Derf Backderf

Being a non-fan of Derf's strip The City, and having liked but not loved his autobio stories in Trashed, I was happily surprised by his original tiny version of the Dahmer story: it had a raw personal feeling that I hadn't seen him go near before, and his drawing style, which is kind of mannered and knobbly, suddenly seemed perfect for a story about teenage ugliness. In his foreword to this book-length version, Derf says he hated how the shorter comic turned out; I think it was fine, but his show more instincts about what was lacking were accurate and this really is a better, fuller story. As a straight biography of the young Jeff Dahmer, it's pretty good; as a character portrait of someone who's descending into awfulness and is aware of it, it's very good; as a study of high school and rural adolescence, it's great.

I don't think I've seen any high-school fiction or nonfiction that really gets the non-linear scale of outcastness the way this does— the complicated relationship between people like Derf's friends who are more or less socially competent but not interested in much outside their own circle, people like Jeff's prom date who are "low-caste" in an ordinary way, belligerent weirdos like the huge crazy guy who everyone thinks will become a serial killer (but who ends up just living with his mom and yelling at people from the front yard)... and someone like Jeff who's very clearly messed up, and not in a cute or sympathetic way, but who has enough ugly creativity and desire for connection that he can be adopted as a "friend" by people who don't actually like or respect him. Again and again in the book, Jeff acts out in a way that the others know on some level is really creepy, but they love it because he's unpredictable, shocking, apparently unconcerned with anyone's approval, sort of a rebel if you ignore how obviously miserable he is. Derf and his friends, who are otherwise unremarkable, distinguish themselves by being the guys who can appreciate (or ironically "appreciate") Dahmer— like being the only fans of a really awful punk band.

This is an especially big deal when you live out in the sticks, and Derf is at his best when he's showing the texture of life in this kind of quiet middle-class suburb-beyond-the-suburbs, where you take the beautiful wilderness for granted, you don't see anyone unless you deliberately go to their house, and the height of teenage entertainment is to get some beer and drive around all night. The book is also a nicely specific period piece: the aforementioned stiff-but-bulgy drawing style is well adapted to the personal style of '70s teens, and Derf points out aspects of school culture that we might think of as timeless but aren't, like the schools becoming overcrowded for the first time when the Baby Boom really settled in.

The weakest part of the book, I think, is the narration. The ideas it conveys are good ones, but I find Derf's prose clunky and obvious when he's explaining stuff, and there's a lot of that; it's not enhanced by the bland computer lettering either, or the superhero-comics-style habit of putting lots of words in boldface if they might have any spoken emphasis. On the other hand, his dialogue is excellent, and so is the writing/directing of all the non-verbal parts. The scene where Dahmer's "friends" watch joyfully as he does his best to freak out everyone in a mall in the most self-humiliating way possible is just a couple pages with about a dozen words, but it's beautifully observed and paced, conveying both "this is cool" and "this is horrible" all through character with no explanation required. show less

"My Friend Dahmer" is the fascinating story of what it was like to be Jeff Dahmer's classmate in High School. As you can imagine, Jeff was a strange kid--but not the strangest.

Derf tells this story with tremendous care, and insight, informed by deep research. He focuses on details that coalesce into a compelling and intimate view of a very particular time, place, and situation, without failing to ask the big questions: Where were the adults in Jeff's life? How could they have not known he show more was in trouble? Why didn't they try to do something?

Derf's portrayal of adolescent life in a small midwestern town in the late 70s is right on, and his drawing style makes the portrayal practically irresistible. He tells a fascinating story, highlights it with his sharp critical wit (you may know it from his weekly strip "The City"), and mines it for the added depth afforded by the long format graphic novel, all to excellent effect. It's one hell of a book. show less

History repeats itself.

A president who vows to keep the United States out of war goes back on his word, moving to suppress the free press that criticizes him, demonizing socialists and immigrants as traitors to be deported, and unleashing a paramilitary force to demand citizens present papers on the streets or face detainment.

And it all happened more than a hundred years ago under a guy named Woodrow Wilson.

Derf Backderf masterfully dramatizes real events by having a fictional cartoonist show more hang out with the actual people who were put on trial under sedition and espionage laws for daring to make cartoons that disagreed with the President's mandated point of view.

It made me angry and sad, but I couldn't stop reading once I got going. (Though I did take my time going through the extensive end matter, absorbing the multitude of details over the course of four days.)

I'm already sure this will be one of my top graphic novels of the year and will appeal to readers with an interest in history and/or politics.

Disclosure: I received access to a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com. show less

This is an excellent work. The author brings to life his high school friendship with a young man who would go on to become one of the most notorious serial killers of our time. Anyone who remembers the Dahmer case will likely appreciate reading this. The author knew Dahmer in high school, and to an extent, was his friend as well. Bringing together memoirs, recollections, material from interviews as well as material from the FBI and other documents, the author brings a young Jeff Dahmer to show more life. He also brings to life the 1970s high school environment, a time that was much more permissive and innocent than now, a time when schools really did not have things like "zero tolerance" and lockdowns. And through it all, the author also asks, "where were the adults? Were they really that clueless, or did they just not want to be bothered?" The answer to that question may well be more disturbing than any crime Dahmer did.

In addition to the story, the volume includes good endnotes that explain where various scenes in the story came from. Everything overall is pretty well documented. This comic was nominated for various awards, and it is definitely a worthy one. For me, one of the best and chilling reads of the year. It is also a fairly quick read. Once you start, you will keep going to the end. show less