The most bizzarre incident with Dahmer according to Backderf

“The 1978 Revere variety show, Acts from Our Attic, ran for three performances, March 9–11, 1978. The comedy troupe, the Acme Ash Company, named after the local garbage hauling company that picked up the trash in Bath, was essentially the members of the Dahmer Fan Club. All the bits were written by us. The Hitler skit was the hit of the show (CAL, The Reverie 1978).”

-My Friend Dahmer, Derf Backderf

Derf Backderf (real name John Backderf) is an American cartoonist whom most famous work is “My Friend Dahmer”, an international bestseller. Backderf grew up in Richfield, Ohio, and he attended Revere High School. He was a classmate of Jeffrey Dahmer, and one of the founders of the “Dahmer’s Fanclub”. My Friend Dahmer is the culmination of a comic book project first started in 1994, and it tells various facts and stories of a shy kid, a teenage alcoholic, and a goofball pre-murderers Jeffrey Dahmer.

If you’re interested to know more support the author and get the book!

Behind the scenes photos of My Friend Dahmer

Small Press Expo 2023: History On The Ground: Personal Accounts

Small Press Expo 2023: History On The Ground: Personal Accounts #spx #spx2023 #smallpressexpo

The Small Press Expo has posted all of the programming panels from SPX 2023 on YouTube to watch! When history books are written, they rarely take into account how momentous events affect individuals. Eleri Mai Harris (The Nib) will discuss how larger historical events informed the personal stories told by the panelists. Join Ana Penyas (We’re All Just Fine), Derf (Kent State), Tracy…

View On WordPress

Mini resenha: Kent State - Derf Backderf

Abordando a tragédia do tiroteio que aconteceu em Kent State University pela guarda nacional de Ohio em maio de 1970, Derf Backderf traz como temas o contexto sócio-político nacional e internacional que afetava a vida dos jovens que estudavam naquela universidade: a Guerra do Vietnã e a convocação de jovens, além do medo irracional que o conservadorismo tinha de que o socialismo se difundisse pelos Estados Unidos; desse medo surge então o preconceito (que é sustentado até hoje inclusive) de que jovens universitários são comunistas e lutam para acabar com o sistema capitalista. Todos esses aspectos complicados são muito bem representados e construídos pelo autor, culminando nos acontecimentos das últimas partes da graphic novel, quando a guarda nacional invade a universidade e a ocupa levando ao que o subtítulo da história deixa claro que irá acontecer. Backderf se utiliza de fontes e documentos para construir a narrativa factual, mas além disso ele também cria uma dramatização da vida dos jovens universitários que infelizmente perderam a vida nessa tragédia, criando uma conexão entre o leitor e o envolvendo na narrativa.

É uma história necessária por dois fortes motivos: para entender o que aconteceu naquele dia fatídico e para entender como o conservadorismo e a Guerra Fria interferiu de diferentes formas na vida dos estadunidenses. É uma história rápida de ler, assim como as outras do autor, mas nem por isso fácil, afinal, é preciso ter estômago para as partes mais pesadas da narrativa; não se tornou minha favorita do autor (Eu, Lixeiro ainda se encontra no topo), mas é fácil fácil top 2 no meu ranking. Atualmente essa graphic novel está disponível no Kindle Unlimited, então corre lá.

❧ Kent State: Quatro Mortos em Ohio (publicado originalmente em 2020)

❧ Derf Backderf

❧ 288 páginas

❧ Editora Veneta

❧ Tradução de Érico Assis

❧ ★★★★★

My painted scenes comics “My friend Dahmer”

147. My Friend Dahmer, by Derf Backderf

Owned?: No, library Page count: 224 My summary: Derf Backderf was a teenager in the late 1970s, a perfectly normal schoolkid - except he had this friend, one of the weird kids in the class. A kid named Jeff Dahmer. Backderf explores the relationship he had with Dahmer, with added hindsight giving context to his actions and behaviours. My rating: 3/5 My commentary:

Okay, fine, I’ll admit it, I like true crime. It’s a weird thing to be into; I want to maintain a respectful distance from horrific things that have happened to real life people, but that doesn’t stop me wanting to know about it. So this book, I will admit, interested me. Backderf knew Jeffrey Dahmer when he was a teenager, and was even friends with him. How can he reconcile this with the things that Dahmer did later in life? It’s an interesting perspective, and I did like this telling of Dahmer’s tale, though it was not without its issues.

The thing I liked most about this graphic novel was how sympathetic it was to Dahmer. Backderf stresses in his narration that his sympathy for Dahmer extends only up until he killed his first person - after that, Dahmer crosses into territory you cannot come back from, and no amount of pain in his life excuses murder and torture. But still, it’s not hard to feel a bit for the teenage Dahmer. He had a tough home life, turned to serious alcoholism to cope with it, and didn’t receive the kind of help he desperately needed. It’s a complex situation, and while obviously Dahmer’s murdering people is inexcusable, it’s easier to understand why he might have turned out the way he did. Backderf’s narrative flows well, and gives well-researched insights into Dahmer’s teen life and mindset. He also doesn’t cross over into the gory or lurid - we see some dead animals, sparsely, but no dead bodies despite the last anecdote covering Dahmer’s first murder. It didn’t feel exploitative, which is important.

There were some negatives to this book, though. First, I really didn’t like the art style. It’s the kind of semi-realistic style that emphasises noses and elongates faces, I found it kind of ugly. Secondarily, and more importantly, I felt that some of Backderf’s focus was on how weird it was that he knew a serial killer as a kid. Like, there are a few times when Backderf’s narration emphasises that this really happened and he really did this or had this conversation, or whatever. That was what felt a bit exploitative, not the existence of the graphic novel generally. It kept me from fully engaging, this playing on the infamy of Dahmer’s name. But still, it was an interesting enough read, for something I got through in about 30 minutes it was worth it.

Next up, fiction once more, as six teens are stranded on an island.

“Backderf’s masterful Kent State does what really good, in-depth journalism should always do—breathe life into cold, hard facts—but in this case, with searing, memorable images, drawings that put us inside the skin of the protagonists. . . You don’t simply put this book down and get on with your life after reading the final page—you slowly recover, shaken from the experience.” —Bill Griffith, author of Zippy the Pinhead

I agree 100% with Bill. 🤘🖤

Stardust the Super Wizard by Derf Backderf

Derf Backderf - Kent State

https://www.astiberri.com/products/kent-state

El 4 de mayo de 1970, la Guardia Nacional abatió a un grupo de estudiantes universitarios desarmados que se manifestaban contra la guerra de Vietnam en la Universidad Kent State de Ohio. Bajo una descarga mortífera de 67 disparos, cuatro estudiantes murieron y nueve resultaron heridos. Aquel fue el día en el que Estados Unidos dirigió sus armas contra sus propios hijos, un suceso estremecedor que quedó grabado en la memoria nacional del país.

Utilizando los recursos periodísticos que aplicó en Mi amigo Dahmer y Basura, ambos publicados en Astiberri, Backderf ha realizado amplias entrevistas y se ha documentado a fondo para explorar las vidas de aquellos cuatro jóvenes y los acontecimientos de aquellos cuatro días de mayo, cuando el país parecía estar a punto de hacerse pedazos. Tan actual hoy como lo fue en 1970, Kent State, ganadora en 2021 del premio Eisner al mejor libro basado en hechos reales, es una historia conmovedora y perturbadora sobre el amargo coste de la disidencia.

La mort dans l'âme

La mort dans l’âme

Permettez-moi d’être introspectif pour un moment et d’imaginer ce qu’aurait pu être ma vie ; ce qu’elle aurait pu être si… On peut se perdre longtemps en conjectures, se triturer les méninges et rêvasser à propos de futurs hypothétiques. Dans mon cas, la première prise de conscience s’est matérialisée après ma rencontre du secondaire ; dix années se sont écoulées depuis nos dernières frasques.…

View On WordPress

Review (to be continued): the new Netflix series on Jeffrey Dahmer viewed in the light of Derf Backderf’s graphic novel

This is the beginning of my analysis / review of the Netflix series Dahmer - Monster: Jeffrey Dahmer’s Story (2022) created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. I’ll continue this text later. After creating shows like Glee and American Horror Story that have witty use of cultural memory and its discourses but are (in my opinion) kinda on-the-nose, wonky and campy in nature, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan give us stylistically coherent, insightful miniseries on the homicides of Jeffrey Dahmer and especially the communities the adolescent Dahmer lived in, affected and was affected by in the 1980′s and 90′s Milwaukee. How does this series compare to the graphic novel My Friend Dahmer by Dahmer’s old schoolmate Derf Backderf? While it’s interesting to compare the two takes on the same subject matter, I would like to also tell how having read Backderf’s graphic novel (for a couple of times, actually. It’s one of my favorite graphic novels.) affected my own viewing of Murphy and Brennan’s 2022 Netflix series. What I really liked about this series was its non-chronological pacing and a sense of greater and greater closure for the characters as the series went on. There are something we call ‘plot holes’ and they are brilliantly and effectively used here to beg the audience questions about inequality and unfairness in neglectful infrastructures. Details of the dialogue are carefully left out and moved elsewhere for us viewers to encounter later in the series or inside the same episode. And they often answer questions that the show has managed to evoke in our minds. The ‘plot’ to follow isn’t as much the event-by-event life story of Dahmer but the people’s involved mental struggle to seek comprehension and redemption at the face of Dahmer’s actions. Other people like the victims and by-standers, the victims’ families, friends and subgroups, Dahmer’s neighborhood and also the offender himself Dahmer and his own family. Having read Backderf’s graphic novel, I was able to expect certain story beats in the flashbacks of the Dahmer series. That preknowledge also made the series more accessible for me as I’m sometimes drawn away from shows purely by the amount of lore or flashbacks I find quite laborsome to dive into instead of advancing the plot without too many interruptions. Despite of everything I had learned about Dahmer’s teenage years from Backderf’s story, I was quite unfamiliar with the details of his adolescence, apart from what the book’s paratexts, common knowledge and random pop culture references had provided. I submit the rest of the text later on.

The PoE Podcast: DERF BACKDERF--CREATING THE UNSEEN

Derf Backderf and I dive into the making of KENT STATE and the skill-building and knowledge of the comic book medium he developed that made it possible for him to produce such a complex and comprehensive OGN.

Regarding KENT STATE and MY FRIEND DAHMER, we talk about how he used the medium to create unseen moments. We also cover how he protects his physical and mental health while working on such dark topics and look at today's social and political turmoil through the lens of the Kent State events in 1970.

Finally, we talk about the right-wing cultural warriors' attacks on MY FRIEND DAHMER, libraries, and LGBTQ themed graphic novels.

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Podomatic

The scrawny kid I first met in junior high was now a strapping six-footer. He added some muscle, too. He was lifting weights at home, at his dad's suggestion. One of Lionel Dahmer's many attempts to get his son interested in something. Not that bulking up improved his standing among his peers. He had an odd walk, arms straight at his sides, shoulders thrust slightly forward. A distinctive gait.

-- John "Derf" Backderf, My Friend Dahmer

Small Press Expo announces 2023 Special Guests

Small Press Expo announces 2023 Special Guests #SPX #SPX2023 #SPX23

View On WordPress

Old doodles and photos of Dahmer from My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf

february reading

books

lolita, vladimir nabokov

shirley jackson, the missing girl

derf backderf, my friend dahmer

kay dick, they: a sequence of unease

articles, essays etc

tricia lootens, whose hand was i holding? familial and sexual politics in shirley jacksons the haunting of hill house

richard pascal, walking alone together: family monsters in the haunting of hill house

roberta rubenstein, house mothers and haunted daughters: shirley jackson and female gothic

dave bailey, american nightmares: the haunted house formula in american popular fiction

elizabeth wilson, haunted houses

honor mckitrick wallace, the hero is married and ascends the throne: the economics of narrative end in shirley jackson's we have always lived in the castle

renata wassermann, the self, the mirror, the other: the fall of the house of usher

cristiana pugliese, what does a house want? exploring sentient houses in supernatural literature

dennis perry, haunted “usher”: moving toward absolute reality in the haunting of hill house

caroline sturdy colls, holocaust archaeology: archaeological approaches to landscapes of nazi genocide and persecution

joachim schlör, 'It has to go away, but at the same time it has to be kept': the Berlin Wall and the making of an urban icon

bob nickas, basquiat and the collecting of history

keith eggener, when buildings kill

ruth perry, incest as the meaning of the gothic novel

timothy perper & martha conrog, in the sound of the bells: freedom and revolution in revolutionary girl utena