I’m a walking series of contradictions. I love horror but I hate real violence. That said, I have a fascination with true crime that borders on the unhealthy. Not that I buy a lot of the books or anything but I know an awful lot about some of the world’s most prolific murderers. Take that for what it’s worth but I assure you, you don’t need to keep a healthy distance between yourself and myself should we ever meet in real life.
Gary Ridgway evaded police for nearly 20 years and left, officially, nearly 50 bodies in his wake. He was tried for 48 counts but claims the bodycount is closer to 90, most of his victims were prostitutes, most of them killed within a two year period in the early 80’s. 48 murders! In two years! As a matter of fact, the Seattle police had shelved the case until 2001 when DNA evidence was used to link the muders to Ridgway and finally bring an end to the case. In 2003, Ridgway cut a deal with the District Attorney to spare his life in exchange for the details of his killings and the locations of the unrecovered bodies. A component of his plea bargain was a deep, invasive series of interviews with Detective Tom Jensen that lasted half a year. The results of the interview, as well as details of the investigation leading up to Ridgway’s arrest, trial and conviction have been compiled by Tom Jensen’s son and turned over to artist Ramon K. Perez, documenting in graphic novel format, a true crime graphic novel that is the first of its kind.
Jeff Jensen says, “My father, in his wry, self-deprecating fashion, always joked that if anyone ever told his story, it would be in a comic book. Well, now that’s come true, but in the best way possible. I’m excited to be telling his story, and thrilled that we’re doing it as a graphic novel with Dark Horse. My father taught me to read with comics. As a teenager, I became a fan of the medium for life thanks to Alan Moore, Frank Miller, the Hernandez brothers, Neil Gaiman, Howard Chaykin, Harvey Pekar, and Daniel Clowes–artists who opened my eyes to how comics can tackle mature material in a sophisticated fashion. Ramón and I and everyone here want to do justice to my father’s story in a smart, compelling, sensitive way, and we hope that the result is worthy of the comics that have inspired us.”
The Green River Killer, like BTK, is one of the most fascinating murderers, if you’re into that sort of thing, in that he managed to stay out among us for as long as he did while he continued to kill. It’s a case study in serial killer investigation as the FBI and police had not yet built reliable methods of tracking and profiling and the case had to remain open as long as it did as technology caught up with the police that allowed them to find their killer. In the end, The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway was just another piece of malfunctioning human trash but the case surrounding his crimes is both fascinating and historic. Dark Horse will release Green River Killer: A Detective Story in 2010, written by Jeff Jensen, art by Ramon K. Perez.
June 2, 2009 8:30 am
This sounds like an interesting project! I’m curious to see how it’ll measure up against true crime graphic novels like “Torso” and “From Hell.” Perez’ style looks to be crisp and colorful–it should be really interesting to see how he adapts his style to psychologically dark material like this. Thanks for cluing me in, sir!