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I'm not the only one who enjoyed drawing as a child. As a quiet, bespeckled kid, it was hard for me to communicate, but it didn't mean I didn't want to. One of the earliest ways I found to do that was through art and drawing for my classmates. In the recent OGN Pink Monsters by Claus Daniel Hermann, this method of drawing as an outlet for one child to connect with others makes him a target when an esoteric healer uses it as a reason for the child's father's mystery illness.

"The story of Pink Monsters is based on experiences I had as a teenager with cult-like structures. Monster drawings and colors played a big role in it, so turning it into a comic seemed a good idea," Hermann tells Fanbase Press' Barbra Dillon. "My alter ego is the teenager Frank. His father, Georg, is severely depressed, and there seems to be no cure through conventional medical means. So Frank’s mother, Sandra, invites Thea, a holistic healer, into their home; at first, she seems to bring “good energy” into the house. But Thea’s “energies” soon prove toxic to young Frank, making it harder for him to come to terms with his homosexuality, which his family is not yet aware of."

Pink Monsters' lead character Frank is the "alter ego" in author Claus Daniel Hermann's own words of himself, and as the reader on the other end of it, I felt a little bit more than sympathy as I read through the pages of this new hardcover. Here is a preview from Oni Press:

“Access to one's own feelings and the ability to think critically are key to self-determination—especially in a world where fellow human beings advocate for unverifiable beliefs and use them to recklessly tear down personal boundaries," Hermann says in a statement. "I hope my readers, whether they are young adults themselves or already responsible for younger ones, will find an impressive example of this in my story."

Hermann's illustrative style here is evocative of the gestural shaded work you'd see in animation storyboards, or in rare gems like Disney's Paperman short by John Kahrs. Using the limited palette of black, white, and pink, Pink Monsters' art style becomes more than just a means to an end with the story it's telling, but in many ways becomes the story itself, in a story about making a monster out of a child's drawings.

Get ready for what's next with our list to upcoming comics and how to buy comics at a comic shop.