Comics don’t take that long to read. I’ve been reading Emil Ferris’ My Favorite Thing Is Monsters now for two weeks and I’m only 162 pages deep into this 397 page doorstopper. I can’t stand it anymore so I’m making an executive decision on behalf of my sanity – I’m well and truly done with this shit!
From what I can tell going by Ferris’ feeble writing and non-existent storytelling ability, the book is about a little girl called Karen in some American city in the 1960s who’s sorta kinda “investigating” the suspicious suicide of her mentally-disturbed neighbour. I say sorta kinda because it’s actually just a small aspect of the obnoxiously huge unfocused mess that is this pseudo-narrative.
Here’s a tangent about Karen’s mother and her life story. Here’s a tangent about Karen’s brother and his life story. Here’s a tangent about one of Karen’s friends. Here’s one tangent after another after another after another that haven’t a damn thing to do with anything! Fucking hell, I get that Ferris is trying to write a convincing voice for the lonely and chatty child protagonist but these huge blocks of useless, self-indulgent text make for such an exhausting and irritating reading experience. It wouldn’t be so intolerable if the tangents were remotely entertaining but they’re the polar opposite of that.
Some of the art is skilful but I hated, utterly hated, the conceit of this being Karen’s notebook because of the blue and red notepaper lines that are a constant background to the art and words, unnecessarily interrupting and distracting all at the same time. Just don’t – just get rid of it and print your story on blank white paper, it’d look so much better without that extraneous bullshit!
Shoddy writing, rambling, nothing story, dull characters – I could probably force myself to read the remaining 250 pages but I doubt Emil Ferris is going to suddenly become a competent writer or that an interesting story will miraculously emerge after 160 pages of pointless garbage. And that’s time I could be reading something worthwhile instead of wasting it on this unimpressive drek. Don’t believe the hype – this is an insufferably tedious book and easily one of the most boring comics I’ve ever read.
My favorite thing is definitely not My Favorite Thing Is Monsters!
From what I can tell going by Ferris’ feeble writing and non-existent storytelling ability, the book is about a little girl called Karen in some American city in the 1960s who’s sorta kinda “investigating” the suspicious suicide of her mentally-disturbed neighbour. I say sorta kinda because it’s actually just a small aspect of the obnoxiously huge unfocused mess that is this pseudo-narrative.
Here’s a tangent about Karen’s mother and her life story. Here’s a tangent about Karen’s brother and his life story. Here’s a tangent about one of Karen’s friends. Here’s one tangent after another after another after another that haven’t a damn thing to do with anything! Fucking hell, I get that Ferris is trying to write a convincing voice for the lonely and chatty child protagonist but these huge blocks of useless, self-indulgent text make for such an exhausting and irritating reading experience. It wouldn’t be so intolerable if the tangents were remotely entertaining but they’re the polar opposite of that.
Some of the art is skilful but I hated, utterly hated, the conceit of this being Karen’s notebook because of the blue and red notepaper lines that are a constant background to the art and words, unnecessarily interrupting and distracting all at the same time. Just don’t – just get rid of it and print your story on blank white paper, it’d look so much better without that extraneous bullshit!
Shoddy writing, rambling, nothing story, dull characters – I could probably force myself to read the remaining 250 pages but I doubt Emil Ferris is going to suddenly become a competent writer or that an interesting story will miraculously emerge after 160 pages of pointless garbage. And that’s time I could be reading something worthwhile instead of wasting it on this unimpressive drek. Don’t believe the hype – this is an insufferably tedious book and easily one of the most boring comics I’ve ever read.
My favorite thing is definitely not My Favorite Thing Is Monsters!
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