Uptown’s Colored Wheel (Lowell Dennis Thompson, 2019)
Forty plus graphic novel locations mapped for Halloween
In My Favorite Thing is Monsters writer/artist Emil Ferris tells the dream logic story of Karen Reyes, a Chicago preteen in late 1960s Uptown who loves art, creature features and her older brother Deez. Presented as her wide ruled spiral notebook/sketch diary, we follow a trench coat wearing werewolf Karen as she tries to learn the cause of her neighbor Anka’s death and what it means to be her true self. Along the way, in addition to ghosts and Green Men, we meet an assortment of her fellow Uptown residents and discover a neighborhood secret.
The clever story and amazing art (mostly done in Bic ballpoint) put the books firmly onto my “Media to Revisit Once a Year” list. Both are available at Fantagraphics, Bookshop.org, and your local library (find your closest)
I thought putting this map out on Halloween would be too on the nose and maybe Karen would treat Halloween like barflies treat St Patrick’s Day – “…that’s for the amateurs…” – But, in background reading (Comics Journal) I learned it was originally purposely meant to be first released on Halloween 2017. So, there you go!
The map markers include:
- a modern pic
- a short quote or description of the book that includes the location
- extra historic/current info
An alphabetical list of all the sites is located above the map. A click on the list will jump you to its location on the map.
This map is just one layer of many on The Map, where you can plan your own ride, run, or walk. Also, you can contact CBA for a custom guided ride that includes some of these sights or for gift certificates for the cyclists in your life.
Sources: My Favorite Thing is Monsters (Emil Ferris, 2017 & 2024), Uptown Square District (pdf), Wikipedia, Book icon by Icons8, Chicago Public Library, CBA abbreviations