespectacled rabbit. A year later, he graduated with "Wir können ja Freunde bleiben". In 2014, Mawil was awarded the Max und Moritz Award for "Best German-language Comic" for "Kinderland".  In 2021, Mawil was honored with the prestigious Wilhelm Busch Prize for his complete works. He was the first German illustrator to have the honour of drawing a "Lucky Luke" tribute - "Lucky Luke saddles up". His first children's books "Mauer, Leiter, Bauarbeiterand" and "Power-Prinzessinnen-Patrouille" were published in 2021. Since then, three more children's books have been published. The latest is "Fritzi Frühaufsteher" in autumn 2023.