Emil Ferris | |
|---|---|
 Ferris atMiami Book Fair 2016 | |
| Born | 1962 (age 62–63) |
| Education | School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)(BFA,MFA) |
| Known for | Graphic novels, writing |
| Notable work | My Favorite Thing Is Monsters |
Emil Ferris (listenⓘ; born 1962) is an American writer, cartoonist, and designer.[1] Ferris debuted in publishing with her 2017 graphic novelMy Favorite Thing Is Monsters, which was praised as a "masterpiece" and one of the best comics by a new author.[2][3]
Emil Ferris was born toEleanor Spiess-Ferris and Mike Ferris[4] on Chicago'sSouth Side and grew up in the North Side'sUptown neighborhood.[1] Her parents are artists who met at theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago,[5] and she would often visit theArt Institute of Chicago with them.[6]
Ferris traces her Hispanic lineage fromIndigenous Mexico to Spain,German, French,Irish emigres, andSephardic Jewish descent from her mother's side and is also ofLebanese descent from her father's side.[7][8][9]
Ferris' mother tookdiethylstilbestrol when pregnant, leading Ferris to say she was biologically male but transformed to female in utero, and she therefore identifies with others who have gender dysphoria.[10] Ferris identified early in her life as a lesbian but later on came to see herself as bisexual.[11]
She wassexually abused as a child, which she says negatively affected her ability to draw in acartoon style for many years.[12]
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.[1]
Ferris was obsessed with monsters as a child, eagerly looking forward toCreature Features on Saturday nights, which had monsters she would weep for.[8] Ferris hadscoliosis, and to get attention on the playground, she told horror stories. Ferris has discussed how she saw herself as a child: observing the oppressive social role her beautiful mother, as well as other humans, had to play.[6]
As a child, Ferris was part of a theatrical troupe near theGraceland Cemetery — which she visited, hoping to find monsters or a ghost.[8] Ferris gained an understanding ofWorld War II by talking to Holocaust survivors who lived in the neighborhood ofRogers Park, which she had moved to.[7] She would visit the owner of a gallery who had anidentification number tattoo, as well as elderly survivors, forming a connection between their experiences and monsters.[13]
In 2001, when she was 40, Ferris contractedWest Nile fever 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 increative writing from theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago.[1]
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In terms of artistic influences, Ferris was exposed to the works ofFrancisco Goya andHonoré Daumier as a child, as well asCollier's illustratedDickens.[6] Cartoonists who were inspirations for her includeRobert Crumb,Alison Bechdel, andArt Spiegelman. She has also cited horror film posters and stories fromEC Comics as ideas for the mock covers she drew inMy Favorite Thing is Monsters.[1]
Ferris worked as a freelance illustrator and toy designer for clients such asMcDonald's andTakara Tomy before becoming an author.[14]
While recovering from the paralysis caused by West Nile fever, Ferris worked on her graphic novel.My Favorite Thing Is Monsters 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, withcrosshatched artwork drawn with a ballpoint pen.[3]
The 400-pageMy Favorite Thing is Monsters (volume one) was released in 2017 byFantagraphics, receiving praise from authors likeArt Spiegelman,Alison Bechdel, andChris Ware; it was regarded as one of the best comics of 2017.[15]My Favorite Thing is Monsters volume two was released on May 24, 2024.[16]
In April 2022, Ferris was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed toOperation USA's benefit anthology book,Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, a project spearheaded by editorScott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[17][18]
When Ferris contracted West Nile virus at age 40, she was the single mother of a six-year-old daughter named Ruby.[14]
I was visiting relatives and one evening I asked to see aMr. Magoo T.V. special while I sat on the bedroom floor in front of a little T.V., the folding door of the room was shut and I was alone with a person who had repeatedly subjected me (and, as I later learned, other cousins) to sly, sexually-oriented brutalities. [...] Even now, even looking at my drawing of aMagoo-like character, I feel panic.
Lo que más me gusta son los monstruos (Reservoir Books), d'Emil Ferris, ha guanyat el premi a la millor obra estrangera.
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