By Nancy Powell
The Hollywood Reporter has reported that My Friend Dahmer creator Derf Backderf will publish KENT STATE: FOUR DEAD IN OHIO. Abrams ComicArts will release the book to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Kent State shootings.
In May 1970. Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War at the university. Four students died: Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Sheuer, and William Schneider. Native Ohioan Backderf was ten at the time of the Kent State shootings. His new book will combine personal memories of that day with interviews and in-depth research. Abrams ComicArts believes that KENT STATE is a “powerful story that is still relevant” for today’s charged political landscape.
Backderf’s My Friend Dahmer was an international bestseller. The book was adapted into a 2017 film starring Alex Wolff, Dallas Roberts and Anne Heche. The book received for the Ignatz, Harvey and Eisner Awards, winning the Angouleme Prize in 2014. Trashed, Derf’s other book, won an Eisner Award in 2016.
Backderf will also be a featured panelist at the Abrams ComicArts tenth anniversary celebration at the Society of Illustrators on April 23, 2019. Abrams will release KENT STATE: FOUR DEAD IN OHIO in April 2020.
