My Friend Dahmer

My Friend Dahmer is a 2012 graphic novel and memoir by artist John "Derf" Backderf about his teenage friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer, who later became a serial killer.

A scaled-back, 24-page, self-published version was published by Derf in 2002.

The final 224-page version later was published by Abrams Comic Arts in 2012.

Plot

The novel depicts the author's teenage friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer, who later became a serial killer, during his time at Eastview Junior High and Revere High School. The story follows Dahmer from age 12 up to, but not including, his first murder, two weeks after high school graduation.

Backderf, while not excusing or forgiving Dahmer's crimes, presents an empathetic portrait of Dahmer as a lonely young boy/man tormented by inner demons, ridiculed by bullies at school, and neglected by the adults in his life.[1] The graphic novel recalls Dahmer's isolation, his binge drinking, his bizarre behavior to get attention, and his disturbing fascination with roadkill.[2] Derf and his friends encouraged Dahmer to act out, including faking epileptic seizures in school and the mall[3] and pretending to be a person with cerebral palsy.[4]

Creation

My Friend Dahmer is the culmination of a comic book project first started in 1994, shortly after Jeffrey Dahmer was murdered in prison. Derf's first Dahmer story appeared in Zero Zero #18 (Fantagraphics, July 1997). Derf pitched the project as a 100-page graphic novel, but failed to find a publisher. He then self-published a scaled-back, 24-page My Friend Dahmer in 2002.

The success that came with the 24 page version spurred Derf to create the 224 page version after 6 years of stalling. The 224 page version was published in 2012 after Derf felt that he hadn't done the project justice in the 24 page version.[5]

Style

One technique of Derf's was drawing Jeffrey Dahmer in shadow as a representation of his personality.[1]

Adaptations

The original self-published comic book was adapted and staged as a one-act play by the NYU Theater Department.

The novel was adapted into a film in 2017 as My Friend Dahmer, directed by Marc Meyers and starring Ross Lynch as Jeffrey Dahmer. In May 2017, it was announced FilmRise had acquired all North American rights to the film version of My Friend Dahmer.[6] It was announced by FilmRise that My Friend Dahmer would be released in theaters on November 3, 2017. [7]

Reception and awards

The original self-published comic book was nominated for an Eisner Award.

Lev Grossman, book critic of Time magazine, named My Friend Dahmer as one of the top five non-fiction books of 2012.[8]

The final 224-page version was nominated for an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel.[9]

It also was nominated for a Harvey Award and a Rueben Award and received an Angoulême Award.

References

  1. 1 2 Drawing Jeffrey Dahmer, Baltimore City Paper, 5 January 2002. Archived on the Internet Archive, 6 April 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  2. ↑ Lev Grossman. "My Friend Dahmer: The Unspeakable Horror of Life in the 1970s", time.com, 28 March 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  3. ↑ Young Jeffrey Dahmer, derfcity.com, archived on the Internet Archive, 28 March 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "Young Jeffrey Dahmer". Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved 2011-08-27. , p. 2
  5. ↑ "My Friend Dahmer #Full - Read My Friend Dahmer Issue #Full Page 201". Comicextra. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  6. ↑ "FilmRise Pick Up Serial Killer Biopic My Friend Dahmer". SCREAM: The Horror Magazine. 16 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "'My Friend Dahmer,' movie based on Cleveland artist John 'Derf' Backderf's graphic novel, to open in theaters this fall". cleveland.com. 16 May 2017.
  8. ↑ Lev Grossman. "Top 10 Everything of 2012", time.com, 4 December 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "2012 Ignatz Awards", spxpo.com/ignatz-awards, archived on the Internet Archive 8 October 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
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