John “Derf” Backderf is exploring one of the most famous events of the Vietnam War era in his latest project, “Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio.” The comic explores the events surrounding the infamous May 4, 1970 Kent State University massacre, where four students were shot and killed by members of the Ohio National Guard. Nine other university students were wounded during the altercation, which occurred during the campus’s protest of the United States’ newly announced campaign in Cambodia.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Backderf conducted new research and interviews to get to the truth of the Kent State shootings. In “Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio,” he strives to recreate the events of May 4 as they occurred, and looks in-depth at the four individuals who were killed that day. It is a “powerful story that is still relevant” today, according to publisher Abrams ComicArts.
Derf Backderf is most famous for his 2012 graphic novel, “My Friend Dahmer,” chronicling his high school friendship with notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. It won Backderf an Angoulême Award, and was later turned into a film, directed by Marc Meyers and starring Ross Lynch, in 2017.
“Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio” will be published in April of 2020, ahead of the 50th anniversary of the shootings in May. In the meantime, check out The Hollywood Reporter for some sneak peeks of the artwork.
