My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf
My Friend Dahmer
by Derf Backderf
(Abrams ComicArts)
It’s not going to get much better then Derf Backderf’s graphic novel My Friend Dahmer, a first-hand account of the author/artists’ actual high school experience with one of the most notorious serial killers in our more recent history. A funny, scary, perfectly-paced snippet into mid-to-late 70’s high-school years (exactly when I went through them myself) Backderf recreates his moments of Dahmer-isms, his buddies and being part of the Jeffrey Dahmer fanclub (of all things), works in snippets of Dahmer’s interviews and also recreates his friends’ anecdotes to present a truly fine memoir.
Along the way, Backderf also asks those big questions on everyone’s mind with a study like this…could Jeffrey Dahmer’s crimes (and if you are unfamiliar with them, Google and see if you are not totally entranced and  repulsed) have been prevented if the adults around him looked at the perennially drunk teen a little closer and at what exactly drove Dahmer to the deeds he would become so famous for?
I love the artwork here as well, as it’s concise and detailed but doesn’t draw attention to itself. I highly highly recommend My Friend Dahmer.