Jack the Ripper: A Journal of the Whitechapel Murders 1888-1889 (Treasury of Victorian Murder) [Hardcover]

Rick Geary (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2003 | Series: Treasury of Victorian Murder

Rick has researched this book extensively and presents, with his own inimitable tongue-in-cheek style, the Jack The Ripper mystery as told through a journal of a fascinated Englishman of the day. Both factual and darkly funny, Geary¹s personal take on this story shines an ironic light on the repressive society that spawned such a monster.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rendering the belching chimneys, puzzled bobbies and bewhiskered worthies of Victorian London in brooding b&w panels, Geary revisits the legend of Jack the Ripper in this stylish graphical novel. On the one hand, this is a 19th-century police procedural: in examining the brutal murders of five prostitutes in London's Whitechapel district in 1888, Geary recreates the scene of each gruesomely surgical murder, annotating the evidence, the forensic procedures of the time (some theories held that an image of the murderer remained affixed to the victim's retina) and the eerily conflicting testimony of witnesses. On the other hand, it's a deadpan pulp narrative in the form of a trade comic book in which Geary's haunting drawings unite seamlessly with his moody, well-researched text. As the atrocities mount, the story tracks the public hysteria surrounding the murders, including journalistic excess and rising anti-Semitism. Geary doesn't try to identify "Saucy Jacky." Instead, he taps the legend's powerful mystery and, in the process, the period's social strictures and hypocrisies.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Geary's graphic novel tells of the mystery and investigation of a Victorian murderer, using black and white illustrations and tasteful displays to recount the Ripper modus operandi and legend. Geary's story will satisfy fans of the graphic novel format who appreciate seeing detective work illustrated. -- Midwest Book Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561631248
• ISBN-13: 978-1561631247
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #972,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful graphic novel, July 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Jack the Ripper: A Journal of the Whitechapel Murders 1888-1889 (Treasury of Victorian Murder) (Hardcover)

A truly great graphic novel. Geary continues his amazing series of "A Treasury of Victorian Murder" with probably what is the most brilliant installment. The story of Jack the Ripper is explained from somewhat of a historically unbiased and objective view without being overloaded with too many sources. The comic contains a documentary side while melding description, assumption, and mystery alongside great graphic images. I have not found a flaw in Geary series other than some dissapointment with "The Borden Tragedy." I would also suggest
Peter Kuper's adaptatation of Kafka's "The Metamorphosis."

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasure for the eye and mind, October 3, 2004

By 

tierny - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jack the Ripper: A Journal of the Whitechapel Murders 1888-1889 (Treasury of Victorian Murder) (Hardcover)

I knew just the basics about Jack the Ripper when I picked this up in a used bookstore. The drawings were so detailed and clarified logistics (maps, diagrams, plans) in a way that text cannot. The text is extremely straightforward and reality-based, giving them an authority that hyperbole would've ruined. I had no intentions of buying this, but I had a hard time putting it down.

Years later, this has turned out to be one of those purchases that I pull out over and over again. It is never far from my bed and sits with two other (soon to be three) volumes in the series. All of them lay out conundrums that leave you chilled and uneasy. You go to bed a little less sure that all is right in the world.

Once I was flipping channels on cable and the image of an alley with a distinct bend to it flashed by. "...looked like an alley from the the Ripper killings..." I thought and changed back. Sure enough, it was a documentary on the Ripper. That's how accurate this books visuals are. I correctly associated a photo I had never seen before with the crimes just from viewing Geary's drawings. His illustrative style is fastidious and engrossing.

True to it's title I do treasure these volumes.

Best of luck and much success to you Rick!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just the facts, February 15, 2005

By 

Gagewyn (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jack the Ripper: A Journal of the Whitechapel Murders 1888-1889 (Treasury of Victorian Murder) (Hardcover)

Jack the Ripper is a fact based comic. The story is told in the form of excerpts from an unamed Victorian man's journal. He says on this day this occurred on this day this body was found here, etc. The idea is to lay out just the facts and not to try to read into them. Theories on who the killer is etc are presented very briefly as they come up and no one theory is endorsed.

The visuals: The drawings here are done in a style that simulates wood cut prints. This lend itself to descriptive diagrammatic illustrations. It also keeps the gore from being so disturbing. This book isn't dwelling on the gore, but it isn't totally possible to avoid it in this case. The drawings of crime scenes etc here are very accurate, so the illustrations add to the information presented.

This is a good clean and straight forward telling of the Jack the Ripper stories. It lays out the facts and does this clearly and concisely. If you have already read lots about Jack the Ripper then this won't add anything new. It is also pretty expensive for a black and white comic book, since it is only 64 pages. The best use for this book is perhaps for families or school libraries that want a book about Jack the Ripper. It does tell about a slasher who kills prostitutes, but it is a clean treatment considering the subject.