Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?
If you’re a fan of true crime in any medium this is one to check out. Eric Powell and Harold Schedcter take a dark and gritty look at the real life story of Eddie Gein.Continue Reading
Words: Harold Schechter and Eric Powell
Art: Eric Powell
Design: Phil Balsman
Publisher: Albatross Publishing
I can’t decide if this review is a warning or a sales pitch.
Eddie Gein is a killer who has infiltrated much of the American conversation. He’s been attributed to the development of the villains of Psycho, Silence of the Lambs, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. If you listen to anything True Crime or horror related, his name, likeness, or crimes have come up at some point.
Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is a graphic novel exploration of Eddie Gein’s history and crimes, the investigation process, and the community’s reaction. Schechter and Powell cleverly weave fact with hypothetical conversation to immerse the reader in Smalltown, Wisconsin. It might not provide new information to the long-time True Crime Fan, but it’s an entertaining read for new and old fans alike!
Powell’s art excels, too. It’s pencil sketches and shading, but thoroughly detailed. Powell captures a variety of body-types and facial expressions, really immersing the reader into the narrative and experience. But Powell’s art, coupled with Schechter’s words, pushed this story from semi-educational to truly horrifying.
Powell and Schechter dive into fictional conversations, reimaginings of events, and replicating trial scenes that add a layer of realness that shortens the fantastical distance that Gein’s notoriety has created between us and the nature of his crimes. From silhouettes to slang, the team cleans away the academic veneer that comes from the passing of decades. It pulled the wool of distant moral horror off my eyes; it felt sickening to read.
The True Crime Genre is one that should be criticized for its potential exploitation of victims and criminals. Many narratives create false ideas of criminals, crimes, and victims. The genre tells stories of sensationalism and disbelief. It’s as if the idea of crime is mystical, as if we don’t have theories as to why someone commits horrible acts. Narratives struggle to balance empathy with moral statements. This book doesn’t really change that.
I feel the book leaned more to the dehumanization of Gein’s victims. Powell replicated how ropes cut into the bodies of the victims far too well; it felt like a violation of the victim’s dignity. Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? seemed to capitalize on the moral horror of Eddie Gein and his crimes. The book clearly shows that horror can happen in any town and at the hands of any person. The book is high quality and an example of the complicated relationship between graphic novels and fictional stories.
If you want a story that adds to the genre, I recommend My Friend Dahmer, the graphic novel.
If you’re a fan of true crime in any medium this is one to check out. Eric Powell and Harold Schedcter take a dark and gritty look at the real life story of Eddie Gein.Continue Reading
Sometimes things just have to be brought back to basics. Comics were made for kids and it’s nice to finally look at one of those again. Especially because we get to look at a witch at the height of Spooky Season. Even if the witch in question is a good little witch.
Diego Jourdan Pereira comes on the show to help take a look at the surprisingly good game and a peek into the Harvey Comics lore that I’m surprised hasn’t shown up here more.
Also be sure to check out his new book Bizarre Bathroom Reader which can be preordered from Skyhorse Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Target.
So let’s say you’re writing comics. Or drawing comics but I’m me so we’re just going to say writing. How are you going to get your stuff out into the world? Maybe you don’t even need a traditional publisher. But how do you get your stuff in front of readers?
Good thing we have Lanier Burton here to help us figure that out. Listen in as we take a look at his work across all of his From Scratch Comics lineup.
It’s Spooky Season, and what’s been scarier lately than the threat of disease running rampant throughout the world? Not much, so let’s lean into it and take a look at Dr. Crowe, another wonderful collection from 215 Ink, in which a plague doctor deals with mystical elements in his adventures to stop the supernatural from bringing too much havoc into the world of man.
Listen in as Corey Fryia joins the show to help us break down series and get us ready for the trade paperback where you can get all of the current run at once. “Where can I grab this?” might ask. How about at the Dr. Crowe Kickstarter page or preorder at your local comic shop right now.
As one of the most compassionate characters in comics Wonder Woman is going to try to save everyone. But what happens when the person she decides needs saving is a literal bringing of destruction and threatens the lives of everyone else?Continue Reading
It’s always nice to be wanted. Even if the people wanting you are evil scientists. OK, maybe that’s not the best situation to be in but sometimes you have to take what you can get.
Listen in as writer Max Majernik and Band of Bards cofounder Chris Benamati join to show to give us an inside look at their current Kickstarter comic Prospects.
I’m just going to let the comic pitch speak for itself here, because I can’t do any better: What if Conan the Barbarian was forced to reclass as a wizard? And if that doesn’t hook you then I have no idea what will.
You know who might though? Les Julian. Which is a good thing since he literally wrote the book. What book is that you might ask? Savage Wizard, which you can get on Kickstarter right now. And you should. So get on that.
I’m not going to dance around it. This is a story that needs to be told right now. In so many ways the world is going to shit. And sadly part of that seems to be comic characters being twisted in the minds of people in ways that fit the exact opposite of what the character actually represents.
I can’t think of anyone better to have written this story and to talk about it than Jay Edidin. Listen in as we talk about the wild ride that the Captain America story from Marvel’s new Marvel Unlimited exclusive Infinity Comics line took to come into existence.
One of the best things about comics is that they can be about literally anything. Super hero stuff is obviously big. Horror comics were big back in the day. We even had comics that focused on historical events. And of course you can tell basically any kind of story you want to.
Part of telling any story is telling the story of people that more of us should know about. Good thing we have my friend Michiums here to help us take a look at DC’s recent anthology Wonderful Women of the World.Continue Reading
Scouting has always been a little weird to me. Even as a kid, I wondered what exactly all of this preparedness was going to be for. As a child of the suburbs, I wasn’t entirely convinced I would ever need to know how to tie a thousand types of knots or navigate through the woods with only my knowledge of woodcraft. Besides, all the made up words and loyalty rules seemed a little, you know, cult-y to me even at the time.Continue Reading
The early 2000s were an exciting time. X-Men had the start of a feature film franchise and I’m sure there isn’t anything that could go wrong with that at all is there….. But for real people were really starting to get the hang of this PlayStation thing. And this was right at the start of every movie having a game to go with it.
Listen in as Billy comes back to help take a look at this game that certainly isn’t a Capcom vs title, but is still nothing to sneeze at. Mostly because that’s a rude thing to do.
This Episode is brought to you in part by Pocus Hocus, a Kickstarter comic that takes a look at what happens when someone sells their soul to the devil and then decides that they want their soul back.
How did I think I was the only one who didn’t read Gilgamesh in school? Somehow I thought I was the only one who missed it. But it turns out that even someone who is making a Gilgamesh comic didn’t have to read it in school. Now that’s just out there.
Good thing we have Cam Kerkau and Kostas Pantoulas here to talk about their Kickstarter comic Gilgamesh Eternal because I need a crash course in the subject.Continue Reading
Imagine a world where you couldn’t feel. No, for real, feeling will get you killed. And not just feeling hate or feeling love or any other specific emotion. All of them. Nothing is safe.
Good thing we have Peter Milligan here to help up navigate through this strange existence. Listen in as we talk about his new book from Vault Comics, Human Remains.
Men in Black is a franchise that I don’t think will ever leave the public consciousness. Sure, we didn’t know the comic even existed when the movie came out and we were 10 years old (I’m not doing that math but the age seems right for me). And for most kids when a cartoon happens as well that’s just a goldmine waiting to happen.
Good thing Kristian Cabrera from Simping for Senpai is here to help make up for my childhood foolishness. And maybe to uncover some secret alien related government tomfoolery.
The best thing about public domain IP is that you can do whatever you want with it. Like, oh I don’t know, taking the Wizard of Oz and making it a war story. After all, you did kind of have Dorothy coming in and killing people. That’s not exactly a nice move.
If only I knew someone who has done exactly that….. How about David Pepose? Yeah that would be good. So it’s a good thing that who you get to listen to in this episode.
And just a warning, we recorded this episode before the Kickstarter campaign for The OZ went public. And it kind of exploded a little bit. In a good way.
First impressions are a powerful thing, especially on the internet since we’re constantly blasted with so much information that it’s really easy to see a thing flash before our eyes and never see it again.
That’s why when I saw that Band of Bards was a new comic publisher with a focus on diversity I knew I had to hurry up and ask them to be on the show before I had a brain fart and forgot. Thankfully, Tim Stolinski was able to come on and let us know a bit about the company and their current Kickstarter campaign for Final Gamble.
How many times can I say that I’m a sucker for people promoting their own stuff? The Kickstarter Hustle is real folks and I respect the Hell out of it.
That’s why we have Jim Ousley back on the show to talk about his newest project The Atonement Bell.
X-Men. It’s the reason I started this podcast. It’s the comic series that people ask me about the most for coming on the show. And they just never disappoint because there are about a billion different reasons why people have gotten into them and why they love them. So what’s wrong with another look?
If you ask Kevin Newburn, nothing at all. Which is great because that would have made for a really awkward episode if he didn’t think that these mutants were worth another look.
Well it’s been a nice run of bonus episodes, way more than I ever intended to run back to back to…. well you get the idea. So to get back to the regular episodes I feel like it’s best to go with on of my first loves, our friendly neighborhood wall crawler Spider-Man.
Good thing today’s guest David Gallaher likes Spider-Man too because otherwise this could have gotten weird. Not that it didn’t anyway but at least it’s the kind of weird that we’ve gotten used to on this show.
Pets are better than people. Nobody should be shocked to hear that from me. I make it no secret that I love my cats more than basically any human who could ever exist. And that when I’ve lost pets in the past it’s just wrecked me.
So on that happy note listen to Steve Orlando and Steve Foxe come on the show to talk about Rainbow Bridge, the story of a boy’s last adventure with his dog. And if that doesn’t hit you right in the feels then I don’t think you were listening.
This Episode is brought to you in part by AfterShock Comics since they are publishing the book and everything.
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