My Friend Dahmer: Derf Backderf (Graphic Biographies)

Product Information

As of 2018, Fisher lived in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. [27] Fisher's wife, Wakako Kawagoshi-Fisher, died in 2018. [28] Further reading [ edit ]

Neil: Dunno. It's so weird. I didn't really know her well, but she didn't act suicidal. She was cute...Nice bod. But to off yourself! I just don't get that! I mean, at our age...how bad can life be? In 2012, Publishers Weekly named My Friend Dahmer in their list of the year's top five comics; [16] Lev Grossman, book critic for Time, named it one of his top five nonfiction books of the year; [7] and The A.V. Club named it the year's best nonfiction book. [17] Awards for My Friend Dahmer Year The sketches Derf drew of Jeff as the "Minister of Propaganda" for the Dahmer Fan Club. He put Jeff in his drawings for student election flyers and Revere High's yearbook (where the other characters are all speaking in "Dahmerisms.") As Derf wasn't in the house to overhear them, Jeff's final interaction with his mother is entirely conjectural. Victims' Relative Lose Suit Against Dahmer Comics". Orlando Sentinel. August 21, 1994 . Retrieved January 29, 2013.Cashing in on his notoriety, Fisher published additional Dahmer-themed comics shortly thereafter, including Jeffrey Dahmer vs. Jesus Christ #1 (February 1993) [6] and Dahmer's Zombie Squad (1993). [7] Fisher appeared on a 1993 episode of the Sally Jessy Raphael show and on a CNN show in 1994 [8] to discuss criticism of the creation of the Dahmer comics. In August 1994, a suit was filed by Dahmer's family against Boneyard Press and Fisher for the unauthorized release of the first Dahmer comic. [23] The suit was soon dismissed by a Milwaukee judge. [24] [8] The original self-published comic book was adapted and staged as a one-act play by the NYU Theater Department. Problem is, I'm more sympathetic to Dahmer than Derf! That's crazy! I mean, it's Dahmer and Derf is just like... a douche. But even then the douchiest douche can't possibly inspire more negative feelings than a goddamn serial killer! I mean... can it?

It's about deconstructing darkness and tracing the origins of destructive personalities. Dahmer as a teen wasn't so different from kids we all knew in high school. As a youth services librarian, I read a lot of books for and about teens. And a lot of them (perhaps especially the ones I gravitate to) are about outsiders. Dahmer could have been just another outsider kid - one with a messed up family, one with repressed sexuality, one who made jokes out of things that are not funny. Exploring his history helps me to think about how I can influence teens for the good. About how I can influence humanity for the good. And how close we all are to the darkness. To letting our own destructive tendancies to go too far. Barnett, David (2017-11-12). "In New Film, 'My Friend Dahmer' Author Portrays Serial Killer As Sympathetic Outcast". NPR . Retrieved 2022-08-05.

Character Evolution

Jason Thibault (June 1, 2009). "Hart Fisher on Comics Journalism, Frank Miller, Running Danzig's Verotik and Life in Los Angeles". Optimum Wound . Retrieved February 6, 2013. But what would have changed the way things turned out for Jeffery Dahmer and his 17 victims? We'll never know. I can't help thinking

Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Double-Subversion in Jeff. On one hand, he does become one of the grisliest serial killers in modern history. However, he's presented somewhat semi-sympathetically (at first) in the comic and comes off more as a Reluctant Psycho than a gleeful sadist. Most of his classmates, when they thought about him at all, considered him weird, but another student was regarded as the "class psycho." So when I produced, at long last, the final incarnation of the book, I sent out the completed first draft. It was essentially done,” Derf points out. “Because I knew, once someone started to read it, they would get swept up in the story. And that, in fact, is exactly what happened. First with my agent, Matthew Carnicelli, and then with my editor at Abrams, Charlie Kochman. He didn't even want to read it, but Matthew convinced him. And once he did, that was it, he wanted it.” In 1995, Boneyard in turn was sued by the sportsman and felon O. J. Simpson for the unauthorized biographical comics, Doin' Time with O.J. and O.J.'s Big Bust-Out. [25]JFINNEKE (2014-01-29). "Alex Awards 2013". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) . Retrieved 2022-08-05. Reel Crime, Real Victims: Phil Anselmo, Hart Fisher talk pain and punishment - Screens Blog". The Austin Chronicle. March 26, 2011 . Retrieved January 29, 2013.