Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?

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Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? could easily have been exploitative, but is much more respectful, especially in its depiction of Gein's victims and those left wondering what made this man do what he did. En ole aina ihan varma mitä makaaberista true crime -genrestä pitäisi ajatella, mutta tulinpa kuitenkin lainanneeksi kirjastosta Harold Schechterin ja Eric Powellin albumin "Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done" (Albatross, 2021). This book takes Gein’s gruesome crimes out of the realms of exploitation and delivers a powerful, fact-based dramatization of the tragic, psychotic, and heartbreaking events,” said Powell. “Because, in this case, the truth needs no embellishment to be horrifying.”

Did you hear what Eddie Gein done?” (review) “Did you hear what Eddie Gein done?” (review)

Raised by a tyrannical, religious zealot and likely insane mother Augusta and drunken, violent father George, Schechter/Powell provide glimpses of scenes Ed would probably have seen in his youth which might explain his later behaviour, like seeing his mother butchering a pig and his father tanning leather. It’s a very grim life story and it’s not hard to see how damaging a life of paranoia and isolation could be to a person - Ed really had no chance right from the beginning. Schechter and Powell have created something spectacular and horrifying. Their well-researched and narratively-engrossing depiction of Ed Gein & his crimes evokes a range of responses, from pathos and humor on one end to revulsion and horror on the other.

I am also a huge comic book fan, so when I heard that Eric Powell was producing a Graphic novel about Ed Gein in conjunction with Harold Schechter, it was like the stars had aligned. The graphic novel draws from my deeply researched book Deviant. It is completely fact-based, with the exception of the professor of religion who, towards the end, offers a theory about the sources of Gein’s madness and who serves as a vehicle for conclusions about Gein’s psychopathology that I have arrived at since the publication of my book. Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? is an in-depth exploration of the Gein family and what led to the creation of the necrophile who haunted the dreams of 1950s America and inspired such films as Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. This comic book was remarkably readable. Very little was not taken from primary sources, and what wasn't taken from primary source was explained in the end notes with further explanations behind the reasoning afforded. What you got from reading this was not simply the history, but also an analysis of some of the reasoning behind the fixations that Gein developed. I left the book both knowing a great deal more about him, and also wanting to read Schechter's official book about the murders. That having been said? This book seems to summarize the events extraordinarily well. None of it felt like it was glossed over. In Chapter 11, Professor O’Hara explains your theory regarding the possibility that Gein’s mother had become a sort of deity to her son. If taken as a metaphor for Gein’s deranged mind, the effect is such that we do not feel intimidated, yet, if taken as proof that Gein’s was not something peculiar, that his was not a case never to be repeated, this means that he was simply acting out a primordial need that is part and parcel of humanity (or, at least, of part of humanity). Your theory, so it seems to me, destabilizes our preconceptions of what a serial killer is. Is our idea of progress and civilization, something we derive from ancient Greece (with its us-civilized and them-uncivilized dichotomy), a blatant lie we tell ourselves?

Ed Gein, The Serial Killer An Original Graphic Novel about Ed Gein, The Serial Killer

When I was a kid I remember hearing talk about how Texas Chainsaw Massacre was a true story. That there was a real Leatherface. I don’t remember what age I was but it was probably too early to be hearing about people being strung up in barns and skinned. I think much like the kids in the 50s who read the story in Life magazine, Gein became a real life bogeyman to me. It was really Harold’s work that got me interested in the family dynamic. He has explored that area of Gein’s life probably more than any true crime writer. We describe the isolated farmhouse in the book as an incubator for madness, and I think that’s a pretty accurate description for the abusive cycle this family put themselves through. The infamous Ed Gein is perhaps Exhibit A in the ongoing nature-vs.-nurture debate of violent crime. In a desolate farmhouse in Plainfield, Wisconsin, Gein's macabre crimes would inspire some of the most well-known and frightening ghouls of pop culture horror. However, as incomprehensible as it might be, Gein's story was terrifyingly real. Kaikin puolin surullinen sarjakuva perustuu aika tiukasti faktoihin, joiden pohjalta Harold Schechter on kai kirjoittanut elämäkerrankin. Loppusanoissa mainitaan kohdat, jotka ovat arvelun varassa tai tekijöiden omaa tulkintaa. It’s not an exaggeration to compare discovering the existence of Eric Powell’s new graphic novel “Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?”* (Albatross Funny Books, 2021) to stumbling onto some lost, you’d-somehow-never-heard-of-it ‘true crime’ comics artifact co-created by bestselling In Cold Blood novelist Truman Capote and premiere EC Comics artist Johnny Craig.

One of the greats in the field of true crime literature, Harold Schechter (Deviant, The Serial Killer Files, Hell’s Princess), teams with five-time Eisner Award-winning graphic novelist Eric Powell (The Goon, Big Man Plans, Hillbilly) to bring you the tale of one of the most notoriously deranged serial killers in American history, Ed Gein. What Powell and Schecter accomplish is more akin to rumor than fiction. If fiction contains a spark of truth, "Did You Hear Eddie Gein Done?" finds its narrative in the flames. They bring you so close to the facts that you can feel the heat of reality off of them, and it stings. It is impossible to create a comic book that is literally true. You can present facts, photos, first-hand accounts, and primary documents, but the instant you start speculating, you are a storyteller. Harold Schecter is a true-crime writer whose 1998 book, Deviant, is considered the definitive text on the life and crimes of Ed Gein, “The Butcher of Plainfield.” Eric Powell is the creator of The Goon, a supernatural crime comedy known for its delectably vile violence and sacrilege. Though their chosen genres could not be more disparate, they share a slightly bent perspective, and the challenge of presenting the facts of Ed Gein’s abhorrent existence in a compelling graphic novel has produced a work that is singular and extraordinary. Even as a kid who grew up in the ’80s, the story of the 1950s ghoul was a topic in school,” Powell tells The Hollywood Reporter regarding his interest, maybe obsession, with the killer. “How there was really a guy they based Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre after. The scenario that created this sad figure who committed these terrible crimes has fascinated me ever since.”

Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? | Harold Schechter

If you have lived in Wisconsin, as I have, you know the book Wisconsin Death Trip which makes a case for the state being one of the creepiest places on the planet (including chapters on monsters/serial killers such as jeffery Dahmer, and so on). But before Dahmer, in 1957, there was Eddie Gein, one of the most truly macabre people to ever walk the planet (oh, I know he has competition). And I admit, I have recently taken a (shallow, hypocritical) stand against the sensationalization of murder in my review of a graphic memoir, The Murder Book (Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell), a book about the author's obsession with True Crime, as I was at the same time reading Norman Mailer's Executioner's Song, about psycho-killer Gary Gilmore.Eric Powell, perhaps best known for The Goon comics, was also an excellent choice for illustrator. Every muted panel captures the sadness and dreariness of Gein's world. I trust as a society, we’re doing a better job of identifying at risk people and giving them the help they need as a child. Gein was obviously a disturbed person but I think was a product of his upbringing. In a way, this book was a bit of a first for me. I have read graphic novels before, but this was the first which had true events at its heart. And, with those events being truly horrific, I was interested to see how this subject matter would be handled in this genre.