Paperback, 416 pages
Published Oct. 30, 2017 by Fantagraphics.
Set against the tumultuous political backdrop of late ’60s Chicago, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is the fictional graphic diary of 10-year-old Karen Reyes, filled with B-movie horror and pulp monster magazines iconography. Karen Reyes tries to solve the murder of her enigmatic upstairs neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a holocaust survivor, while the interconnected stories of those around her unfold. When Karen’s investigation takes us back to Anka’s life in Nazi Germany, the reader discovers how the personal, the political, the past, and the present converge. Full-color illustrations throughout.
A great demonstration on how to build up the story and give you an emotional punch in the precise moment. The artwork is also exceptional and very original.
As if the breathtakingly rendered visuals weren’t enough, featured on these pages is also a wholly emotional tale, and the reader’s only regret will be the need to await a second volume.
OMG, so wonderful! Difficult to read, sometimes, but oh, so worth it. Beautiful and heartbreaking...can't wait to read the next volume.
My Favorite Thing is Monsters is a beautiful brick of a graphic novel. It's in the format of 10 year old Karen Reyes's journal, drawn on ruled paper. She loves horror B-movies and wishes she was a monster rather than a girl. She draws herself as a little (kinda adorable) werewolf, rarely acknowledging the reality.
Set in 1960's Chicago, against the backdrop of political turmoil, real-life events creep in around the edges but are not pivotal to the plot. When Karen's neighbour, Anka, is found dead in a kind of locked room mystery scenario, she sets out to find answers.
Anka's history takes the reader back to 1940's Germany, where she lives with prostitutes and becomes the focus of a creepy Nazi who likes children. It bounces between historical and surreal, with Karen grappling with her sexuality in her present day.
I loved the fake horror magazine covers that separate …
My Favorite Thing is Monsters is a beautiful brick of a graphic novel. It's in the format of 10 year old Karen Reyes's journal, drawn on ruled paper. She loves horror B-movies and wishes she was a monster rather than a girl. She draws herself as a little (kinda adorable) werewolf, rarely acknowledging the reality.
Set in 1960's Chicago, against the backdrop of political turmoil, real-life events creep in around the edges but are not pivotal to the plot. When Karen's neighbour, Anka, is found dead in a kind of locked room mystery scenario, she sets out to find answers.
Anka's history takes the reader back to 1940's Germany, where she lives with prostitutes and becomes the focus of a creepy Nazi who likes children. It bounces between historical and surreal, with Karen grappling with her sexuality in her present day.
I loved the fake horror magazine covers that separate out the main story. I felt each one was connected in some way to what was going on. It would definitely be worth a re-read, if only to gaze again at the gorgeous artwork. I'm not sure I know what the hell happened at the end but it there is a volume two coming soon which I hope will provide answers. I did read it during readathon though, so it might just have been my tired brain!
An astounding achievement about a young girl investigating a murder in her Uptown Chicago apartment building in 1968. The level of artistry (meant to be a facsimile of the main character's sketchbook) has to be seen to be believed. As a reading experience? It's denser than concrete and the narrative ties itself in maddening knots. I'll definitely read the next volume but I walked away respecting it more than I enjoyed it.
Wow.
After even just a cursory flip through this great big book, you’ll understand why writer and artist Emil Ferris spent over six years working on it. Each page is a cross-hatched labor of love. It’s written as the heavily illustrated diary of a 10-year-old girl named Karen Reyes who’s obsessed with monsters (depicting herself as a wolfgirl), especially the undead sort, and longs for the day one finally pops out of the shadows to make her one of them. This singular story grabs you from page one with hairy, clawed hands and carries you along at a brisk pace as Karen investigates the suspicious death and mysterious life of her upstairs neighbor (drawing herself as a wolfgirl detective in a trenchcoat and fedora), navigates awkward friendships and gut-wrenching family issues, and discovers her own queerness. A Chicago native, Ferris set her tale in Chicago in late 60s. Having grown up …
After even just a cursory flip through this great big book, you’ll understand why writer and artist Emil Ferris spent over six years working on it. Each page is a cross-hatched labor of love. It’s written as the heavily illustrated diary of a 10-year-old girl named Karen Reyes who’s obsessed with monsters (depicting herself as a wolfgirl), especially the undead sort, and longs for the day one finally pops out of the shadows to make her one of them. This singular story grabs you from page one with hairy, clawed hands and carries you along at a brisk pace as Karen investigates the suspicious death and mysterious life of her upstairs neighbor (drawing herself as a wolfgirl detective in a trenchcoat and fedora), navigates awkward friendships and gut-wrenching family issues, and discovers her own queerness. A Chicago native, Ferris set her tale in Chicago in late 60s. Having grown up there myself, I enjoyed recognizing city landmarks and it was a pleasure to explore the Art Institute of Chicago through Karen’s eyes, a place where I spent so much time myself. Karen’s voice and emotions feel so very real to me. For all the talk about and drawings of monsters, this is a very human story with wonderfully complex and well-realized characters. That combined with the numerous expressive drawings on each and every page (drawings that ought to be studied at length even though the story is a rapid page-turner), makes this an exceptional monster-girl coming-of-age story. I’m eager to read volume 2...
