In the early 1990s, Hero Illustrated magazine included Fisher on its "100 Most Important People in the Comic Book Industry", calling him the "most dangerous man in comics". [15] Just steps away from Dahmer’s home, the three childhood friends commiserated over the crimes and speculated on how Dahmer reached that point. From Nobody to Nightmare: The book explores the early process for Jeff, as well as how every adult who could have taken him off that path didn't.

The book covers Dahmer and Derf’s last years of high school in bucolic Bath, Ohio, one of the safest neighborhoods in the state. And by the end of the summer following their senior year, both have discovered their passion — Derf has become a fledgling artist, Dahmer a practicing psychopath and murderer. Drawn in high-def contrast, with his slightly-grotesque portrayal of the human form, this book serves as the universal countering force of Dahmer’s own dark obsession. The art’s creation only made possible as a result of the acts it chronicles and the effect it had on the artist. Aside from missing this opportunity in his book, it is a fascinating and sad story. It certainly made me think about my own cruelties to others, while reminding the reader you never ever know how much small kindnesses may mean to another person. It also touches on the nature/nurture question, as Dahmer's mother had problems during her pregnancy with him, and the household, while forlorn, was certainly something many many other kids have weathered better than Dahmer did. Instead, what was more infuriating is this is essentially a tale of some nondescript dudes who are amused by a peer's offbeat behavior in high school. Bizarre, I know. But this friendship (if you can call it that, and I wouldn't if you're concerned with accuracy) is a purely superficial distraction infusing the story with absolutely nothing of substance.

The idea for My Friend Dahmer came to me just a few weeks after the news broke,” Derf tells PWCW. “After the initial blast of media feeding frenzy died down a bit, I got together with two of my friends, Mike and Neal in the book, both members of my inner circle in high school who befriended Dahmer. We met at Neal's house, which just so happened to be about 200 yards from Dahmer's boyhood home, which was still ringed with yellow police tape as forensic investigators sifted through the property looking for bone fragments.” Caroline Picard (February 23, 2014). "Two Separate Conversations: An Interview with Dave Daley and Stephan Elliott". Make . Retrieved October 18, 2022. Lloyd Figg comes off as this, to the point that Derf mentions that when he first heard that one of his ex-classmates became a serial killer, Figg was actually his first guess and Dahmer was second. Subverted in that Lloyd merely grows up to be some troublemaker who still lives with his mom rather than a homicidal maniac. The "Class Psycho" was really just a very disturbed edgelord whose existence is to be the Red Herring.

Derf speculates that if Jeff had gotten help his life would have been a miserable one where he would be on prescription drugs mostly. But Derf adds, he is certain that Jeff would still have preferred that to the life he did live. Barnette, Mark (November 1994). "Comics Library: The New Icon: Boneyard Press". The Comics Journal. No.172. p.9-50. Derf couldn't remember what the walls, carpets, and furnishings in the Dahmer house looked like, so everything inside is based on the general fashions of the time period. After Derf's standup routine as Hitler, he goes to get some water and runs into Dahmer, having a brief chat with him. Derf makes a note that yes, he did indeed have a conversation with Jeffrey Dahmer while dressed as Adolf Hitler and that in hindsight it's one of the most surreal moments of his life.Senior year, they all stopped hanging out with him. So now I'm supposed to believe that the author was his friend, knew Dahmer's inner demons, and there are even at times when he wonders if their bunch could have prevented Dahmer from committing his atrocious crimes? The author never even sees Dahmer anytime after graduation. Yet the book is titled My Friend Dahmer. Jeffrey Dahmer killed his first victim, a hitchhiker, shortly after finishing high school He would later kill 16 more people before his conviction. He was murdered in prison in 1994. JFINNEKE (2014-01-29). "Alex Awards 2013". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) . Retrieved 2022-08-05.

The sketches Derf drew of Jeff as the "Minister of Propaganda" for the Dahmer Fan Club. He put Jeff in his drawings for student election flyers and Revere High's yearbook (where the other characters are all speaking in "Dahmerisms.")

Subverted in regards to Lloyd Figg, whom Jeff is compared to. Lloyd appears blatantly Ax-Crazy next to the more quiet and awkward Jeff... but Jeff is the one that became a Serial Killer. As of 2018, Fisher lived in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. [27] Fisher's wife, Wakako Kawagoshi-Fisher, died in 2018. [28] Further reading [ edit ] Ultimately subverted when Jeff kills another dog and mounts its skull on a stake. Double Subversion in that, in Real Life, the dog was already dead when he found it. Dahmer may have been a horrific Serial Killer of young men but he wasn't a zoosadist. He was a huge animal-lover and was horrified at Lloyd Figg's evil pastime of vehicular dogslaughter.