Written by a man who went to high school with and was sort of a peripheral friend of teenaged Jeffrey Dahmer, this is not a particularly sympathetic portrayal of the notorious serial killer. Backderf states in the introduction, "Dahmer was a twisted wretch whose depravity was almost beyond comprehension. Pity him, but don't empathize with him."

It's a well-researched story of what it was like to be around Jeff before he became the infamous Dahmer. Jeff is portrayed as a sad kid who started drinking heavily in high school in an attempt to quiet his demons, but also as a kid who all the other kids knew was "off" for reasons other than just the drinking.

Backderf's biggest takeaway from the experience was that the adults who should have noticed Jeff's behavior either weren't there or didn't care. As he says on p. 67, with a haunting illustration of Jeff as he is becoming Dahmer, "Where were the damn adults?" ( )

Chilling ( )

I’m not sure what to say. It was sad and disgusting at the same time. The author raised good points, such as “Where are the adults?”
Because as someone who has had a traumatic childhood and my mother was pretty much like Dahmer’s mother (Makes me feel gross that we have something similar… but I’m sure a good chick of the population does as well with bad mothers.) life can suck as a child/teen and adults don’t seem to care and wrapped up in their own problems.
Making fun of the disabled does make me uncomfortable, but that’s what it was like before more knowledge came about (and middle schoolers tend to be assholes) so keep that in mind if you’re sensitive to that. ( )

Jeffrey Dahmer always exhibited tendencies that seemed different from other kids his age. Derf spent their formative years as an observer and sometime friend of Dahmer all the way through high school graduation and describes him as a lonely boy living with urges that he didn't understand and couldn't control. While acknowledging that the things Dahmer did were horrific, he depicts an environment that might have contributed to Dahmer's unusual behaviors through his words and pictures, making him a somewhat sympathetic person. This isn't the type of book to be an enjoyable read due to the subject matter, but it is well written and offers a unique perspective on the early years of a serial killer. This graphic novel definitely isn't intended to be read by children due to the explicit nature of the illustrations and text. Overall, My Friend Dahmer, is a unique vision of the decline of a person into madness. ( )

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‘My Friend Dahmer’ is a completely unique work of art. Author Derf Backderf is a noted cartoonist, and also a high school classmate of Jeffrey Dahmer, who went on to kill, and in some cases cannibalise, 17 male victims. It’s hard reading at times, but also moving and thoughtful. The distinctive art style is extremely effective – I thought at first that it might be too cartoonish, but it quickly drew me in and I found myself completely immersed in the story. Unlike most true crime works, ‘My Friend Dahmer’ focuses very much on the killer as an individual, rather than on his crimes. In fact only Dahmer’s first murder is covered at all, and that comes right at the end of the book.
Instead, the book paints a fairly sympathetic picture of the life of teenagers in small town Ohio in the 1970s. Their existence is one familiar from a million American TV shows and movies, with the one exception being our knowledge of what Dahmer would become. In the book he is an oddball character, clearly disturbed but prone to acting out in ways his peers find hilarious. It is this that leads Backderf and his friends to hang out with him, forming the ‘Jeffrey Dahmer Fan Club’.
Backderf has had a few goes at telling this story, it first appeared as a one off short in an anthology, and this far lengthier volume has obviously had time to mature. It’s an assured piece, both in the pace of its storytelling and the maturity of its outlook. Backderf has used various sources (laid out in a sizeable appendix) to fact check his recollections and confirm the timeline of events. Most impressive though is the honesty with which he describes both Dahmer and the treatment he received at school – from bullies, from the Dahmer Fan Club and from the largely oblivious or downright neglectful adults around him.
The end result is far more melancholy than I’d expected. Backderf clearly has a lot of sympathy for young Dahmer, even if he rightly and unequivocally denounces the monster he became. It’s an extremely balanced and memorable work and thoroughly recommended, even if you think you don’t like comics.
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