My Favorite Thing Is Monsters | |
---|---|
Date |
|
Publisher | Fantagraphics |
Creative team | |
Creator | Emil Ferris |
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is a two-volume debut graphic novel by American writer Emil Ferris. It portrays a young girl named Karen Reyes investigating the death of her neighbor in 1960s Chicago. Ferris started working on the graphic novel after contracting West Nile virus and becoming paralyzed at age forty. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for writing and began the graphic novel to help her recover in 2010, taking six years to create 700 pages. The work draws on Ferris's childhood growing up in Chicago, and her love of monsters and horror media. The process of creating the book was difficult, with Ferris working long hours, living frugally, and encountering publishing setbacks, such as a cancelation by one publisher and the temporary seizure of the first volume's printing at the Panama Canal.
The first volume was published by Fantagraphics on February 14, 2017. The graphic novel won the 2017 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel and two 2018 Eisner Awards, and was nominated for a 2018 Hugo Award. The French edition won the ACBD's Prix de la critique and the Fauve D'Or at the 2019 Angoulême International Comics Festival. My Favorite Thing Is Monsters has received critical acclaim and is considered by many critics to be one of the best graphic novels of 2017.
A related comic that Ferris created for Free Comic Book Day won the 2020 Eisner Award for "Best Single Issue/One-Shot".
The second volume was published in May 2024 by Fantagraphics. [1] In April 2023, Pantheon Books acquired an upcoming prequel titled Records of the Damned. [2]
This article needs a plot summary.(November 2024) |
Prior to working in comics, Ferris was a freelance illustrator and toy designer. [3] After contracting West Nile virus at age forty in 2002, Ferris became paralyzed from the waist down and lost the use of her right hand, preventing her from drawing and doing freelance work. The origin for My Favorite Thing Is Monsters was a screenplay Ferris wrote of "a werewolf lesbian girl being enfolded into the protective arms of a Frankenstein trans kid". The theme of two outsiders was then carried over to a short story she wrote in 2004. [4] While attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for an M.F.A. in creative writing, Ferris taught herself drawing again and began work on My Favorite Thing Is Monsters to recover. Starting in 2010, it took Ferris six years to complete the manuscript. Her thesis formed the first 24 pages of the graphic novel and secured her a publisher. Ferris often worked sixteen-hour days and lived very frugally while working on the graphic novel. She averaged a rate of around a page every two days. [4] Ferris has said that the process required effort to manipulate her drawing hand properly, which, even after recovery, did not regain the same dexterity. [5] [4]
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters was mainly drawn using a Bic ballpoint pen and the text was written with Paper Mate's felt tip Flair pen. [5] As drawing directly on notebook paper made corrections difficult, Ferris used a drawing layer over a notebook layer. [6] Ferris did not use outlines while drawing, instead letting images that were evoked collect visually in her head. The presentation of the graphic novel as a spiral-bound diary was an autobiographical aspect, with Ferris's classmates always passing around her notebooks. [4] [6] Ferris eschewed panels because she felt that she needed creative freedom and that readers needed a visually dense experience. [6]
This was the '60s. I watched protests being broken up by the police. I saw bigotry. It made me think about our own inner monstrousness. [5]
– Emil Ferris
Many aspects of the graphic novel are inspired by Ferris's childhood. The author was obsessed with monsters as a child, eagerly looking forward to Creature Features on Saturday nights, which had monsters she would weep for. [7] Ferris had scoliosis, and to get attention on the playground, she told horror stories. The protagonist, Karen's, portrayal as a werewolf reflects how Ferris saw herself as a child—observing the oppressive social role her beautiful mother, as well as other humans, had to play. [3] The graphic novel is set in Chicago during the late 1960s, and Ferris grew up in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. [5] Her parents were both artists, and she would often visit the Art Institute of Chicago, which is featured in the graphic novel, with them. [3] As a child, Ferris was part of a theatrical troupe near the Graceland Cemetery—which she visited, hoping to find monsters or a ghost—and the graphic novel includes the Eternal Silence sculpture from the cemetery. [7] Ferris gained an understanding of World War II by talking to Holocaust survivors who lived in the neighborhood of Rogers Park, which she had moved to. [6] She would visit the owner of a gallery who had an identification number tattoo, as well as to elderly survivors, forming a connection between their experiences and monsters. [8]
In terms of artistic influences, Ferris was exposed to the works of Francisco Goya and Honoré Daumier as a child, as well as Collier's illustrated Dickens. The latter's "articulated and atmospheric" drawings were an experience that Ferris wanted to replicate. [3] Cartoonists who were inspirations for her include Robert Crumb, Alison Bechdel, and Art Spiegelman. She has also cited horror film posters and stories from EC Comics as ideas for the mock covers. [5]
While halfway through work on My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Ferris had to find a new publisher when the first one, Other Press, said the book was too long [9] and that they could not properly market it. After receiving 48 rejections for 50 submissions, the graphic novel was picked up by Fantagraphics. [4] The work was originally over 700 pages, but Fantagraphics split it into two volumes to keep the price reasonable. [10] Publication was set for October 31, 2016, to coincide with Halloween. [4] In October, [11] the ship containing the print run of the graphic novel—10,000 copies—was seized at the Panama Canal due to the freight company, Hanjin Shipping, having gone bankrupt. While the ship was released by the Panamanian government later that month, [9] publication was still delayed due to the media campaign being pushed to February 2017, in anticipation of a required reprint. [12] The first volume was published by Fantagraphics on February 14, 2017. [13] [14] In March 2017, the graphic novel received a second print run of 30,000 copies, the largest second printing Fantagraphics had ever done. [10] In March 2017, Sony Pictures won an auction for the film rights to the work, with Amasia Entertainment's Bradley Gallo and Michael Helfant producing. [15] Sam Mendes was in early talks to possibly direct. [16]
On November 3, 2016, in order to raise funds for the second volume of the graphic novel and a new computer, Ferris ran a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe, raising $11,000. [17] The second volume was originally slated for an October 2017 release. [10] The novel has also been published in France by Monsieur Toussaint Louverture, [18] in Canada by Éditions Alto, [19] in Italy by Bao Publishing, [20] in Spain by Reservoir Books, [21] and in Germany by Panini. [22] The French version received a limited print run as a hardcover edition by its original publisher. [23]
For Free Comic Book Day on May 5, 2019, Ferris created Our Favorite Thing Is My Favorite Thing Is Monsters. It contained an original sixteen-page monster story as well as the autobiographical "The Bite That Changed My Life" and "How to Draw a Monster". [24]
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters has been critically acclaimed. Reviewers for the graphic novel have noted the quality of Ferris's artwork and writing compared to her inexperience in comics publishing. [25] [14] Douglas Wolk of The New York Times said that Ferris has a "portraitist's skill with tiny subtleties of expression and lighting and a New Objectivist's eye for the raw grotesquerie of bodies and their surroundings". [26] The graphic novel has also been received positively by other notable comics artists. Art Spiegelman told The New York Times that Ferris is "one of the most important comics artists of our time" and that she "uses the sketchbook idea as a way to change the grammar and syntax of the comics page". [5] The cover of the novel features praise from Chris Ware [27] and Alison Bechdel. [28]
Paul Tumey of The Comics Journal compared the cross-hatching used to "both vividly delineate detailed forms and evoke a wide palette of emotion" to the work of Robert Crumb and likened the graphic novel to a patchwork quilt he owns, calling it "weird, unique, [and] lovingly crafted from caring and devotion". [14] Oliver Sava of The A.V. Club called it a masterpiece, saying that it stands out against contemporary graphic novels with its "visual splendor, narrative ingenuity, and emotional impact", concluding that "Ferris immediately establishes herself as one of the most exciting, provocative talents in the comics industry". [29] John Powers of NPR said that "for all its stylistic tour-de-forciness, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is filled with emotion", finding that "every page feels like it's been secreted from the very core of [Ferris's] being". [30]
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters has charted on the Publishers Weekly graphic novel bestseller list. [31] The work garnered three nominations at the 2017 Ignatz Awards—Outstanding Artist, Outstanding Graphic Novel, and Outstanding Story [32] —winning Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Graphic Novel. [33] The novel was nominated for five 2018 Eisner Awards: Best Graphic Album–New, Best Writer/Artist, Best Coloring, Best Lettering, and Best Publication Design. [34] [35] It won Best Graphic Album–New, Best Writer/Artist, and Best Coloring. [36] It was also nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story in 2018. [37] The work won a Division Award from the National Cartoonists Society for Graphic Novels. [38] It also won in the category LGBTQ Graphic Novel at the 30th Lambda Literary Awards in 2018. [39] The French edition won the ACBD's Prix de la critique 2019 [40] as well as the Fauve D'Or at the 2019 Angoulême International Comics Festival. [41] The graphic novel has been considered by many critics as one of the best of 2017, including at The New York Times, [42] Publishers Weekly, [43] Comic Book Resources, [44] The A.V. Club, [45] and The Comics Journal. [46] In a tabulation of 136 "Best Comics of 2017" lists, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters received the most mentions. [47]
Ferris's freebie for Free Comic Book Day, Our Favorite Thing Is My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, won the 2020 Eisner Award for "Best Single Issue/One-Shot". [48]
Fantagraphics is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the erotic Eros Comix imprint.
Peter Bagge is an American cartoonist whose best-known work includes the comics Neat Stuff and Hate. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced expectations of middle-class American youth. He won two Harvey Awards in 1991, one for best cartoonist and one for his work on Hate. In recent decades Bagge has done more fact-based comics, everything from biographies to history to comics journalism. Publishers of Bagge's articles, illustrations, and comics include suck.com, MAD Magazine, toonlet, Discover, and the Weekly World News, with the comic strip Adventures of Batboy. He has expressed his libertarian views in features for Reason.
Daniel Gillespie Clowes is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in Eightball, a solo anthology comic book series. An Eightball issue typically contained several short pieces and a chapter of a longer narrative that was later collected and published as a graphic novel, such as Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron (1993), Ghost World (1997), David Boring (2000) and Patience (2016). Clowes's illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Newsweek, Vogue, The Village Voice, and elsewhere. With filmmaker Terry Zwigoff, Clowes adapted Ghost World into a 2001 film and another Eightball story into the 2006 film, Art School Confidential. Clowes's comics, graphic novels, and films have received numerous awards, including a Pen Award for Outstanding Work in Graphic Literature, over a dozen Harvey and Eisner Awards, and an Academy Award nomination.
Barry Windsor-Smith is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best-known work has been produced in the United States. He attained note working on Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian from 1970 to 1973, and for his work on the character Wolverine, particularly the 1991 "Weapon X" story arc. His other noted Marvel work included a 1984 "Thing" story in Marvel Fanfare, the "Lifedeath" and "Lifedeath II" stories with writer Chris Claremont that focused on the de-powered Storm in The Uncanny X-Men, as well as the 1984 Machine Man limited series with Herb Trimpe and Tom DeFalco.
Ivan Brunetti is an Italian and American cartoonist and comics scholar based in Chicago.
John Backderf, also known as Derf or Derf Backderf, is an American cartoonist. He is most famous for his graphic novels, especially My Friend Dahmer, the international bestseller which won an Angoulême Prize, and earlier for his comic strip The City, which appeared in a number of alternative newspapers from 1990 to 2014. In 2006 Derf won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for cartooning. Backderf has been based in Cleveland, Ohio, for much of his career.
John Arne Sæterøy, better known by the pen name Jason, is a Norwegian cartoonist, known for his sparse drawing style and silent, anthropomorphic animal characters.
Thomas Martin Spurgeon was an American writer, historian, critic, and editor in the field of comics, notable for his five-year run as editor of The Comics Journal and his blog The Comics Reporter.
Carol Tyler is an American painter, educator, comedian, and eleven-time Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist known for her autobiographical comics. She has received multiple honors for her work including the Cartoonist Studio Prize, the Ohio Arts Council Excellence Award, and was declared a Master Cartoonist at the 2016 Cartoon Crossroads Columbus Festival at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.
Castle Waiting is a graphic novel series, created by Linda Medley, first published in 1996. It is set in a world of fairy tales and mythology featuring a mix of old-fashioned storytelling and more ironic, modern touches. The series brings together characters from several classic fairy tales, such as Simple Simon and Iron Henry, as well as referencing several others such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Sleeping Beauty. The story focuses on the daily lives of the characters, their interactions with one another, and their complicated pasts.
Svetlana Chmakova is a Russian-Canadian comic book artist. She is best known for Dramacon, an original English-language (OEL) manga spanning three volumes and published in North America by Tokyopop. Her other original work includes Nightschool and Awkward for Yen Press. She has been nominated for an Eisner Award twice. Previously, she created The Adventures of CG for CosmoGIRL! magazine and the webcomic Chasing Rainbows for Girlamatic.
William Carl Schelly was an Eisner Award-winning author who chronicled the history of comic books and comic book fandom, and wrote biographies of comic book creators, including Otto Binder, L.B. Cole, Joe Kubert, Harvey Kurtzman, John Stanley, and James Warren as well as silent film comedian Harry Langdon.
Noah Van Sciver is an independent American cartoonist who resides in Columbia, South Carolina.
Kim Thompson was an American comic book editor, translator, and publisher, best known as vice president and co-publisher of Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books. Along with co-publisher Gary Groth, Thompson used his position to further the cause of alternative comics in the American market. In addition, Thompson made it his business to bring the work of European cartoonists to American readers.
Edward R. Piskor Jr. was an American alternative comics cartoonist. Piskor was known primarily for his work on Hip Hop Family Tree, X-Men: Grand Design, and the Red Room trilogy. Piskor also co-hosted the YouTube channel Cartoonist Kayfabe with fellow Pittsburgh native cartoonist Jim Rugg. In March 2024, Piskor was accused via social media of sexual misconduct. Piskor died on April 1, 2024, at the age of 41, hours after posting a suicide note via social media, defending himself against the allegations leveled against him.
Emil Ferris is an American writer, cartoonist, and designer. Ferris debuted in publishing with her 2017 graphic novel My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, which was praised as a "masterpiece" and one of the best comics by a new author.
Spinning is a graphic novel memoir by cartoonist Tillie Walden that was first published by First Second Books on September 12, 2017. The memoir chronicles Walden's years coming-of-age as a competitive figure skater, as she navigates romance, bullying and various traumas. It won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work.
Tillie Walden is an American cartoonist who has published five graphic novels and a webcomic. Walden won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work for her graphic novel Spinning, making her one of the youngest Eisner Award winners ever. She was named Vermont's Cartoonist Laureate for the years 2023 - 2026, making her the state's youngest-ever Cartoonist Laureate.
Ben Passmore is an American comics artist and political cartoonist.