Green River Killer: A True Detective Story
Written by Jeff Jensen
Illustrated by Jonathan Case
Dark Horse Books
September 13, 2011
Reviewed by Elaine Pascale
Synopsis: Throughout the 1980s, the highest priority of Seattle-area police was the apprehension of the Green River Killer, the man responsible for the murders of dozens of women. In 1990, with the body count numbering at least forty-eight, the case was put in the hands of a single detective, Tom Jensen. After twenty years, when the killer was finally captured with the help of DNA technology, Jensen spent 180 days interviewing Gary Leon Ridgway in an effort to learn his most closely held secrets–an epic confrontation with evil that proved as disturbing and surreal as can be imagined. Written by Jensen’s own son, acclaimed entertainment writer Jeff Jensen, Green River Killer: A True Detective Story presents the ultimate insider’s account of America’s most prolific serial killer.
Green River Killer was simply excellent. Moreover, it served as an example of the importance of good writing in graphic novels. Too often the artwork is the mesmerizing force at the expense of a clearly developed story. Jeff Jensen provides a complex telling of his father’s experiences working on Gary Ridgway’s case. There is tension in the plot, even though it is not a “who done it” crime story. Tom Jensen is established as a caring, dedicated professional with a desire to do right by the victims’ families. Even Ridgway is presented in ways that are sometimes sympathetic. The characters are rich and realistic; the art work, while fantastic, is there to further the plot line, not trump it.
Jonathon Case masterfully places tiny, but important details into the illustrations. For example, Detective Jensen has little notes on his desk with quotes from Sherlock Holmes and these notes highlight pivotal turns in the serial killer’s case. Tom Jensen also has a habit of doing construction projects on his home when he feels particularly stressed about the case. Case’s rendering of Jensen on his knees, placing tiny squares of tile onto a bathroom floor was an intricate statement of the man’s coping strategy: Tom is trying to piece together a complex puzzle in his work life, and he mirrors it by working on a ceramic puzzle that is, at times, both in and out of his control in his home life.
True crime story fans will really appreciate this graphic novel. It does not sensationalize the murders; instead, it brings a humanity to the victims and a great deal of honor to the detectives who dedicated decades of their lives to stopping and convicting Gary Ridgway. I enjoyed Green River Killer immensely and am not ashamed to admit that the tender epilogue tugged at my heart strings.
