Derf

Something about Derf and Dahmer

Ah, my real name must remain a secret to protect me from my
enemies, says Derf, who currently writes some of the finer
comics in the world right now. His works are diverse and
range from the hilarious story of his time as a trash
collector to his deeply personal story recollecting his high
school friendship with Jeffrey Dahmer and his politically
incorrect strip The City.

One day I remember having messages on my machine from the
New York Times, Oprah, Geraldo, NBC News and the National
Enquirer, all looking for interviews! says Derf. He didn’t
give any of these interviews because they would have been
about his high school relationship with one of the world’s
most notorious serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer, rather than
about his career writing comics. The Dahmer story surfaced
at the beginning of Derf’s career. He has been writing his
strip, The City, since 1990.

Derf’s latest book is called My Friend Dahmer, a
story about Jeffrey Dahmer’s youth. It’s my account of my
friendship with him during junior high and high school. A
very spooky look at a young boy spiraling into madness,
says Derf. Set aside your pre-conceptions as you read
this. I’ll tell you right now . . . there’s no violence.
No gore. No deviant sex. No graphic depictions of
unspeakable acts. Nothing. But this is a real horror
story. . and we all know how it turns out, writes Derf on
the inside cover of My Friend Dahmer. It’s my
belief that he COULD have been saved.

He could have gotten some professional help! says Derf.
I’m not saying he could ever have lived a normal life, but
I think mental health specialists certainly had a chance to
stop his descent, if some adult . . .teacher, counselor,
parent, anyone . . .had just stepped in when this guy
started wigging out. But no. It was easier to ignore him.
By the time he was a senior, which is when most of my story
is set, he was pretty well lost, I imagine.

Derf was also nominated for this year’s Eisner Awards for
My Friend Dahmer. (The Eisner Award is the Oscar for
comics.)

I’ve always done it. I have cartoons I drew when I was
five years old. Cartoonists are born, not made. I was
always getting low marks for drawing all over my notebooks
and worksheets. When a teacher took them away, I’d draw on
my desk. When I was forbidden to do that, I drew on my
jeans! says Derf.

His previous book is called Trashed. This is a
collection of true stories about Derf’s time working as a
trash collector after dropping out of college. I dropped
out of college because I didn’t like the art school I was
attending, says Derf. It certainly wasn’t a career goal
to be a garbage man. But it was a bad recession . .
especially in the Rust Belt. (Derf is from Ohio.)

Derf’s influences are mostly underground comic authors.
Mostly super-hero stuff, then got into underground and
offbeat stuff when I was 13 or so, says Derf. He is
influenced by Robert Crumb and many of the European
Expressionists of the 20’s. I get a lot of tortured
perspective and gritty urban realism from them. Filter all
that through the punk imagery I grew up with. An odd mix,
but somehow I make it work. I’ve always been attracted to
the dissidents, the professional fringe. I admire their
passion . . .and their courage, he says. Crumb is one of
the great cartoon geniuses of the 20^th century.
He rose from the hippie counter-culture of 1960’s San
Francisco and virtually single-handedly created underground
comix, the first time comix were written for adults, not
kids.

Derf is probably most well-known for his strip The City.
This is a strip that appears in some underground
newspapers. The City is a perfect outlet for Derf to
say how he feels. Oh I don’t think anyone who reads my
stuff doubts where I stand. I’m distrustful of the federal
government (especially THIS particular un-elected regime)
and of big business. I think the deck is completely stacked
against the common schlub, more so now than ever. That’s a
big theme in my work. The American Dream has been stolen
from us by offshore corporations and their hired puppets in
government, says Derf. We’ll all eventually be greeters
at Wal-Mart, working for minimum wage with no health care .
. .and under constant surveillance of Homeland Security.
In The City, Derf writes about current events and
creates reoccurring characters such as �White Middle Class
Suburban Man. In a particular strip he addresses the chunk
of steel that looked like a cross that was spotted at Ground
Zero. Derf regards this cross as anything but a sign from
God. Sorry, Lord . . .at this point you’ll have to do
better than that, writes Derf. I’d like to believe in
some higher power. It’s comforting. But I have to admit
I’m pretty much agnostic at this point. It’s not God so
much as religion that is my big beef. It brings nothing but
intolerance and violence. Believe what I believe or I’ll
kill you. Believe in my particular narrow interpretation or
you’re going to hell. Blah blah blah. Virtually every
great episode of misery in human history can be traced to
religion, from the Inquisition to the wars of Europe
in the Middle Ages that wiped out a third of the population
to the Holocaust to Sept. 11, says Derf. Let’s start
using our brains . . .and not rely on some bible-thumper or
mullah to tell us what to think.

Derf says his two children have had a major impact on his
life.. Kids affect your life in every way, of course.
There’s a lot less time to work. That’s the only impact on
my comics. My son is in the 2^nd grade and is
already taking a big interest in comix and cartooning. I’m
hoping he won’t doom himself to life as a cartoonist . .
.but, as I stated at the beginning of this interview, that’s
probably already been determined, says Derf.

Derf says he’ll continue to write comics in the future. He
says as long as someone will publish it, he’ll continue to
draw The City. He also says a book of his strip will
be coming out this fall. I’ll be doing more comic books,
hopefully at least one or two a year, maybe more if I get
rolling, says Derf. They don’t make any money, but
they’re fun to put out there.

~Ben
Durgin~