My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Book Two
Emil Ferris
Fantagraphics Books, 2024

The second (and final) book picks up the story directly from the big reveal at the conclusion of Book One. Karen’s late brother Victor (Deeze’s twin) introduced himself to her, explaining that she does not remember him because Deeze killed him when she was a baby. She will eventually get more details from Deeze, but first the story gets into questions of sexuality. Deeze considered himself 100% macho, but he thought Karen may be a lesbian. Naturally, she found the whole question confusing (she is only ten years old, although she often seems more mature than that). They spent some time looking through art books, giving her another opportunity to draw her remarkable copies of masterworks: paintings by Toulouse Lautrec, Courbet, and others. Book One was full of these, which are no less striking here.

Two new characters who play significant roles were introduced. First was Jeffrey “The Brain” Alvarez, a free-thinker and political activist (a smart guy who was also the source of endless paranoid conspiracy theories). Shelley is a girl about Karen’s age. They had a lot in common, which developed into a nearly romantic relationship as the story continued. Shelley also helped Karen with her investigations, especially her continuing examination of her neighbor Anka Silverberg’s death.

When they find the final taped interview they hear the last of her concentration camp story, which was interrupted by Deeze banging on the door, accusing her of infidelity. That places him nearby at the time of her death. Later he admitted to Karen that he was there when she was shot, and was holding the gun, but it was an accident (which does not quite clear up what really happened). Later she learns that the drunk homeless man she sees all the time is her father (who Deeze called “The Invisible Man”): yet another family secret. The story comes to a head with Karen suffering a mysterious head wound. After visiting a doctor, the two hit the road, on the run from the police. Turns out Karen’s dad is an ex-cop– plus Deeze has been working as an enforcer for the local mob–so take your choice. In the end Karen decides that Deeze may be a monster: but he’s her monster. And her favorite thing is monsters.