My Monster Diary

2019 Angoulême International Comics Festival Official Selection & Fauve d'Or (Golden Beast)
2019 ACBD Comics Critics Prize (France)
2018 Eisner Award for Best Penciller/Inker
2017 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Graphic Novel
Emil Ferris’s debut graphic novel, “My Favorite Thing Is Monsters,” is a murder mystery, a family drama, a sweeping epic, and a psychological thriller about monsters—both real and imaginary, internal and external.
Set against the backdrop of the political turmoil of late 1960s Chicago, this fictional work recounts everything about monsters through the eyes of ten-year-old Karen Reyes, as depicted in her illustrated diary filled with B-movie horror scenes and pulp monster magazine characters.
As we follow precocious Karen Reyes trying to unravel the murder of her beautiful upstairs neighbor and Holocaust survivor Anka Silverberg, the fascinating intertwined stories of those around Karen unfold: her brother Deeze, who received a draft notice and is tormented by a mysterious past event; jazz musician “Crazyfoot” Sam Silverberg; gang boss Mr. Gronan; drag queen Franklin; and ventriloquist Mr. Chagg. As Karen's investigation leads us back to Anka’s past in Nazi Germany, readers will discover how personal, political, past, and present converge, and how even good can harbor a terrifying hint of the monstrous.
“My Favorite Thing Is Monsters” masterfully combines comic paneling and montage to create a stunning, kaleidoscopic visual style, making it a work of astonishing originality, deeply moving, and thought-provoking.