\nSomething about Derf and Dahmer<\/p>\n
Ah, my real name must remain a secret to protect me from my One day I remember having messages on my machine from the Derf’s latest book is called My Friend Dahmer<\/span>, a He could have gotten some professional help! says Derf. Derf was also nominated for this year’s Eisner Awards for I’ve always done it. I have cartoons I drew when I was His previous book is called Trashed<\/span>. This is a Derf’s influences are mostly underground comic authors. Derf is probably most well-known for his strip The City<\/span>. Derf says his two children have had a major impact on his Derf says he’ll continue to write comics in the future. He
\nenemies, says Derf, who currently writes some of the finer
\ncomics in the world right now. His works are diverse and
\nrange from the hilarious story of his time as a trash
\ncollector to his deeply personal story recollecting his high
\nschool friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer and his politically
\nincorrect strip The City<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nNew York Times, Oprah, Geraldo, NBC News and the National
\nEnquirer, all looking for interviews! says Derf. He didn’t
\ngive any of these interviews because they would have been
\nabout his high school relationship with one of the world’s
\nmost notorious serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer, rather than
\nabout his career writing comics. The Dahmer story surfaced
\nat the beginning of Derf’s career. He has been writing his
\nstrip, The City<\/span>, since 1990.<\/p>\n
\nstory about Jeffrey Dahmer’s youth. It’s my account of my
\nfriendship with him during junior high and high school. A
\nvery spooky look at a young boy spiraling into madness,
\nsays Derf. Set aside your pre-conceptions as you read
\nthis. I’ll tell you right now . . . there’s no violence.
\nNo gore. No deviant sex. No graphic depictions of
\nunspeakable acts. Nothing. But this is a real horror
\nstory. . and we all know how it turns out, writes Derf on
\nthe inside cover of My Friend Dahmer<\/span>. It’s my
\nbelief that he COULD have been saved.<\/p>\n
\nI’m not saying he could ever have lived a normal life, but
\nI think mental health specialists certainly had a chance to
\nstop his descent, if some adult . . .teacher, counselor,
\nparent, anyone . . .had just stepped in when this guy
\nstarted wigging out. But no. It was easier to ignore him.
\nBy the time he was a senior, which is when most of my story
\nis set, he was pretty well lost, I imagine.<\/p>\n
\nMy Friend Dahmer<\/span>. (The Eisner Award is the Oscar for
\ncomics.)<\/p>\n
\nfive years old. Cartoonists are born, not made. I was
\nalways getting low marks for drawing all over my notebooks
\nand worksheets. When a teacher took them away, I’d draw on
\nmy desk. When I was forbidden to do that, I drew on my
\njeans! says Derf.<\/p>\n
\ncollection of true stories about Derf’s time working as a
\ntrash collector after dropping out of college. I dropped
\nout of college because I didn’t like the art school I was
\nattending, says Derf. It certainly wasn’t a career goal
\nto be a garbage man. But it was a bad recession . .
\nespecially in the Rust Belt. (Derf is from Ohio.)<\/p>\n
\nMostly super-hero stuff, then got into underground and
\noffbeat stuff when I was 13 or so, says Derf. He is
\ninfluenced by Robert Crumb and many of the European
\nExpressionists of the 20’s. I get a lot of tortured
\nperspective and gritty urban realism from them. Filter all
\nthat through the punk imagery I grew up with. An odd mix,
\nbut somehow I make it work. I’ve always been attracted to
\nthe dissidents, the professional fringe. I admire their
\npassion . . .and their courage, he says. Crumb is one of
\nthe great cartoon geniuses of the 20th<\/sup> century.
\nHe rose from the hippie counter-culture of 1960’s San
\nFrancisco and virtually single-handedly created underground
\ncomix, the first time comix were written for adults, not
\nkids.<\/p>\n
\nThis is a strip that appears in some underground
\nnewspapers. The City<\/span> is a perfect outlet for Derf to
\nsay how he feels. Oh I don’t think anyone who reads my
\nstuff doubts where I stand. I’m distrustful of the federal
\ngovernment (especially THIS particular un-elected regime)
\nand of big business. I think the deck is completely stacked
\nagainst the common schlub, more so now than ever. That’s a
\nbig theme in my work. The American Dream has been stolen
\nfrom us by offshore corporations and their hired puppets in
\ngovernment, says Derf. We’ll all eventually be greeters
\nat Wal-Mart, working for minimum wage with no health care .
\n. .and under constant surveillance of Homeland Security.
\nIn The City,<\/span> Derf writes about current events and
\ncreates reoccurring characters such as \u00ef\u00bf\u00bdWhite Middle Class
\nSuburban Man. In a particular strip he addresses the chunk
\nof steel that looked like a cross that was spotted at Ground
\nZero. Derf regards this cross as anything but a sign from
\nGod. Sorry, Lord . . .at this point you’ll have to do
\nbetter than that, writes Derf. I’d like to believe in
\nsome higher power. It’s comforting. But I have to admit
\nI’m pretty much agnostic at this point. It’s not God so
\nmuch as religion that is my big beef. It brings nothing but
\nintolerance and violence. Believe what I believe or I’ll
\nkill you. Believe in my particular narrow interpretation or
\nyou’re going to hell. Blah blah blah. Virtually every
\ngreat episode of misery in human history can be traced to
\nreligion, from the Inquisition to the wars of Europe
\nin the Middle Ages that wiped out a third of the population
\nto the Holocaust to Sept. 11, says Derf. Let’s start
\nusing our brains . . .and not rely on some bible-thumper or
\nmullah to tell us what to think.<\/p>\n
\nlife.. Kids affect your life in every way, of course.
\nThere’s a lot less time to work. That’s the only impact on
\nmy comics. My son is in the 2nd<\/sup> grade and is
\nalready taking a big interest in comix and cartooning. I’m
\nhoping he won’t doom himself to life as a cartoonist . .
\n.but, as I stated at the beginning of this interview, that’s
\nprobably already been determined, says Derf.<\/p>\n
\nsays as long as someone will publish it, he’ll continue to
\ndraw The City<\/span>. He also says a book of his strip will
\nbe coming out this fall. I’ll be doing more comic books,
\nhopefully at least one or two a year, maybe more if I get
\nrolling, says Derf. They don’t make any money, but
\nthey’re fun to put out there.<\/p>\n