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Treasury of Victorian Murder
The Saga of Bloody Benders[ THE SAGA OF BLOODY BENDERS ] by Geary, Rick (Author) Jul-01-07[ Hardcover ]
In his next volume, Geary takes us out to the wild west and the just opened up prairies of Kansas. Out on a deserted stretch of road linking newly forming towns, a mysterious family stakes a claim and builds an inn for weary visitors. Soon, reports multiply of disappearances around that area. Generally, those who disappear have plenty of cash on them. A delicious tale of a gruesome family fronted by a beguiling lass who led their victims on…
Hardcover
First published May 7, 2007
About the author
Rick Geary
190 books203 followersRICK GEARY was born in 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in Wichita,
Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where his first cartoons were published in the University Daily Kansan. He worked as staff artist for two weekly papers in Wichita before moving to San Diego in 1975.
He began work in comics in 1977 and was for thirteen years a contributor to the Funny Pages of National Lampoon. His comic stories have also been published in Heavy Metal, Dark Horse Comics and the DC Comics/Paradox Press Big Books. His early comic work has been collected in Housebound with Rick Geary from Fantagraphics Books.
During a four-year stay in New York, his illustrations appeared regularly in The New York Times Book Review. His illustration work has also been seen in MAD, Spy, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and American Libraries.
He has written and illustrated three children’s books based on The Mask for Dark Horse and two Spider-Man children's books for Marvel. His children’s comic “Society of Horrors” ran in Disney Adventures magazine. He was the artist for the new series of GUMBY Comics, written by Bob Burden, for which they received the 2007 Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Publication for a Younger Audience.
His graphic novels include three adaptations for the Classics Illustrated, and the nine-volume series A Treasury of Victorian Murder for NBM Publishing. The new series A Treasury of 20th Century Murder began in 2008 with “The Lindbergh Child.” His other historically-based graphic novels include Cravan, written with Mike Richardson, and J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography.
Rick has received the Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic Convention (1980) and the Book and Magazine Illustration Award from the National Cartoonists Society (1994).
He and his wife Deborah can be found every year at their table at San Diego’s Comic Con International. In 2007, they moved to the town of Carrizozo, New Mexico.
(from http://www.rickgeary.com/bio.html)
Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where his first cartoons were published in the University Daily Kansan. He worked as staff artist for two weekly papers in Wichita before moving to San Diego in 1975.
He began work in comics in 1977 and was for thirteen years a contributor to the Funny Pages of National Lampoon. His comic stories have also been published in Heavy Metal, Dark Horse Comics and the DC Comics/Paradox Press Big Books. His early comic work has been collected in Housebound with Rick Geary from Fantagraphics Books.
During a four-year stay in New York, his illustrations appeared regularly in The New York Times Book Review. His illustration work has also been seen in MAD, Spy, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and American Libraries.
He has written and illustrated three children’s books based on The Mask for Dark Horse and two Spider-Man children's books for Marvel. His children’s comic “Society of Horrors” ran in Disney Adventures magazine. He was the artist for the new series of GUMBY Comics, written by Bob Burden, for which they received the 2007 Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Publication for a Younger Audience.
His graphic novels include three adaptations for the Classics Illustrated, and the nine-volume series A Treasury of Victorian Murder for NBM Publishing. The new series A Treasury of 20th Century Murder began in 2008 with “The Lindbergh Child.” His other historically-based graphic novels include Cravan, written with Mike Richardson, and J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography.
Rick has received the Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic Convention (1980) and the Book and Magazine Illustration Award from the National Cartoonists Society (1994).
He and his wife Deborah can be found every year at their table at San Diego’s Comic Con International. In 2007, they moved to the town of Carrizozo, New Mexico.
(from http://www.rickgeary.com/bio.html)
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
September 17, 2014
The Saga of the Bloody Benders is the final of Rick Geary's altogether eight graphic novels on various murder cases of the Victorian era. Depicting the arrival of a murderous German immigrant family in rural Kansas shortly after the Civil War, it makes no attempt whatsoever to analyze its characters' actions and worldviews from a contemporary perspective. Instead, it tells the story in a way that both visually and linguistically reflects the mentality of its setting: The black-and-white drawings are meticulously crafted but far from exploitative, the page layouts thoughtfully composed but rather static, and the narrative flow is generally very slow by the standards of today's fast-paced culture. Characters are not described in psychological terms that did not yet exist, but in ways that mirror the Puritan values and the mindset of the period--as "hardy" and "honest" and "worthy" and "hardworking," for example. A missionary is not characterized as a problematic figure participating in genocide but as a selfless man "who has dedicated his life to converting the savages"-- a widely accepted common sense assumption among European conquerors and settlers at the time. The result is a different kind of western: a realistic, fascinating, often bewildering, sometimes disturbing journey into the hearts and minds of 1870's rural America.
August 25, 2016
The story of a family who builds an inn and kills their guests is truly the stuff of horror novels...but in this case it is true! If you have never read anything by the amazing Rick Geary then let me suggest this as your 'gateway' book to the amazing true crime GN he has been doing for years - sure you will be hooked!
January 13, 2014
I don't remember quite when I read this but I think it was in the last six months. I am a big fan of Geary's work, though often gruesome and disturbing (generally not what I am drawn to.) He doesn't draw out the suspense, which is very refreshing, and he gives his Victorian murder chronicles a distanced reporting kind of feel and a delighted folkloric feel all at the same time. He really delves into the architecture and attitudes of the times and brings old landscapes to life and shows in his subtle way how they allow for/encourage human depravity.
July 31, 2011
The “bloody” Benders were a small German immigrant family who settled in late 19th century Kansas, opened a grocery store/inn and began murdering rich lodgers and stashing the bodies across the prairie and in a ditch beneath the house.
The ringleader appeared to be the young woman, Kate, who believed she could speak to spirits and who would find out about the visitors who showed up at their inn. If they had money she would position them in the seat where their backs would be to a screen where one of the other three family members would bludgeon the visitor, rob him, then take him down to the ditch/basement and cut his throat.
They murdered over a dozen innocent people and then fled when they realised they had been rumbled. They were never caught and people around the country thought they saw various family members at one time or another in the following years. It wasn't even determined if they really were related to one another or not.
Geary draws and tells the story brilliantly. The pictures of a late 19th century Kansas conjures up a wistful portrait of frontier life with all it's romance and harshness. The Bender's Inn is drawn in detail and shows how cramped conditions were in those days where you bought the land but had to build the house yourself. The artwork reminded me of Crumb but was different enough to say Geary has his own style. The story clips along at a quick pace and is easily read in a single enjoyable sitting.
Overall, an interesting little history lesson about an obscure but fascinating case brought vividly back to life with Geary's illustrations and brisk storytelling.
The ringleader appeared to be the young woman, Kate, who believed she could speak to spirits and who would find out about the visitors who showed up at their inn. If they had money she would position them in the seat where their backs would be to a screen where one of the other three family members would bludgeon the visitor, rob him, then take him down to the ditch/basement and cut his throat.
They murdered over a dozen innocent people and then fled when they realised they had been rumbled. They were never caught and people around the country thought they saw various family members at one time or another in the following years. It wasn't even determined if they really were related to one another or not.
Geary draws and tells the story brilliantly. The pictures of a late 19th century Kansas conjures up a wistful portrait of frontier life with all it's romance and harshness. The Bender's Inn is drawn in detail and shows how cramped conditions were in those days where you bought the land but had to build the house yourself. The artwork reminded me of Crumb but was different enough to say Geary has his own style. The story clips along at a quick pace and is easily read in a single enjoyable sitting.
Overall, an interesting little history lesson about an obscure but fascinating case brought vividly back to life with Geary's illustrations and brisk storytelling.
January 10, 2014
I've read a few of Geary's true crime comics. I'm always impressed by his research, his ability to select interesting cases, and how little he sensationalizes the stories. Let's face it, they don't need it. The Benders' story is fascinating and mysterious, and it made for a riveting read. Geary's art won't be to everyone's taste, but even if you don't like it you probably won't be able to help being impressed by some of his compositions. I don't think I'd read every one of his books, but he has enough options that anyone could easily pick a few interesting books.
July 28, 2014
Recently, I was chatting with my friends about how I am fascinated by serial killers, in large part because I grew up in the shadow of the Green River Killer. He was at large for a huge chunk of my youth, and left a lot of his victims around Auburn and Kent, which are not very far away from the home where I grew up, plus he met a lot of his victims near the airport, which is five to ten minutes from all three houses I lived in during my childhood. It wasn't that I was especially concerned about being targeted (I was 14 and under for most of the time he was active, and his victims tended to be older, and prostitutes), but you can't really live around that and not have it affect the way you view people and the world and life and that kind of thing. Add to that having a dead parent (not from a serial killer, for the record) and you've got the makings for someone with a life-long fascination (and fear of) death.
Anyway, discussing serial killers led my good friend and derby wife to push this awesome graphic novel into my hands one night. I'd like to read more graphic novels, but I never really know where to go or start, which intimidates me, so having someone else just put one in my hands is quite helpful. Apparently Rick Geary has a whole series of graphic novels about serial killers, this is just my friend's favorite, so she wanted me to start with it.
I'd never heard of the Bloody Benders before picking this up, but they are largely considered America's first serial killers. Around 1870, they set up a small convenience store with room for lodging in Labette County, Kansas, and preyed on travelers who stopped there, mostly to steal their cash and sell their goods. They killed quite the impressive amount of people, as their victims tended to just be reported missing. Eventually, a friend of one of the missing people set out on a hunt to find them. They found the Benders awfully suspicious but didn't have enough evidence to arrest - and by the time they were ready to revisit them as suspects, the Benders had fled, leaving a creepy murder cellar and an orchard full of bodies behind.
No one knows for sure what happened to them after that - and no one is entirely sure that they were who they said they were to begin with, which makes for a particularly creepy case. So, the one thing that really killed me, so to speak, was that I wanted to know so much more than what was found within these pages, but Geary clearly did his research, so it's no slight to him - there's just only so much information about them out there.
I am fairly horrid at drawing, so pretty much any kind of art impresses me, but I found the drawing in The Bloody Benders excellent - simple but not boring black-and-white art, which was perfect for giving it an old-timey, newspapery feel.
Overall, a fun and quick read for anyone who's also fascinated by serial killers, and definitely left me wanting to borrow the rest of the series.
Anyway, discussing serial killers led my good friend and derby wife to push this awesome graphic novel into my hands one night. I'd like to read more graphic novels, but I never really know where to go or start, which intimidates me, so having someone else just put one in my hands is quite helpful. Apparently Rick Geary has a whole series of graphic novels about serial killers, this is just my friend's favorite, so she wanted me to start with it.
I'd never heard of the Bloody Benders before picking this up, but they are largely considered America's first serial killers. Around 1870, they set up a small convenience store with room for lodging in Labette County, Kansas, and preyed on travelers who stopped there, mostly to steal their cash and sell their goods. They killed quite the impressive amount of people, as their victims tended to just be reported missing. Eventually, a friend of one of the missing people set out on a hunt to find them. They found the Benders awfully suspicious but didn't have enough evidence to arrest - and by the time they were ready to revisit them as suspects, the Benders had fled, leaving a creepy murder cellar and an orchard full of bodies behind.
No one knows for sure what happened to them after that - and no one is entirely sure that they were who they said they were to begin with, which makes for a particularly creepy case. So, the one thing that really killed me, so to speak, was that I wanted to know so much more than what was found within these pages, but Geary clearly did his research, so it's no slight to him - there's just only so much information about them out there.
I am fairly horrid at drawing, so pretty much any kind of art impresses me, but I found the drawing in The Bloody Benders excellent - simple but not boring black-and-white art, which was perfect for giving it an old-timey, newspapery feel.
Overall, a fun and quick read for anyone who's also fascinated by serial killers, and definitely left me wanting to borrow the rest of the series.
March 4, 2018
This is a well-researched charmingly drawn and carefully impartial account of the Bender family (who may not have been a family and may not have been named Bender), who set up an inn in Kansas in 1870 so that they could murder their customers for their cash, valuables, horses, wagons, and anything else they happened to have. I always think, reading about the Benders, that somebody must have invented them, they're too perfectly horrible to be real. But they were real, and nobody knows what happened to them. Geary does a fantastic job.
April 23, 2009
Reread, due to having to read another book on the subject. This one is fairly slight, but still better.
Geary has a way of zooming in on one visceral detail of a crime and presenting it so that it will forever haunt my nightmares. Here, it is the greasy canvas.
If you've read this, I'm sure you can picture exactly what I mean...
Geary has a way of zooming in on one visceral detail of a crime and presenting it so that it will forever haunt my nightmares. Here, it is the greasy canvas.
If you've read this, I'm sure you can picture exactly what I mean...
September 5, 2012
I love these Rick Geary graphic novels. They are historically accurate and the art is fantastic. I didn't known anything about the Bender family. Great book. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.
May 24, 2021
I knew nothing about the Benders before reading this. Turns out they’re kind of like a 19th century frontier version of Leatherface’s family. A very good read as always from Geary, well-researched and riveting.
February 17, 2009
Aspects of the work that appeal to teens:
I think that most teens go through the phase when they like the gruesome, the gross, the scary, and the disturbing. In my experience, this seems to vary from about age eight to fourteen. This book definitely fits into that category.
Are the character's believable? Why or why not?
What’s interesting is that if this hadn’t happened, it wouldn’t really be believable. But since it is fact, it seems all the more intriguing.
Geary does a nice job of making his murder stories truthful, even if not focusing on the eerie factor. He begins with general information about the milieu and continues into provable facts about the case. In this instance, it is records about the purchase of land and the creation of a grocery and inn. From there, Geary includes information that can be attributed to the murderers, such as flyers, newspaper notices, manhunts, and eyewitness accounts that were not brought forth until a later date. Most of this information is also justified, if not directly provable. Finally, Geary moves into the “what if” territory. No one knows what happened to the Benders after they disappeared, so what accounts seemed likely? What appearances had merit?
How would you promote this book to teens?
“Ripped from the headlines” – true crime and creepy nonfiction
compare to Law & Order, similar shows
Texas chain saw massacre, Hostel, similar scary movies
VOYA codes: 4Q, 4P, J
I think that most teens go through the phase when they like the gruesome, the gross, the scary, and the disturbing. In my experience, this seems to vary from about age eight to fourteen. This book definitely fits into that category.
Are the character's believable? Why or why not?
What’s interesting is that if this hadn’t happened, it wouldn’t really be believable. But since it is fact, it seems all the more intriguing.
Geary does a nice job of making his murder stories truthful, even if not focusing on the eerie factor. He begins with general information about the milieu and continues into provable facts about the case. In this instance, it is records about the purchase of land and the creation of a grocery and inn. From there, Geary includes information that can be attributed to the murderers, such as flyers, newspaper notices, manhunts, and eyewitness accounts that were not brought forth until a later date. Most of this information is also justified, if not directly provable. Finally, Geary moves into the “what if” territory. No one knows what happened to the Benders after they disappeared, so what accounts seemed likely? What appearances had merit?
How would you promote this book to teens?
“Ripped from the headlines” – true crime and creepy nonfiction
compare to Law & Order, similar shows
Texas chain saw massacre, Hostel, similar scary movies
VOYA codes: 4Q, 4P, J
February 6, 2017
Although intrigued by the concept of a real life crime novel given in a comic format this wasn't actually that well written in my taste. What would have improved the writing for me would have been a better organization of the different tiles since they were too crowded for my taste while in certain cases the files were so crowded that it was hard to follow the action and also it would have been a lot better if we had been able to see the comic in color instead of just black-and-white.
At the same time the comic also seemed to have been just plainly written so that the reader's attention, especially if you had already read about the Benders, just wasn't held by the telling. I think the author could have either made the story a bit more dramatic with the information that he had or at least kept the story in the same narrative format throughout.
Otherwise if you don't mind reading about early crime and the various skeptical questions that come from a crime family that escapes nor the history of a state than this read may be more attractive to you. If you want, though, a story about the Benders that will catch your attention than I would suggest looking for another book to read than this one.
At the same time the comic also seemed to have been just plainly written so that the reader's attention, especially if you had already read about the Benders, just wasn't held by the telling. I think the author could have either made the story a bit more dramatic with the information that he had or at least kept the story in the same narrative format throughout.
Otherwise if you don't mind reading about early crime and the various skeptical questions that come from a crime family that escapes nor the history of a state than this read may be more attractive to you. If you want, though, a story about the Benders that will catch your attention than I would suggest looking for another book to read than this one.
July 13, 2018
This was incredible but I'm using my review to try to inspire:
Carl Panzram- someone I wish Geary (or anybody near his talent) did a graphic novel on! His story is blurry from being so long ago and but there are enough facts to pull it off with some artistic license.
I'll spark some interest in Panzram:
Little boy has ear problem and ultra half-assed home surgery removes a part of the brain that would come to be viewed as what most unhinged him over a century later. At the time he was just seen as a bad kid who was sent to a reform school that he would burn down. In a quest for "Cowboys and Indians" he ran away on a train and got gang raped by men which he would then perform on victims though doubtfully homosexual. What he did to people and what was done to him to make him even worse are very telling about jails (which he frequently escaped) and the corporal punishment of the time. If you do nothing else, please read his quotes!
*!*PANZRAM COULD HAVE BEEN THE MEANEST HUMAN BEING THAT EVER LIVED*!*
Carl Panzram- someone I wish Geary (or anybody near his talent) did a graphic novel on! His story is blurry from being so long ago and but there are enough facts to pull it off with some artistic license.
I'll spark some interest in Panzram:
Little boy has ear problem and ultra half-assed home surgery removes a part of the brain that would come to be viewed as what most unhinged him over a century later. At the time he was just seen as a bad kid who was sent to a reform school that he would burn down. In a quest for "Cowboys and Indians" he ran away on a train and got gang raped by men which he would then perform on victims though doubtfully homosexual. What he did to people and what was done to him to make him even worse are very telling about jails (which he frequently escaped) and the corporal punishment of the time. If you do nothing else, please read his quotes!
*!*PANZRAM COULD HAVE BEEN THE MEANEST HUMAN BEING THAT EVER LIVED*!*
January 19, 2013
For all the particulars, I defer to Melissa's excellent VOYA review (below). I've loved Rick Geary's Treasury of Victorian Murder series since I read the Lizzie Borden title years ago. Geary is a highly proficient and entertaining writer and illustrator, and he does his homework; he's both pathologist and historian. He satisfies my gruesome curiosity about the underside of American history. The full-page illustration with a 'guest' sitting at the Benders' table taking tea, pleasantly distracted by coy/malignant daughter Kate, while Pa comes out from behind the curtain with his six-pound sledge, is so much more horrifying than the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, because it's real! The Benders escaped the Kansas prairie unpunished. Once the blood dried, a Bender Museum and memorial plaque sprung up.
March 31, 2010
I’ve read a handful of Geary books, and this is my favorite. It’s the true story of an Old West pioneer family that seems to have a bit of a murdering problem.
Highly recommended to graphic novel fans.
Highly recommended to graphic novel fans.
May 12, 2013
OooOOOooo...
Recommended.
Recommended.
March 6, 2019
I don't know if it's just the subject matter or what, but Geary's characters seem a lot more expressive in this compared to the others I've read from him.
October 26, 2024
Necessary for any true-crime fan.
April 25, 2018
2018 Ultimate Book Challenge - "book set in my hometown/region" (Labette County, KS)
In 1870, a typical family of 4 arrives in quiet, rural Labette County, KS. They build a house, work the land, they even stock the home with goods to sell to weary travelers on the Osage Trail. Everything seems very normal to most of the neighbors. There are a few people that had stopped by the Bender home for various reasons that had a very "not normal" experience that left them running for their lives, literally. However, their stories were not shared until after the family's suspicious disappearance. It was the concerned inquiries of family members that brought about the question of what went on at the Bender household. Sadly, the community wouldn't begin investigating the family until after the "Bloody Benders" had already claimed the lives of 8 individuals. Upon arrival at their home, they would find that the family had already up & left. There are several rumors of where they went & what they did after their disappearance. What ever became of the first-known serial killer family? We will never know.
Yep, this is one of the only (that I know of) claims-to-fame for my home county, Labette. I've driven by Benders Mounds many times. I've stopped to read the historical marker. I know the story, I know a person that actually lived beyond the mounds, I know what dares were completed (some only attempted) on the Bender property, but never have I actually driven to the property myself to stand where these horrific people once murdered innocent passers-by. Maybe I'll stop by the actual property now that I no longer live in that area & can escape whatever creepy feelings I may get from visiting. Yay for terrible hometown history.....
As for the book, it was very informative, gave all of the rumors of what happened to them, & leaves the reader to wonder from there. I wasn't sure I would enjoy a graphic novel (basically a comic strip that tells a story), especially one on this topic. However, I think it was the perfect way to get through a story like this: quick, to the point, covered all of the main points, done.
Age recommendation: 14 & up (details of the murders, brief description of satanic practices)
On a scale of 1-10 stars, I give it 7.
In 1870, a typical family of 4 arrives in quiet, rural Labette County, KS. They build a house, work the land, they even stock the home with goods to sell to weary travelers on the Osage Trail. Everything seems very normal to most of the neighbors. There are a few people that had stopped by the Bender home for various reasons that had a very "not normal" experience that left them running for their lives, literally. However, their stories were not shared until after the family's suspicious disappearance. It was the concerned inquiries of family members that brought about the question of what went on at the Bender household. Sadly, the community wouldn't begin investigating the family until after the "Bloody Benders" had already claimed the lives of 8 individuals. Upon arrival at their home, they would find that the family had already up & left. There are several rumors of where they went & what they did after their disappearance. What ever became of the first-known serial killer family? We will never know.
Yep, this is one of the only (that I know of) claims-to-fame for my home county, Labette. I've driven by Benders Mounds many times. I've stopped to read the historical marker. I know the story, I know a person that actually lived beyond the mounds, I know what dares were completed (some only attempted) on the Bender property, but never have I actually driven to the property myself to stand where these horrific people once murdered innocent passers-by. Maybe I'll stop by the actual property now that I no longer live in that area & can escape whatever creepy feelings I may get from visiting. Yay for terrible hometown history.....
As for the book, it was very informative, gave all of the rumors of what happened to them, & leaves the reader to wonder from there. I wasn't sure I would enjoy a graphic novel (basically a comic strip that tells a story), especially one on this topic. However, I think it was the perfect way to get through a story like this: quick, to the point, covered all of the main points, done.
Age recommendation: 14 & up (details of the murders, brief description of satanic practices)
On a scale of 1-10 stars, I give it 7.
February 19, 2025
In Kansas post the civil war travelers with money start to disappear. Benders built a house with a shop. The son is feeble minded. The dad barely speaks. The mom only speaks German. The daughter is young and attractive. But she claims to be a healer and psychic which is seen as some sort of witchcraft. Many travelers experience quite weird events in the household with the daughter talking about murder and playing around with a knife.
The town gathers together and plans to find the bodies of the missing travelers. The family soon disappears. The town digs up the missing people in their garden even a small girl who was buried alive. The family invited travelers to stay over then killed them taking their money. The family is never seen again. The case is extremely nasty. But it's not a proper murder mystery. We know what happened. The story is more about the brutality and suffering not so much a mystery. The daughter seemed to adore this witchcraft and maybe devil worth ship stuff and persuaded her family to kill people. She was quite insane and the family quite low IQ. Not really a grand story. Seems more like something one would read in a short Wikipedia article and forget about weeks later.
The town gathers together and plans to find the bodies of the missing travelers. The family soon disappears. The town digs up the missing people in their garden even a small girl who was buried alive. The family invited travelers to stay over then killed them taking their money. The family is never seen again. The case is extremely nasty. But it's not a proper murder mystery. We know what happened. The story is more about the brutality and suffering not so much a mystery. The daughter seemed to adore this witchcraft and maybe devil worth ship stuff and persuaded her family to kill people. She was quite insane and the family quite low IQ. Not really a grand story. Seems more like something one would read in a short Wikipedia article and forget about weeks later.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 2, 2024
The Bloody Benders, "The Infamous Homicidal Family of Labette County, Kansas."! Ma, Pa, John Jr., and Kate!
The book starts with a nice map of the state of Kansas, 1870. And then in Part I, we get a nice history lesson of the settling of Kansas, including "Bleeding Kansas" and how it became intwined with the slavery issue at that time in United States history. And then come the Benders...
They murder travelers and rob them, killing a total of approximately eight people and stealing almost $6,000 plus jewelry, saddles, clothes, and more. A bloody family indeed! And then, poof! They're gone!
It's a nice, concise retelling of the saga of the Bloody Benders. And quite disturbing! Good artwork too!
The book starts with a nice map of the state of Kansas, 1870. And then in Part I, we get a nice history lesson of the settling of Kansas, including "Bleeding Kansas" and how it became intwined with the slavery issue at that time in United States history. And then come the Benders...
They murder travelers and rob them, killing a total of approximately eight people and stealing almost $6,000 plus jewelry, saddles, clothes, and more. A bloody family indeed! And then, poof! They're gone!
It's a nice, concise retelling of the saga of the Bloody Benders. And quite disturbing! Good artwork too!
October 21, 2025
These graphic novels are great. The drawings, diagrams, and maps are useful in my US history class. I use this book to talk about the importance of slavery as an issue in the new State of Kansas, bleeding Kansas, and revisiting Jacksonian Indian Removal. Serves to introduce the Osage Nation. We look at the Bender case as a study of how rural crime in a new State is influenced by a lack of law enforcement. Lots of great discussions here. The drawings are detailed, but not too graphic for students. The research is well done, only a few little inaccuracies, which have been addressed by more recent work around this case.
October 8, 2019
Geary does a great job of providing a brief, yet well-detailed account of this cruel family from Kansas. I learned a lot from his research. I must say that the most shocking thing I read was that after everything was said and done, the people of the area held a celebration known as Bender Days and named part of the nearby landscape Bender Mounds. I'm hoping there is more to that part of the story that we're missing - like they were celebrating the fact that they were no longer there!!
February 27, 2020
I already knew most of the information in this graphic novel, but the artwork was very well done. However, despite the Benders leaving almost no trail behind (and no witnesses), Geary pinned almost everything on the daughter, Kate Bender. While it's an interesting theory, he never provides any evidence to back it up.
November 1, 2025
I was already aware of the story of the Bender family from watching a video from Watcher, but I thought I’d pick this up to see if there was anything further I could learn. If you’re not already familiar with this story, it’s a pretty interesting read, with an art style that matches the macabre tone.
January 11, 2021
3.5 stars. The Bender family roll up in Kansas and travellers start to mysteriously disappear.
A grim graphic novel, told with great illustrations -about one of the first known serial killer families in America.
A truly unsettling tale detailing an obscure yet fascinating crime.
A grim graphic novel, told with great illustrations -about one of the first known serial killer families in America.
A truly unsettling tale detailing an obscure yet fascinating crime.
October 20, 2023
I really question the sanity of the people who take the figure of a murdering family and make them their town's identity? like making a museum, naming places after them, and celebrating a day in their name? what's wrong with people?
May 5, 2017
True-crime comical graphics. Yup, that's what this was. I didn't know, but it was actually quite good. I had seen it on TV.
June 19, 2017
Interesting book about early American serial killers. The Benders aren't ones who have been as widely publicized at the Borden case or H.H. Holmes, or other cases that are in the series.
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