Emil Ferris

Jesus. This is artistically incredible and very original: ever wanted to see classical paintings rendered in five or six shades of ballpoint? It's also extremely dark--- I think someone else said it best: "not what I thought I was signing up for." Major warnings for rape and child sexual abuse, violence and death (esp. Holocaust-related violence), and bigotry of every kind.

My favorite thing is crosshatching. Seriously, every page of this book is so gorgeous, I didn't want to finish it.

As lovely as it is, this book also excels as a novel. The 1960s atmosphere reminded me of curling up with Harriet the Spy or a Judy Blume novel, although Ferris's work is definitely for adults. It's a beautiful, sophisticated, surreal coming-of-age story and I can't wait for the sequel.

Here Be Monsters

This graphic novel was phenomenal. The horror magazine covers alone were worth the price of admission. Probably my favorite graphic novel of the last few years.

I really wanted to like this. I was so excited for it, but the main character thinks she is a werewolf and it just didn't work for me. Also, there were many scenes that didn't make sense with the story. The important and necessary scenes would have been half this size.

I thought I would like the art more than I did; the words are all over the place and sometimes I found myself reading the wrong lines.