{"id":236,"date":"2018-06-27T12:16:54","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T16:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/?p=236"},"modified":"2018-12-21T12:33:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T17:33:40","slug":"crime-spree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2018\/06\/27\/crime-spree\/","title":{"rendered":"Crime Spree: Comics and Criminality in the Library"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been on a bit of a crime spree lately\u2014in the library.\u00a0 It all started with my friend Krista Gehring\u2019s new graphic textbook series, CrimComics<\/em><\/a>.<\/strong> Each issue offers insights into specific aspects of criminology and criminal justice, including history, theory, biographical and case studies, and contemporary issues in crime & punishment, all told through the medium of graphic narrative. Gehring herself is a Criminal Justice professor at the University of Houston-Downtown who specializes in women offenders, criminological theory, gender-responsive policies & practices, and risk\/needs assessment.\u00a0 She also happens to be a great fan of crime and horror comics, films, and popular culture. Thinking that this might be a great way to combine her passions while also doing some creative teaching with students who had trouble grasping theoretical concepts in criminology, Gehring got together with an old friend from grad school, Michael R. Batista, who also happens to be a freelance artist, and began working on a graphic textbook concept in early 2010.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\"Cover<\/a>Having an artistic collaborator who also has a master\u2019s degree in criminal justice made it much easier to develop a shared vision of the text. They produced a few pages of what would become the first issue of their series, CrimComics: Origins of Criminology<\/em><\/a>,<\/strong> and began shopping it around later that year. They approached one large academic publisher who expressed strong interest\u2014but after nearly two years without any movement on the project, they decided to look elsewhere.\u00a0 By chance, Oxford University Press<\/a> made a visit to their campus in 2012, and Gehring decided to make a pitch.\u00a0 The rest, as they say, is history.[1]<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\"\"The comic itself is drawn in a blocky black-and-white style that\u2019s reminiscent of classic noir detective comics like Dick Tracy <\/em>or The Spirit<\/em>, with plenty of shadows and dark corners to evoke the historic (and, as they point out, moral) terrors of the criminal \u201cunderworld\u201d. But while visually plunging us into this dark world, the thoughtful scholarly narrative serves to shine a light of reason and modern theoretical understanding into those gothic corners.<\/p>\r\n

If it were all just scholarly text imposed on comic book images, though, it wouldn\u2019t really depart much from a standard textbook. What makes CrimComics<\/em> more interesting and entertaining is how it takes us back to specific moments in history (like, say, the Salem Witch Trials) and offers dramatic scenes or re-enactments to illustrate its theoretical points, or uses famous figures in criminology as characters who tell their own stories, often through conversations with other recognizable figures (sometimes the creators\u2019 own friends!). For example, the first issue tells the story of \u201cthe Two Cesares\u201d\u2014Beccaria and Lombroso\u2014who established the competing Classic and Positivist Schools of criminology, respectively.\u00a0 The development of these different ways of viewing criminal behavior are shown to be a direct reflection of the lives, influences, and goals of these theorists.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

At the end of each issue is a list of important terms, discussion questions, and suggested readings for students. This, of course, is the experienced teacher and pedagogue in Gehring that ultimately wants to bring the fun back into focus around the very real and serious issues addressed in the comic. Subsequent issues have looked at \u201cBiology and Criminality<\/a>,\u201d \u201cClassical and Neoclassical Criminology<\/a>,\u201d \u201cSocial Disorganization Theory<\/a>\u201d, and \u201cAnomie and Strain Theories<\/a>,\u201d \u00a0while a sixth issue on \u201cSubcultural Theories\u201d is coming soon.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

\"Cover<\/a>After learning a bit about criminology, I figured it was time to test my new knowledge on some \u201ctrue crime\u201d graphic novels, two of which I recently came across in the library.\u00a0 The first was Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case\u2019s Green River Killer: A True Detective Story<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Dark Horse, 2011). This is a unique and harrowing account of the hunt for the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgeway, and his subsequent arrest\u00a0and confession, told through the eyes of one of the detectives, Tom Jensen, who pursued the killer for over 30 years.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Even more interesting is that the writer is Jensen’s son, Jeff, who had unrestricted access to his father’s memories, notes, and reflections, as well as those of others who worked on the case over the years, including Ridgeway’s own lawyer.\u00a0 Unlike most serial killer stories, this one doesn’t focus on the killings themselves–although they are recounted in chilling fashion–but rather on the psychological and emotional toll it takes on all the people affected by these killings, including the families, the public, and those, like Jensen, who devoted the better part of their professional lives to finding and capturing the killer.<\/p>\r\n\"Page\r\n

What this graphic novel reveals is the intimacy<\/em> of this kind of investigation, which, in a perverse and uncomfortable way, reflects the intimacy of the crime.\u00a0 The way the author parallels the lives and emotional states\u2014the doubts, fears, longings, rage, and even love for their families–of Jensen and Ridgeway is enough to make you feel both sympathetic and sickened by how mundane and every day the act of murder was for a man like Ridgeway.\u00a0 It makes us wonder if Jensen’s obsession with catching this particular killer has as much to do with his<\/em> need to understand what separates two men who, to all appearances, aren’t all that different from one another.\u00a0 The author never makes this question explicit (probably out of respect for his still-living father), but it is implied in the way the words and image often juxtapose the two men, and in Tom Jensen’s own admitted turmoil during his interviews with Gary Ridgeway.\u00a0 It’s not clear that he ever finds answers to all \u00a0his questions, but the story gives us hope that he at least found some closure and resolution in his own life.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\"Cover\r\n

I also finally got around to reading Derf Backderf\u2019s quirky and disturbing My Friend Dahmer<\/em><\/a> (<\/strong>2012), and watched the film<\/a> <\/strong>by Marc Meyers (2017) over the same weekend.\u00a0 Both take advantage of the unique perspective of the author, an actual friend of Dahmer\u2019s from high school, who offers a portrait of the class \u201cspazz\u201d that isn\u2019t all that different from the kinds of stories most of us have\u00a0about our high school days, whether we were among the \u201cweird\u201d kids or the \u201cnormal\u201d\/popular ones.\u00a0 Dahmer, while certainly awkward and timid, a subject of some ridicule, but also some grudging affection, isn\u2019t even among the more disturbing members of his class\u2014unless you know what is to come, which, of course, we do.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Shifting between the author\u2019s teenage perspective, an admittedly immature and thoughtless one at times, and his adult awareness of who his classmate is to become, the graphic novel provides a kind of grotesquely comical vision of a Midwestern high school in the 1970s, complete with absent parents, drug & alcohol abuse, teenage delinquency, and all the usual awkward horrors of adolescence. But beneath that layer of relative \u201cnormalcy\u201d is the gradual dissolution of one young man\u2019s family, emotional & social life, and ultimately, his sanity (or perhaps, his humanity). Backderf offers some speculation, and extensive research, to support his own understanding of the origins of Dahmer\u2019s dark obsessions, but he stops short of trying to offer a \u201cdiagnosis\u201d and instead lets the story as he remembers it speak for itself.<\/p>\r\n

\"PageWhile the graphic novel retains a certain emotional distance from the subject of Dahmer himself\u2014we learn as much about the author\u2019s psyche as we do about Dahmer’s\u2014the film takes a more intimate view of Dahmer\u2019s own experience. It is both less funny and more sympathetic, perhaps because real actors bring a depth and humanity to the characterizations of Dahmer, his family, and his relationships that aren\u2019t available on the page.\u00a0 But I think the film also wants us to have a deeper sense of the tragedy and horror that Dahmer finally comes to represent as he emerges from troubled teenager into the killer that we all know\u2014for that, we can\u2019t just see him as a sick joke. It\u2019s definitely worth reading the novel and the film together, though, as a way to understand that, as Alice Sebold puts it in The Lovely Bones<\/em><\/a> (2002),<\/em>\u201chorror on earth is real and it is every day.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

All of these titles are currently available at the Willis Library. Check them out!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Backderf, Derf (2012). My Friend Dahmer<\/em>.<\/a> New York: Abrams ComicArts.<\/p>\r\n

Gehring, Krista and Batista, Michael R. (2017-) CrimComics<\/a><\/em>. Oxford University Press.<\/p>\r\n

Jensen, Jeff and Case, Jonathan (2011). Green River Killer: A True Detective Story<\/a>.<\/em> Dark Horse Comics.<\/p>\r\n

Meyers, Marc (2017). My Friend Dahmer<\/em>.<\/a> FilmRise.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0Gehring, Krista. Correspondence with John Edward Martin. June 3, 2018.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve been on a bit of a crime spree lately\u2014in the library.\u00a0 It all started with my friend Krista Gehring\u2019s new graphic textbook series, CrimComics. Each issue offers insights into specific aspects of criminology and criminal justice, including history, theory, biographical and case studies, and contemporary issues in crime & punishment, all told through the… Read more »<\/a>","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,4],"tags":[30,34,35,17],"class_list":["post-236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-libraries","category-reviews","tag-comics-in-the-library","tag-crime-comics","tag-graphic-textbooks","tag-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/06\/crimcomics.jpg?fit=328%2C499&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9noXX-3O","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":482,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2020\/12\/09\/researching-comics-at-unt-libraries\/","url_meta":{"origin":236,"position":0},"title":"Researching Comics at UNT Libraries","author":"John","date":"December 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 For those doing research at the UNT Libraries, there are several ways to access all of our Comics Studies materials.\u00a0 Some of these, like our electronic databases, ebooks, and e-journals, are restricted to UNT students, faculty, and staff.\u00a0 Others, like our physical collections, digital libraries, and online guides, can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics in the library"","block_context":{"text":"Comics in the library","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/libraries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Shelves of graphic novels on the 3rd floor of UNT's Willis Library","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/01\/graphicnovels.png?fit=817%2C612&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/01\/graphicnovels.png?fit=817%2C612&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/01\/graphicnovels.png?fit=817%2C612&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2018\/01\/graphicnovels.png?fit=817%2C612&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2017\/10\/20\/welcome\/","url_meta":{"origin":236,"position":1},"title":"Welcome to Comics Studies @UNT!","author":"John","date":"October 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the brand new Comics Studies at UNT Blog! This blog is a project of the UNT Libraries, and will include contributors from across the Libraries' divisions, as well as from faculty, students, and others in the UNT community who share an interest in comics studies.","rel":"","context":"In "Comics in the library"","block_context":{"text":"Comics in the library","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/libraries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Poster for \"Comics in the Library\" Exhibit, April-August, 2017","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-in-the-library-poster-e1513015933238.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-in-the-library-poster-e1513015933238.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-in-the-library-poster-e1513015933238.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-in-the-library-poster-e1513015933238.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-in-the-library-poster-e1513015933238.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2017\/12\/05\/resources\/","url_meta":{"origin":236,"position":2},"title":"Comics Studies Resources @UNT","author":"John","date":"December 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The UNT Libraries has a number of resources for folks interested in studying comics for research, coursework, collecting, or plain old pleasure reading.\u00a0 Below are a few places to get started. These aren't the only places you can find useful information, though, since every discipline may have its own\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics in the library"","block_context":{"text":"Comics in the library","link":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/category\/libraries\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-guide.jpg?fit=1191%2C715&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-guide.jpg?fit=1191%2C715&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-guide.jpg?fit=1191%2C715&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-guide.jpg?fit=1191%2C715&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2017\/12\/comics-guide.jpg?fit=1191%2C715&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":120,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.library.unt.edu\/comics\/2018\/01\/30\/hey-where-did-the-comics-go\/","url_meta":{"origin":236,"position":3},"title":"Hey, Where Did the Comics Go?","author":"Spencer","date":"January 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If you've been standing in one place spinning in circles on the first floor of Willis Library looking for the Graphic Novels section, you're not hallucinating, they really did move! 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