My Favorite Thing Is Monsters

The influence of religion, mythology, and fairy tales on Karen’s personality, worldview, and art becomes evident from the first page. It depicts a cover of Ghastly magazine with a werewolf’s head on the cover. The story immediately moves into a dream Karen has in which she transforms into a werewolf and becomes hated and hunted. The religious influence on Karen’s life is also evident, as Karen reveals early on that she attends a Catholic school where the nuns “absolutely hate true crime and detective comics almost as much as they hate monster and horror comics” (43) and feels like she is not liked or wanted at school. Her brother, who teaches her many things about art and religion, tells her about Saint Christopher, “the werewolf saint” (43). Karen takes this literally and draws herself talking to a dog man with a holy glow around his head. Saint Christopher tells Karen, “If I can be a saint, then you can definitely be a detective” (43), and Karen is reassured, by a religious figure, that she is on the right path. Karen’s mother is also Catholic and regularly spouts her superstitions, which Karen sometimes takes literally as well.