Emil Ferris (; born 1962) is an American writer, cartoonist, and designer. Ferris debuted in publishing with her 2017 graphic novel ''

My Favorite Thing Is Monsters ''My Favorite Thing Is Monsters'' is the 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 ...

''. The novel tells a coming-of-age story of Karen Reyes, a girl growing in 1960s Chicago, and is written and drawn in the form of the character's notebook. The graphic novel was praised as a "masterpiece" and one of the best comics by a new author.

Early life

Emil Ferris was born to

Eleanor Spiess-Ferris Eleanor Spiess-Ferris (born July 3, 1941) is an American symbolist painterYood, James, Artforum International, reviews Zaks Gallery, September, 1991 cited as a significant surrealist,Marcus, Stanley, Exploring Imaginary Subjects, Watercolor ’88 ...

and Mike Ferris on Chicago's South Side and grew up on North Side's

Uptown Uptown may refer to: Neighborhoods or regions in several cities United States * Uptown, entertainment district east of Downtown and Midtown Albuquerque, New Mexico * Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina * Uptown, area surrounding the University of C ...

. Her parents are artists who met at the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

. Ferris traces her Hispanic lineage from Indigenous Mexico to Spain, and is also of Lebanese,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, French,

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

emigres, and

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

Jewish descent.

Career

Ferris worked as a freelance illustrator and toy designer for clients such as

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

and

Takara Tomy is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on March 1st 2006 of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Tak ...

before being an author. Ferris identified early in her life as a lesbian but later on came to see herself as bisexual. Ferris was

sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...

as a child, which she says negatively affected her ability to draw in a

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

style for many years. In 2001, when she was 40, Ferris contracted

West Nile fever West Nile fever is an infection by the West Nile virus, which is typically spread by mosquitoes. In about 80% of infections people have few or no symptoms. About 20% of people develop a fever, headache, vomiting, or a rash. In less than 1% of ...

from a mosquito bite. Three weeks after going to the hospital, she was paralyzed from the waist down and lost movement in her right hand. She eventually regained motor functionality and returned to working and drawing, receiving a MFA in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

from the

. While recovering from the paralysis, Ferris worked on her graphic novel. ''

'' tells the story of Karen Reyes, a 10-year-old girl and fan of monster movies (like Ferris herself) who, growing up amidst the social tensions of 1960s Chicago, investigates the death of her upstairs neighbor. The book is written and drawn in the form of Reyes' diary notebook, with crosshatched artwork drawn with a ballpoint pen. ''My Favorite Thing is Monsters'' was to be released in 2016, but the Chinese company shipping the books went bankrupt and the entire run was held at the Panama Canal. The 400-page book was eventually released in 2017 by

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

, receiving praise from authors like

Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade (comics maga ...

Alison Bechdel Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir ''Fun Home'', which ...

, and

Chris Ware Franklin Christenson "Chris" Ware (born December 28, 1967) is an American cartoonist known for his ''Acme Novelty Library'' series (begun 1994) and the graphic novels ''Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth'' (2000), ''Building Stories'' (2012 ...

; it was regarded as one of the best comics of 2017. In April 2022, Ferris was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to

Operation USA Operation USA (also known as OpUSA, Operation California, or OpCal) is a non profit humanitarian organization supporting health, education and relief programs at home and abroad in order to help children and families recover and thrive in the wak ...

's benefit anthology book, ''Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds'', a project spearheaded by editor

Scott Dunbier Scott Dunbier is an American comic book editor, best known as the Special Projects Editor at IDW Publishing. Career Dunbier rose to prominence in the comic book industry as executive editor of the Wildstorm comic book line. After several years a ...

, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Awards

* 2017

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...

for Outstanding Graphic Novel for ''

'' * 2017

for Outstanding Artist * 2018 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Graphic Novel for ''

'' * 201
Lynd Ward Prize
for best graphic novel of the year for ''

'' * 2018

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

for Best Writer/Artist *2019 Grand prix de la critique ACBD *2019 Fauve d’or at FIBD 2019

References

External links

*
Radio interview
with Emil Ferris on ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 6 ...

'' (43 minutes, 2017) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferris, Emil American female comics artists School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni American comics writers Female comics writers Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Artist 1961 births Living people American people of Lebanese descent Lambda Literary Award winners Eisner Award winners for Best Writer/Artist American LGBT writers LGBT people from Illinois LGBT comics creators Bisexual writers Eisner Award winners for Best Coloring