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Treasury of XXth Century Murder
Madison Square Tragedy: The Murder of Stanford White
Reuben Award for Best Graphic Novel
YALSA, Great Graphic Novels for Teens Bringing to life turn-of-the-century New York and the scintillating career of one of its most famous architects, as well as the vices that cost him his life, this true-crime graphic novel tells the story of one of the most scandalous murders of the times. Stanford White was one of New York’s most famous architects, having designed many mansions and the first Madison Square Garden; his influence on New York’s look at the turn of the century was pervasive. As he became popular and in demand, he also became quite he had a taste for budding young showgirls on Broadway, even setting up a private apartment to entertain them in, including a room with a red velvet swing. When he met Evelyn Nesbit—an exquisite young nymph, cover girl, showgirl, inspiration for Charles Dana Gibson’s drawing The Eternal Question and later for the movie The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing—he knew he was on to something special. However, Evelyn eventually married a young Pittsburgh decadent heir with a dark side who developed a deep hatred for White and what he may or may not have done to her.
80 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
5 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
Rick Geary
194 books202 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 49 reviews
October 19, 2018
Ripped from the tabloids (Did they have tabloids back then?) of the turn of the 20th century. Geary retells a sordid tale of murder and insanity among the elite rich of the day. Harry Thaw walks up to one of the famous architects of the day, Stanford White, and shoots him in the face in the middle of Madison Square Garden. Why did he do this and was he convicted? Well, you'll need to read this to find out.
February 14, 2014
On the night of June 25, 1906, during a theatrical performance atop Madison Square Garden, New York City, Harry Kendall Thaw, the millionaire son of a family whose fortune was made from mines and railroads, shot the prominent architect Stanford White three times with a pistol at point blank range, killing him instantly. The murder took place in a crowded room with dozens of witnesses and Thaw never denied the murder, claiming he would do it again in a heartbeat – and yet he walked away a free man. But why did Thaw kill White and how was such a miscarriage of justice allowed?
A new Rick Geary book on famous crimes is always welcomed as they’re so damn good and The Murder of Stanford White is no different. Geary takes a forgotten murder from the early twentieth century and unravels it’s many nuances for a whole new audience to gasp at.
The book is a sordid tale of upper class debauchery for all parties involved. Stanford White, a 47 year old wealthy architect who designed many of New York’s most famous buildings like Madison Square Garden, had numerous affairs with young ladies from the theatre, entertaining them in his own private accommodation far from his house where his wife and kids lived. One of them was the up and coming starlet, Evelyn Nesbit, a 16 year old whom he courted and eventually brought back to his private rooms, giving her her first taste of champagne. After her second glass, she doesn’t remember anything until waking up in bed next to him, naked!
She never sees White again and moves away from New York City but another wealthy admirer of hers, the Pittsburgh millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw, stalks her relentlessly until she agrees to marry him. Thaw was a deeply disturbing and disturbed man. An heir to the Thaw fortune, he had a monthly allowance of $80k (this is a large amount still today – imagine what it would’ve meant 100 years ago!), and a profligate lifestyle that allowed to do whatever he wanted. Madness ran in the Thaw family and Harry was one of the craziest. He would lure women into his rooms and savagely beat them with whips or strip them naked in baths and pour boiling water on them. He was also addicted to morphine and cocaine, injecting both regularly.
So when Thaw found out about his wife’s rape by White, he went into a blind rage, nurturing his hatred of the celebrated architect over a long time until he discovered where White would be on the fateful night of June 25. As Thaw’s party was leaving an evening theatre performance in Madison Square Garden, Thaw turned back, went straight up to White and shot him twice in the face and once in the shoulder – White’s corpse was unrecognisable afterwards.
There were numerous trials afterwards but Thaw’s family money kept him out of jail, putting him into mental asylums for brief periods before he would escape and use his family’s influence to keep the powers that be at arm’s reach. Thaw was never incarcerated and lived a long life in which he continued to appear in the headlines for many years afterwards, beating young boys with whips until they were near-dead, but getting away with it each time.
This Murder of Stanford White is a fascinating read, highlighting the lives of three interesting individuals and a remarkable crime that challenges the readers’ moral compass – how do you feel about an older man taking advantage of young girls and then getting shot in the face? On the one hand you might think he got what he deserved but when a private citizen takes justice into their own hands, shouldn’t they be held accountable too?
The book especially draws attention to the corruption of the American legal system that favours the wealthy to an inordinate degree, making them more or less untouchable for their crimes (unless they kill one another!), and the debauched lives the super-rich lead as a result. Rick Geary has produced another fine book in his murder series that fans of true crime comics will love.
A new Rick Geary book on famous crimes is always welcomed as they’re so damn good and The Murder of Stanford White is no different. Geary takes a forgotten murder from the early twentieth century and unravels it’s many nuances for a whole new audience to gasp at.
The book is a sordid tale of upper class debauchery for all parties involved. Stanford White, a 47 year old wealthy architect who designed many of New York’s most famous buildings like Madison Square Garden, had numerous affairs with young ladies from the theatre, entertaining them in his own private accommodation far from his house where his wife and kids lived. One of them was the up and coming starlet, Evelyn Nesbit, a 16 year old whom he courted and eventually brought back to his private rooms, giving her her first taste of champagne. After her second glass, she doesn’t remember anything until waking up in bed next to him, naked!
She never sees White again and moves away from New York City but another wealthy admirer of hers, the Pittsburgh millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw, stalks her relentlessly until she agrees to marry him. Thaw was a deeply disturbing and disturbed man. An heir to the Thaw fortune, he had a monthly allowance of $80k (this is a large amount still today – imagine what it would’ve meant 100 years ago!), and a profligate lifestyle that allowed to do whatever he wanted. Madness ran in the Thaw family and Harry was one of the craziest. He would lure women into his rooms and savagely beat them with whips or strip them naked in baths and pour boiling water on them. He was also addicted to morphine and cocaine, injecting both regularly.
So when Thaw found out about his wife’s rape by White, he went into a blind rage, nurturing his hatred of the celebrated architect over a long time until he discovered where White would be on the fateful night of June 25. As Thaw’s party was leaving an evening theatre performance in Madison Square Garden, Thaw turned back, went straight up to White and shot him twice in the face and once in the shoulder – White’s corpse was unrecognisable afterwards.
There were numerous trials afterwards but Thaw’s family money kept him out of jail, putting him into mental asylums for brief periods before he would escape and use his family’s influence to keep the powers that be at arm’s reach. Thaw was never incarcerated and lived a long life in which he continued to appear in the headlines for many years afterwards, beating young boys with whips until they were near-dead, but getting away with it each time.
This Murder of Stanford White is a fascinating read, highlighting the lives of three interesting individuals and a remarkable crime that challenges the readers’ moral compass – how do you feel about an older man taking advantage of young girls and then getting shot in the face? On the one hand you might think he got what he deserved but when a private citizen takes justice into their own hands, shouldn’t they be held accountable too?
The book especially draws attention to the corruption of the American legal system that favours the wealthy to an inordinate degree, making them more or less untouchable for their crimes (unless they kill one another!), and the debauched lives the super-rich lead as a result. Rick Geary has produced another fine book in his murder series that fans of true crime comics will love.
December 4, 2017
Another excellent graphic novel about famous murder case. In this true story, in the years 1905-07, a famous architect, Stanford White, who is seducer of young women, a beautiful model and showgirl, Evelyn Nesbit, who was White's mistress and later the wife Harry K. Thaw, a rich mama's boy, beater of women and finally all three will meet at roof top theater in June. What will result are three murder trails and story that grips the nation.
Later Hollywood would make two movies all or part of the scandal, The Girl on the Red Velvet Swing(1955) and the novel/movie of Ragtime(1975).
Rick Geary never fails to entertain and inform the reader.
Later Hollywood would make two movies all or part of the scandal, The Girl on the Red Velvet Swing(1955) and the novel/movie of Ragtime(1975).
Rick Geary never fails to entertain and inform the reader.
Read
March 22, 2021A wild story of obsession, lust, and hatred among New York City’s upper class at the turn of the century. Sanford White was a architect who liked to prey on young women, specifically young actresses. One of the women he groomed was Evelyn Nesbitt, who also catches the attention of insane person, Harry Thaw. What follows is a deranged love triangle that ends with Thaw shooting White in the face atop Madison Square Garden with dozens of people in attendance. This is another gripping true crime yarn by Rick Geary. The coda, where we see the failings of the justice system in favoring the wealthy, is just as fascinating as the lead up to the murder. This one is ripped straight from the tabloids - you can’t make this stuff up!
May 6, 2023
MADISON SQUARE TRAGEDY: THE MURDER OF STANFORD WHITE
Rick Geary
Interesting use of graphic novels! This might be a great way to supplement the reading of school students who are not very engaged with textbooks but seem to love graphic novels.
I enjoyed this very foundational narration and don't know why this wasn't published when I first read it... but ...
4 stars
Happy Reading!
Rick Geary
Interesting use of graphic novels! This might be a great way to supplement the reading of school students who are not very engaged with textbooks but seem to love graphic novels.
I enjoyed this very foundational narration and don't know why this wasn't published when I first read it... but ...
4 stars
Happy Reading!
August 31, 2016
Sad but true story of abuse, power, money, and murder. Many people refer to this scandal as a love triangle between three famous people--an architect, a rich playboy, and a showgirl. But I hardly think it was a love triangle when the two men apparently each raped the teenage girl. Geary makes a good point when he says that at the time the scandal unfolded, Nesbit didn't really know what a normal relationship was.
Precise and elegant illustrations, as always with Geary.
Precise and elegant illustrations, as always with Geary.
March 16, 2017
I love Rick Geary's illustrations and the historical elements. Left me wanting to learn more about this case.
February 23, 2025
Evelyn Nesbit was one of the many teens who lived as an attractive potential partner in New York. Is that a job? She started modeling in her early teens and already at 16 was know for the question mark portrait, Woman: the Eternal Question. Initially sat for paintings, but in NY mainly for photographs for covers. Which all made her obsessed with fame and she started to perform minor dancing roles in stage plays. Which made many rich older men obsess over her. A rich famous architect settled her and her mom in an apartment. Gave them money. Seemingly all for good pure intentions until the day he drugged and raped her. And of course she starts dating him as ... women, the eternal question. She is sent away to a school when she at 17 starts flirting with a paper cartoonist. Even though here family was dirt poor her mom now wants her daughter to marry rich. Meanwhile her rich, much older, partner flirts with many young dancers and won't divorce his wife.
A new suitor is a millionaire who is to inherit a fortune. But his family has mental issues on both sides. He tricks young women into a hotel room to whip them to make them all less sexual. At a trip to Europe with Evelyn he runs into her room naked and rapes and whips her to punish her for Stanford White having raped her. This was when they weren't even dating. She refuses to leave her room for weeks after that and in NY she goes to a lawyer to tell about her story, but soon after marries the guy. Women, the eternal question. Of course the whole thing with him and his family is that he hates risque women. And his family is the same way and hate this model who is all about sexual appeal. So why did he marry her? He is insane. Why did she marry him? Well, she's not allowed to even date regular guys and this guy is extremely wealthy and obsessed enough to give her money for everything.
When they travel to NY he finds and shoots her other rapist. First trial is a hung jury as 5 jury members think he is insane. Second trial he finally allows his lawyers to argue his insanity and he is proclaimed insane and sent to a mental asylum. He flees to Canada. When sent back he argues he is not insane anymore and is released. Later sent to the asylum for 7 years again for beating people. As he is prone to doing.
These rich people are sure crazy! Yet one was dirt poor and made it rich by modeling having no talent. One was a heir to a fortune who never worked and hated work. Third one was a famous architect, but because of his many teen mistresses he was bankrupt. All 3 seemingly were upper class, but then not really.
Yeah, this story is utter bonkers. But this is what happens in such settings so it's important to tell this story.
A new suitor is a millionaire who is to inherit a fortune. But his family has mental issues on both sides. He tricks young women into a hotel room to whip them to make them all less sexual. At a trip to Europe with Evelyn he runs into her room naked and rapes and whips her to punish her for Stanford White having raped her. This was when they weren't even dating. She refuses to leave her room for weeks after that and in NY she goes to a lawyer to tell about her story, but soon after marries the guy. Women, the eternal question. Of course the whole thing with him and his family is that he hates risque women. And his family is the same way and hate this model who is all about sexual appeal. So why did he marry her? He is insane. Why did she marry him? Well, she's not allowed to even date regular guys and this guy is extremely wealthy and obsessed enough to give her money for everything.
When they travel to NY he finds and shoots her other rapist. First trial is a hung jury as 5 jury members think he is insane. Second trial he finally allows his lawyers to argue his insanity and he is proclaimed insane and sent to a mental asylum. He flees to Canada. When sent back he argues he is not insane anymore and is released. Later sent to the asylum for 7 years again for beating people. As he is prone to doing.
These rich people are sure crazy! Yet one was dirt poor and made it rich by modeling having no talent. One was a heir to a fortune who never worked and hated work. Third one was a famous architect, but because of his many teen mistresses he was bankrupt. All 3 seemingly were upper class, but then not really.
Yeah, this story is utter bonkers. But this is what happens in such settings so it's important to tell this story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2017
via NYPL - Rick Geary continues to be comics' preeminent true-crime recounter, this time diving into the seedy relationship between a young would-be Broadway starlet and her two well-to-do suitors - a lothario architect and a deranged steel scion. As always, beautifully realized with deep attention to detail and striking newsroom-reporting pen-and-ink artwork.
March 29, 2019
This might be the most brutal of the series, odd considering the series includes Jack the Ripper and the Black Dahlia... but the way poor Evelyn Nesbit was used by these two men who ended up destroying each other is crazy! They brutalized and raped her and she kept going back to them. It's hard to choose between a rapist and an insane rapist as to who was more evil...
December 9, 2018
A straight-forward retelling of the "Crime of the Century" as it was called in E.L. Doctorow's "Ragtime". Learned a lot more than I had from Doctorow's book and musical. Neither Thaw nor White were men you would want anywhere near your daughter, wife, or any other female.
January 25, 2025
I’m honestly baffled that I’ve never heard of this case, considering how high profile and scandalous it is.
It is surprising the extent to which no one comes out looking good. Like, the victim is shit and somehow the murderer still comes across as-bad if not worse.
It is surprising the extent to which no one comes out looking good. Like, the victim is shit and somehow the murderer still comes across as-bad if not worse.
August 28, 2017
Interesting. I feel bad of Evelyn, she ended up getting raped by two different men, and she ended up marrying one of them. (T_T)
July 3, 2018
My first graphic book, and I liked it!
January 10, 2019
A library afternoon of graphic novels. Nice coverage of the basic facts of the murderer, the victim and the women involved.
April 4, 2019
Men suck.
April 15, 2019
I like everything that RG writes about murder. It is easier to read these stories as cartoons/comics than heavier books.
December 18, 2024
Strange and intriguing
April 30, 2015
This is a 2013 graphic novel by the well established, author and illustrator Rick Geary. The story takes place primarily in New York City during the end of the Gilded Ages, when new immigration was fueling the city and realism was captivating the art lovers.
A young architect, Stanford White meets young Evelyn Nesbit, a showgirl on Broadway, who is only 16 years old, after one of her performances in a show called Floradora.
White and Nesbit have an affair extending several years, but the relationship seems two-sided. White assumes a caretaking role in the lives of Nesbit and her mother and younger brother.
Nesbit is pursued and courted by another man several years later, Harry Thaw. She resists his advances and declines his proposals, but one day gives in and the two marry. Nesbit confides that she’d been having an affair with White years before, but this news enrages Thaw and he goes nuts thinking about the once-love interest and often accuses Nesbit of still loving White. Nesbit maintains that the affair was against her will.
One night, years later, Nesbit and her husband are dining and catching a show at the once-Madison Square Garden, which White designed. White also arrives at the venue, seemingly by chance, to see the same show.
When the couple decides to leave and go someplace else, Nesbit looks around and cannot find her husband. He’d been acting strangely leading up to dinner. Where did he go? Did he go to confront White?
Read Madison Square Tragedy: The Murder of Stanford White to find out what happens as a result of this tension-filled love triangle and why the newspapers of the day called the murder trial of Stanford White “the trial of the century”.
When I first read Madison Square Tragedy: The Murder of Stanford White by Rick Geary, I blazed right through it. I do not have much practice reading graphic novels, so the important thing to me was to read all of the words as quickly as possible.
I realized then that the illustrations are as important to the story as the printed words. The illustrations express the feelings and state of things that a writer of a regular novel might have to flesh out and put into words, spelling out how someone was feeling or that a couple was walking side-by-side down the street, etc.
After I finished reading Geary’s novel, I went back to the beginning and tried to take in each illustration, examining what else he was trying to tell me without having to write it out in words.
This would be an example of Nancy Pearl’s Story Doorway because it’s a page-turner and you want to get to the end to find out what happens next.
Overall, I enjoyed the read and appreciated the illustrations. I would consider adding another graphic novel to my “must reads”. I also liked that the story is nonfiction, based on actual historical facts.
A young architect, Stanford White meets young Evelyn Nesbit, a showgirl on Broadway, who is only 16 years old, after one of her performances in a show called Floradora.
White and Nesbit have an affair extending several years, but the relationship seems two-sided. White assumes a caretaking role in the lives of Nesbit and her mother and younger brother.
Nesbit is pursued and courted by another man several years later, Harry Thaw. She resists his advances and declines his proposals, but one day gives in and the two marry. Nesbit confides that she’d been having an affair with White years before, but this news enrages Thaw and he goes nuts thinking about the once-love interest and often accuses Nesbit of still loving White. Nesbit maintains that the affair was against her will.
One night, years later, Nesbit and her husband are dining and catching a show at the once-Madison Square Garden, which White designed. White also arrives at the venue, seemingly by chance, to see the same show.
When the couple decides to leave and go someplace else, Nesbit looks around and cannot find her husband. He’d been acting strangely leading up to dinner. Where did he go? Did he go to confront White?
Read Madison Square Tragedy: The Murder of Stanford White to find out what happens as a result of this tension-filled love triangle and why the newspapers of the day called the murder trial of Stanford White “the trial of the century”.
When I first read Madison Square Tragedy: The Murder of Stanford White by Rick Geary, I blazed right through it. I do not have much practice reading graphic novels, so the important thing to me was to read all of the words as quickly as possible.
I realized then that the illustrations are as important to the story as the printed words. The illustrations express the feelings and state of things that a writer of a regular novel might have to flesh out and put into words, spelling out how someone was feeling or that a couple was walking side-by-side down the street, etc.
After I finished reading Geary’s novel, I went back to the beginning and tried to take in each illustration, examining what else he was trying to tell me without having to write it out in words.
This would be an example of Nancy Pearl’s Story Doorway because it’s a page-turner and you want to get to the end to find out what happens next.
Overall, I enjoyed the read and appreciated the illustrations. I would consider adding another graphic novel to my “must reads”. I also liked that the story is nonfiction, based on actual historical facts.
December 1, 2013
What can I say? Another fine entry in Geary's Murders series. This one is slightly different in that there is no mystery here. I've read all the other books in both these series and as far as I can recall each of those had at least some element of either not knowing who the killer was or a lasting doubt as to whether the guilty/not guilty verdict was in fact the truth; or simply that the killer(s) got away with it. In this high-profile case, there was no question as to the murderer as he committed it in public and 'fessed up immediately. This is the story of how that murder came to be, the scandal that surrounded it and the stories of the lives of the three participants from birth to when they became inseparably tied to this scandalous murder. I had heard of Evelyn Nesbit and the scandalous life she lead, that she had been "the woman" in a murder of passion but really didn't know much more about this case. I love the way Geary tells the story starting with one person's birth up until he meets the next person, then that person's story until she meets the third person and finally that persons story from the beginning until all three are wrapped up in the same tale. This is one of my favourite time periods, the very early 1900s, and any murder involving decadence and wild sex stories was sure to capture the country's attention. Usual brilliant Geary art par excellance, needs no further description. I'd read a phone book illustrated by the man! My only complaint? The long wait till Geary's next book!
February 6, 2017
This was a great way to put together very quickly, what seemed to have been one of the most talked about murders of the 20th century. One that I didn't even know occurred and I am a huge history buff. But I admit, not a buff of gossips and murder. The Murder of Stanford White, architect, was a story indeed. Especially when his proclivities were put on display. The illustrations are a bit much, with no color (only black and white) some lines seem to blur or are too think, and thus the panel is a bit difficult to decipher. Not only that, but the dialogue wording is quite small and so that can make for reading struggles. Overall though, I did enjoy my library pick - did I mention it was a "blind date with a book pick"?
July 10, 2014
Had an eerie feeling all the way through this book that I had read it before, or watched a movie based on the murder of Stanford White. But I don't think I have.
A classic story of "don't get messed up with crazy." In most of Rick Geary's graphic novels on Victorian murders, the story of who-done-it is usually open to speculation and are mysteriously unsolved. Not so for this one, it's flat out murder in a public place with several witnesses.
The story still holds interest like Geary's others. There's jealousy, courtroom drama and a heroine who's a little likable and a little despisable.
I liked it; give it a try for a super quick read.
I stand corrected; it's XX Century Murders (not the Victorian series)
A classic story of "don't get messed up with crazy." In most of Rick Geary's graphic novels on Victorian murders, the story of who-done-it is usually open to speculation and are mysteriously unsolved. Not so for this one, it's flat out murder in a public place with several witnesses.
The story still holds interest like Geary's others. There's jealousy, courtroom drama and a heroine who's a little likable and a little despisable.
I liked it; give it a try for a super quick read.
I stand corrected; it's XX Century Murders (not the Victorian series)
November 1, 2014
I LOVE Rick Geary's Treasury of XXth Century Murder and Treasury of Victorian Murder series. His line work is so beautiful, clear, and simple.
This is another solid addition to the series. A lot of these cases were unsolveable unless someone was caught in the act. In this instance he was! And he still didn't spend that much time in jail! This one was interesting because Geary chronicles the events leading up to the murder really well, and because the people involved were quite famous.
This is another solid addition to the series. A lot of these cases were unsolveable unless someone was caught in the act. In this instance he was! And he still didn't spend that much time in jail! This one was interesting because Geary chronicles the events leading up to the murder really well, and because the people involved were quite famous.
March 25, 2014
As usual, Rick Geary has taken a true crime, illustrated it in his droll style, and condensed the facts into a readable and entertaining narrative. I'd heard of the Sanford White murder before, but was unaware of the details. I like the bibliography he provides at the beginning of the book, so that you can read more if you choose. A mention in the book that Evelyn Nesbit Thaw wrote an autobiography sent me to Google Books to try to find it, and I did. Unfortunately, it wasn't full text. Readers who liked his other true crime books will enjoy this one. Can't wait for the next one!
February 4, 2016
Stylish line drawings and simple, straightforward text combine to tell the story of the three principal characters involved in the Madison Square Tragedy -- architect Stanford White, showgirl Evelyn Nesbit, and jealous husband Harry Thaw. Geary offers today's teens a glimpse at Gilded Age New York with his strong lines and shifting perspectives, which give the black-and-white drawings life and movement. This accessible treatment (marred by a basic spelling error on page 14) may whet appetites for more in-depth research into the era or the headline-makers.
May 20, 2016
I'd like to give it 3 1/2 stars. Love Geary's drawings and his straightforward storytelling style, but I'd like to see a little more character development. .
To me, the story is about the nightmarish powerlessness of women in this era. What is the true story? Who knows, when a natural sexual impulse becomes so twisted that a woman can be seen to have been ruined by having sex?
The vulnerability of the justice system to the mores of the day is dismaying and made me think about how it's probably still true.
To me, the story is about the nightmarish powerlessness of women in this era. What is the true story? Who knows, when a natural sexual impulse becomes so twisted that a woman can be seen to have been ruined by having sex?
The vulnerability of the justice system to the mores of the day is dismaying and made me think about how it's probably still true.
August 8, 2016
I've long enjoyed Rick Geary's comic style and primary interest: historic true crime. This was a fun one to read because I've heard of many of the players and have a good sense of the landscape (it's primarily set in Manhattan). There's no mystery here, just a recounting of the events leading up to the murder of Stanford White, one of NYC's most notable architects. If you're at all interested in New York history at the dawn of the 1900s, this is a colorful story that touches on the vice, extravagance, and sordid dealings of the wealthy.
January 17, 2015
The Pittsburgh connection in the tragedy of Stanford White/Evelyn Nesbit/Harry Thaw makes the story especially interesting to me. I feel there's so much social context that I'm missing here - what's the real story with Evelyn? Why did she make the decisions she made? In that way, Geary's dry, objective-ish perspective lets the book down, because her relationships are at the heart of everything. She never stops being "the eternal question".
November 23, 2013
One of the best of Geary's "Murder" books -- it's less a mystery than a terrible, terrible tragedy. Geary uses a new narrative style, telling each of the three main characters' stories one at a time. The intersection builds almost unbearable tension. Even though we know part of the outcome, it still comes as a shock. Even after the murder, the twists and turns continue. This is a powerful tale of privilege, loss, abuse, and the birth of the twentieth century.
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