Derf Backderf, My Friend Dahmer, alternative draft of splash page 107, later used for an advertising print (2012)

Imagine having a serial killer as part of your high school friend group. Derf did, and in 2012 published "My Friend Dahmer," an account of his interactions with Jeffrey Dahmer that ends just before Dahmer began killing. The book was made into a well received movie in 2017. This image shows Dahmer in a Hamlet style "should I or shouldn't I?" pose staring into the skull of a dead animal.

When asked why he had waited until he was 53 to put on paper this true story, Derf responded that he needed to wait several decades and to first do several books before he could come to grips with the immensity of Dahmer's crimes, and he and his friend group's history with him.

Derf began writing about Dahmer in 1994 after his death, and first published a page of his high school class with Dahmer in it in 1997. Failing to find a publisher for what he envisioned to be a 100 page graphic novel, Derf self-published a 24 page issue in 2002. After that issue was nominated for an Eisner Award, Derf was able to find a publisher for the eventual 224 page book, which won an Angouleme Award and was also nominated for Ignatz, Harvey and Reuben Awards.

Widely considered a masterpiece of autobiographical graphic nonfiction, My Friend Dahmer is, in a word, "creepy." The text and drawings shimmer with anticipation for Dahmer's future crimes, and implicitly question whether Derf and friends should have known about Dahmer's potential for violence, or even were part of the cause of it through their treatment of him.

Perhaps the most notable revelation comes in the post script, where Derf receives a phone call from a high school friend saying that one of their classmates has become a serial killer. Derf guesses another friend before Dahmer.

To my knowledge, Derf has not sold any pages from My Friend Dahmer. This page is an alternate version of the splash on page 107, which was later used as an advertisement for the book and made into a print in color with text. This book made such an impression on me that I reread it regularly. I am extremely pleased to have such a strong page by Derf.

Also shown are the color print based on this splash, and the actual splash used on page 107.