The graphic novel recalls Dahmer's isolation, his binge drinking, his bizarre behavior to get attention, and his disturbing fascination with roadkill. The story follows Dahmer from age 12 up to, but not including, his first murder, two weeks after high school graduation.ĭerf, while not excusing or forgiving Dahmer's crimes, presents an empathetic portrait of Dahmer as a lonely young man tormented by inner demons, ridiculed by bullies at school, and neglected by the adults in his life. The novel depicts the author's teenage friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer, who later became an infamous serial killer, during his time at Eastview Junior High and Revere High School. The final, full-length book was published by Abrams Books in 2012. Īfter twenty years of background research, Backderf drafted the full manuscript in two weeks, and publishers became interested in the story. Therefore, in 2002, he self-published the work as a 24-page comic.

Backderf, wanting to write a full-length work, began writing publication proposals using a single chapter publishers often shied away from the subject matter, fearing the gore associated with Dahmer. In 1997, My Friend Dahmer was first released in the comic anthology Zero Zero #18 (Fantagraphics, July 1997).

Later, he returned to their high school for a more in-depth, journalistic approach wherein he collected information via interviews and FBI files.

When Backderf initially began creating the comics, he thought of them as a series of mini-comics or as an anthology told from his own perspective. īecause Backderf worked at Akron Beacon Journal, he also had access to much information about Dahmer's crimes before they became public knowledge, which, combined with his personal history with Dahmer, put him in a perfect situation to shed light on him. He started focusing on writing the stories in 1994 following Dahmer's death. Backderf recorded some of the stories shared in his sketchbook, which would serve as the beginning of My Friend Dahmer. With the new information regarding Dahmer's fate, many of his odd behaviors in adolescence seemed to make sense. Shortly after Backderf learned about Dahmer's crimes, he met two of his friends, Mike Kukral and Neil, all of whom had befriended Dahmer in school. The book evolved from a 24-page, self-published version by Backderf in 2002. 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.

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