My Favorite Thing is Monsters

Just finished reading Emil Ferris's amazing graphic novel and I can say, as a grizzled comics fan with wide-ranging tastes, that I've honestly never seen anything quite like it. Spectacular illustrations cover almost every inch of this huge volume, all printed on lined three-hole paper emulating the illustrated diary of the ten-year-old protagonist, a tough and beleaguered tomboy on the rough streets of 1960's Chicago. Well-written and deeply immersive, this piece drew me into the world of Karen, a monster-obsessed kid struggling with sexuality, race, poverty, and the violence of her surroundings. It is as dark a work as I've read in comics yet has a jaunty sort of zest for life in it that constantly pulls the narrative along and saves the reader from being overwhelmed by some of the disturbing elements within. It's especially astonishing as the first work from a writer/artist, working in seclusion for over six years. It reminds me, in all the best ways, of the confessional work of Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar, of the strange life-stories of Chris Ware and Daniel Clowes and Jeffrey Brown. It also reminds me of my own childhood, of how different a child can view the world, though my own early years were far less fearful. Ferris's illustrations also show an abiding love not just for horror movies (and particularly for our mutual Universal monster favorite, the Wolf Man) but for the great horror magazines of the 1960's from CREEPY and FAMOUS MONSTERS though the gory WEIRD and TERROR TALES varieties. Perhaps also some of the Spanish/Mexican horror mags, too, I'd guess. This is a great book. I can see it speaking to those that struggled with gender issues, but its scope is well beyond that, a love poem to lonely, different kids everywhere. I eagerly await the second part of the story, which will be published in early 2018. Go to Amazon and browse through a few pages, if you wish. It is not a story for children (and, honestly, I swore aloud when I hit the pages that will keep it out of most school libraries) but it speaks to the damaged child in each of us, I think.

She grew up in gritty Chicago loving monsters. I grew up in gritty New York, also loving monsters. My brothers and I lived for the days when, "Frankenstein" or, "The Wolfman" were on TV, or, "The Crawling Eye," or, "The Attack of the Crab Monsters," or "Them!" I loved comics. They taught me how to read. They made me WANT to read. Stan Lee's overblown scripts would send me to the dictionary, something that nothing else succeeded in doing, not my mother's cajoling or the scourges of the nuns. I loved the artistry, and collected my favorites. They kindled in me a love of all art. I knew the names of my favorite artists and writers, and looked for them on splash pages. My brothers and I spent all our time drawing and writing stories. This was not an approved pastime. I lived in a beautiful, but decrepit prewar complex of apartment buildings, all connected by roof, alley and underground tunnels. Secret doors and maze-like paths were our playground. I ran with a constantly shifting pack of kids as we scoured the neighborhood for adventure. The garbage heaps were our raw materials. This was our enchanted castle. Our family had dark secrets, secret shame, divorce and madness. My father disappeared one day, and I didn't find out what happened to him for twenty-five years. Monsters were a vacation from a reality that I couldn't understand. I understand Emil Ferris' vision. Her childhood world was like mine. Her heroine, Karen, is smarter than I was, but I had kindly neighbors that I cared for and who cared for me as well. I wasn't as brave as Karen. I didn't probe my mother's secrets, I just wanted to escape them. Emil Ferris' work is astonishing. It is beautiful and terrible and true. Her pen work and esthetic evokes and imitates the great masters. Her visual storytelling is fluid, sumptuous and poetic. Her story is sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, but always compelling. I can't wait for volume two.

Imagine (if you can) someone taking David Lynch's "Blue Velvet", and gene-splicing it with the classic movie monsters of Universal Studios, the seedy underbelly of Chicago, and a pre-teen's gorgeous biro-pen-rendered journal. That's about the best summary I can come up with for "My Favourite Thing is Monsters" by Emil Ferris. Emil has constructed a story world like no other, written from the perspective of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, who is thrown into a deviously twisted mystery involving the murder of her upstairs neighbour. Karen's investigation leads her to the taped journals of Anka (her beautiful neighbour) and her harrowing past. This is one hugely thick and immensely satisfying book to get wrapped up in. Laid out against the backdrop of a foolscap-lined spiral bound journal, Emil's artwork will grab you by the throat and shake you. Exquisite ballpen drawings intermixed with garishly coloured (but again gorgeous) pulp horror comic book covers and scratchier pen drawings, if nothing else it's a visual feast (and I've become completely obsessed with drawing and mimicking this style myself in my own art). Beyond that though it's a gripping read as the story darts between Karen's observations of her dying mother, her louche brother and of course deeper digs into Anka's life. It took a bit of getting hold of this in the UK but you can find copies (I highly recommend Speedy Kitty as a reseller if you want a copy pronto in great condition btw). It's probably one of the best graphic novels I've ever read (and I've read a lot), and I'm overjoyed to hear a sequel is on the way. You need this in your life, simple as.

Weird, beautiful and wonderful!

This book has 'a must read' written all over it. Fantastic debut by Emil Ferris. Inventive, beautiful and sincere, the work presented as a diary entries of a 10-year-old Chicago girl Karen Reyes who lives in the world of monsters but that is only part of the story.

Non ci sono parole per descrivere la bellezza di questo libro. Ogni pagina è meritevole di attenzione sin nei minimi dettagli. Imperdibile.

J'ai très rarement rencontré de livres aussi fort, et pourtant, j'en consomme en quantité industrielle. Chaque page m'agrippe et ce livre ne me lâche plus. Je suis entrée tout droit dans l'histoire, le personnage de Karen est atypique et ultra-attachant, chaque silhouette a un background, c'est riche de détails, le dessin est incroyable... Tout est tellement vrai dans ce livre, et en même temps fantasmagorique. Savoir qu'il y a un tome 2 est un plaisir rassurant. Et j'attends avec impatience la sortie de la version française chez Monsieur Toussaint Louverture, pour l'offrir et le conseiller à mes proches et amis francophones. I have very rarely encountered books this powerful, and yet I use consume them in huge quantities. Each page has a grip on me and never let go. I walked straight into the story, Karen's character is atypical and so endearing, each drawn extra you spot has an actual background, the book is amazingly rich in details, the art is incredible... Everything feels so true in this book, and yet phantasmagorical. Knowing that a second volume is coming reassures. And I look forward to the French version, soon to be released by Mr. Toussaint Louverture, so I'll be able to showcase this wonder to my french-speaking friends and family.