Table of Contents
Guide
a graphic novel by
DERF BACKDERF
Abrams ComicArts, New York
acknowledgments
Thanks to my friends Mike, Kent, and Neil (especially Mike) for sharing
their memories over many hours of conversation. Thanks also to Bob
Ethington, who critiqued this project every step of the way. I shamelessly
exploited his expertise, and his counsel was invaluable.
editor
: Charles Kochman
designer
: Neil Egan
production manager
: Alison Gervais
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Derf.
My friend Dahmer / written & illustrated by Derf Backderf.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4197-0216-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4197-0217-4 (paperback)
Dahmer, JeffreyComic books, strips, etc. 2.
Graphic novels.
I. Title.
PN6727.D466M9 2012
741.5
'
973dc23
2011285306
ISBN for this edition: 978-1-4197-2755-9
eISBN: 978-1-68335-203-7
Text and illustrations copyright 2012, 2017 John Backderf
Introduction copyright 2017 Marc Meyers
Storyboards copyright 2017 Marc Meyers
(inset artwork from
My Friend Dahmer
copyright 2017 John Backderf )
Photograph on page 8 copyright 2012, 2017 William S. Henry. All rights reserved. Used
with permission.
Photo gallery copyright 2017 MFD The Movie, LLC
Cover art copyright 2017 FilmRise. Cover photography copyright 2017 MFD The
Movie, LLC. Artwork from
My Friend Dahmer
copyright
2017 John Backderf
Published in 2017 by Abrams ComicArts, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without written permission from the publisher.
Abrams ComicArts is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., registered in the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Oce.
Abrams ComicArts books are available at special discounts when purchased in
quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special
editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact
specialsales@abramsbooks.com or the address below.
ABRAMS The Art of Books
195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007
abramsbooks.com
Contents
introduction
by Marc Meyers
hen I was a kid growing up in the eighties, I had a friend who lived
down the street in a beautiful home set on the edge of a small lake. I
never witnessed it, but I heard he would occasionally take a baseball
bat into the backyard and try to hit the snapping turtles that were nesting
on the edge of his property. Friends would quip that someday hell surely
become a serial killer. Yet today, according to Facebook, hes a schoolteacher
and happily married with kids.
This memory stuck with me and provided the initial seed of an idea for
a fictional film that would be a portrait of a serial killer as a young boy. I
believed it would be fascinating to show the embryonic stage of a person who
would one day become a monster.
In October 2011, I came across an advance copy of the graphic novel
My
Friend Dahmer
at New York Comic Con, and I could see my idea perfectly
represented in Derf Backderfs deeply personal, true story.
What are those forces in life that sculpt and define us? How do we
become who we are? Why does one teenager find promise, while his friend
enters adulthood broken? How well do we know our friends?
Nature versus nurture is one of our most fundamental debates. And in my
film adaptation of the graphic novel,
I dont provide answers, but I hope that
by sharing this story, audiences might ask these questions for themselves
and in the future, hopefully, one might look at a troubled teen through a more
empathetic lens.
I was committed to adapting Derfs tale as faithfully as possible. Im for-
ever grateful he entrusted me with his masterpiece. The authors personal
W
narrative is horrifyingly honest, and for me it was of utmost importance to
maintain that candidness in my interpretation, translating it to film. I could
relate to these characters. They remind me of my own high school days
growing up in a rural suburb similar to Akron, Ohio. Plus, the time line of
Dahmers family life disintegrating around him oddly mirrors my parents
divorce during the end of my high school experience.
When I was writing an early draft, Derf took me around his hometown
and showed me the actual locations portrayed in the book, including the high
school and Jeffrey Dahmers childhood home. For me, location is as impor-
tant as casting the right actor for a role, and I was immediately determined
to film at Dahmers real house. One might assume filming there was creepy,
but that wasnt the case. The spot gave myself, the cast, and the crew a deeper
connection to the actual events in our story.
After writing my screenplay, I storyboarded the entire script in three
sketch pads, and incorporated many of Derfs own drawings whenever my
adaptation and the source material overlapped. These storyboards were with
me on set every day. Fans of the graphic novel will recognize many of its
panels respectfully interpreted for the screen.
The collaboration I had with the entire cast is one of the highlights of my
career. Im very grateful for their talent, passionate dedication, and enthusi-
asm for the project.
I met with and auditioned around a hundred young actors for the lead
teen roles of Jeff, Derf, Neil, and Mike. I knew I had to find an actor who had
the versatility, depth, and physical likeness to take on the role of Dahmer;
when I met Ross Lynch I quickly locked into the idea that he could carry this
film. Many people thought it was a risky choice given Rosss background as
an actor on the Disney Channel, but his casting felt perfect to me and my
fellow producers. Originally a dancer, Ross is a consummate performer who
inhabited the role from head to toe. The way he transforms, carrying his body
