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Treasury of Victorian Murder
Jack the Ripper: A Journal of the Whitechapel Murders 1888-1889
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.
64 pages, Hardcover
First published February 28, 1997
5 people are currently reading
522 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 61 reviews
June 26, 2018
A good true-crime comic about the so-called Jack the Ripper murders in Victorian London. I learned a lot of details I didn't know. Recommended for fans of true crime.
May 22, 2023
Jack the Ripper (1995)
-A fairly concise retelling of the story sourced from diary entries from the period and fact-checked against modern sources. This is the earliest of the series and I think the art is fairly rough. Doesn't hold a candle to Alan Moore's From Hell, but also isn't trying to be that epic.
-A fairly concise retelling of the story sourced from diary entries from the period and fact-checked against modern sources. This is the earliest of the series and I think the art is fairly rough. Doesn't hold a candle to Alan Moore's From Hell, but also isn't trying to be that epic.
Read
April 15, 2021One of Geary’s best books. Even though I know about the Ripper murders, I was still intrigued thanks to Geary’s gripping storytelling. I like how he writes from the perspective of a (fictionalized) contemporary gentleman. He doesn’t add anything new to the Ripper murders, but his deft recounting of the facts and evocative art make for a powerful document.
Also, I couldn’t help but think about From Hell when reading this. Both comics cover the same ground, and it’s interesting to compare how Moore and Geary approach this well-trodden history. Obviously Moore set out to accomplish something very different from what Geary does here.
Also, I couldn’t help but think about From Hell when reading this. Both comics cover the same ground, and it’s interesting to compare how Moore and Geary approach this well-trodden history. Obviously Moore set out to accomplish something very different from what Geary does here.
October 19, 2018
3.5 ⭐
I've always been fascinated with Jack the Ripper and reading the case in graphic novel form is kind of new. The illustrations fit perfectly with the vibe of the case that already dark and make it even eerier.
January 14, 2018
Non affronta esclusivamente la storia di Jack lo squartatore, si tratta bensì di un’antologia di casi, e nemmeno tutti si svolgono in Inghilterra, anzi prevalentemente negli States. Lo stile di disegno quasi caricaturale aiuta a smorzare un po’ i toni di questi efferati crimini, e niente balloon, ogni vignetta è accompagnata infatti da brevi didascalie dal taglio sensazionalistico che richiamano perfettamente la condotta dei giornali dell’epoca. Il numero di pagine dedicate alle singole storie è variabile, certe sono piuttosto brevi mentre altre, come i delitti svoltisi a Whitechapel o la saga dei sanguinari Bender in quest’occasione, godono di uno spazio maggiore. Un prodotto insolito, atto a soddisfare la curiosità su alcuni dei delitti più noti e chiacchierati dell’epoca.
January 15, 2025
4 ⭐
I knew I wouldn’t leave the book knowing who Jack was but I enjoyed the conspiracy theories nonetheless… Particularly that Jack may have been a woman named Jill….
In the words of Nikki Grahame, “Who IS she?”
I knew I wouldn’t leave the book knowing who Jack was but I enjoyed the conspiracy theories nonetheless… Particularly that Jack may have been a woman named Jill….
In the words of Nikki Grahame, “Who IS she?”
August 25, 2014
And so Rick Geary's brilliant "Treasury of Victorian Murder" series comes to the most famous Victorian murderer, possibly the most famous murderer ever, drumroll please ... Jack the Ripper!
Jack's ascribed victims were 5 prostitutes all in the Whitechapel district of London (the poorest part of the city) and all were viciously mutilated. After the murder of the final victim, Mary Kelly, the killer disappeared. The case has never been closed and Jack the Ripper will never be found.
Geary does what he always does in this series: present the case with all its details for the reader to see. He does this in his usual compelling drawing style with black and white inks. The pages are well designed and laid out, the drawings are detailed though the murders are never explicit in their details. All of the murders, especially the goriest one of Mary Kelly, are obscured. Geary's choice to tell a grisly tale tastefully and yet conjure up a sense of dread and fear shows his skill as an artist and storyteller.
We do however get a sense of the desperation of the lives these women led in Whitechapel. The dingy rooms they lived in, the dark streets, the haunting alleys. Geary brings it all to life and the results are terrifyingly compelling.
Don't pick this up expecting any new details if you're overly familiar with Jack, but if you've a passing interest in the case like me then you'll enjoy the book. Some of the details will be new to you but mostly you'll relive the days when the world's most famous and horrific serial killer stalked the streets of Whitechapel. Yet another triumph for Rick Geary and his brilliant series.
Jack's ascribed victims were 5 prostitutes all in the Whitechapel district of London (the poorest part of the city) and all were viciously mutilated. After the murder of the final victim, Mary Kelly, the killer disappeared. The case has never been closed and Jack the Ripper will never be found.
Geary does what he always does in this series: present the case with all its details for the reader to see. He does this in his usual compelling drawing style with black and white inks. The pages are well designed and laid out, the drawings are detailed though the murders are never explicit in their details. All of the murders, especially the goriest one of Mary Kelly, are obscured. Geary's choice to tell a grisly tale tastefully and yet conjure up a sense of dread and fear shows his skill as an artist and storyteller.
We do however get a sense of the desperation of the lives these women led in Whitechapel. The dingy rooms they lived in, the dark streets, the haunting alleys. Geary brings it all to life and the results are terrifyingly compelling.
Don't pick this up expecting any new details if you're overly familiar with Jack, but if you've a passing interest in the case like me then you'll enjoy the book. Some of the details will be new to you but mostly you'll relive the days when the world's most famous and horrific serial killer stalked the streets of Whitechapel. Yet another triumph for Rick Geary and his brilliant series.
October 11, 2023
I think the author did a good job with condensing the long journals in just 60 pages and managed to give as much details as possible. It's a true crime account taken from the journals of one of the gentlemen who lived through the era of Jack the Ripper murders, along with his own speculations.
March 10, 2020
The maps were great. The stuff about Masonic ritual was interesting. The Author brings up Prince Phillip and promised more but then dropped it. Every Rick Geary book is to short.
February 27, 2016
*Book source ~ Library
From Goodreads:
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, Geary's personal take on this story shines an ironic light on the repressive society that spawned such a monster. TOP TEN QUICK PICKS '96 American Library Association (YALSA)
Having never read any books about Jack the Ripper, I feel this graphic novel is a good starting point. It certainly whets the appetite to learn more details about what went down than the bare facts depicted here. Supposedly this is from an interested Englishman’s journals kept during the time of the attacks and I can say, this armchair detective uses a lot of !!!. The illustrations are quite detailed and I enjoyed them even if they are done in black and white. My 16-yr-old saw the book on my desk and was interested until he leafed through it and said, “Nope. There’s no color.” I said, “But it’s really good!” He said, “No.” So I said, “But it’s an historical book! They didn’t have color back then.” I got a “look”. You know the one, it says, “Really, mom? Just…really?” Well, I tried. lol Any fan of Jack the Ripper should pick this up. I think it would be a great addition to any collection.
From Goodreads:
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, Geary's personal take on this story shines an ironic light on the repressive society that spawned such a monster. TOP TEN QUICK PICKS '96 American Library Association (YALSA)
Having never read any books about Jack the Ripper, I feel this graphic novel is a good starting point. It certainly whets the appetite to learn more details about what went down than the bare facts depicted here. Supposedly this is from an interested Englishman’s journals kept during the time of the attacks and I can say, this armchair detective uses a lot of !!!. The illustrations are quite detailed and I enjoyed them even if they are done in black and white. My 16-yr-old saw the book on my desk and was interested until he leafed through it and said, “Nope. There’s no color.” I said, “But it’s really good!” He said, “No.” So I said, “But it’s an historical book! They didn’t have color back then.” I got a “look”. You know the one, it says, “Really, mom? Just…really?” Well, I tried. lol Any fan of Jack the Ripper should pick this up. I think it would be a great addition to any collection.
March 2, 2015
I don't read a lot of graphic novels but am taking part in a reading challenge and reading a graphic novel is on the list. I've always had a fascination with Jack the Ripper and historical crime in particular. I thought this was very good, short at 64 pages but packs a lot in. I think it is very tastefully done in wonderfully detailed black and white illustrations (instead of taking the gory colour option) it didn't feel exploitative at all. I loved the faces of the people and the illustrations capture not only the story of Jack the Ripper and his victims but also the heart of London and the day to day lives of those who lived there their lifestyles, professions and hardships.
I think if you like to take an interest in Jack the Ripper but are not an aficionado there were many things I didn't know that are included and a surprising amount of detail. It is a nice addition to the Jack the Ripper books available and a different take on the normal books who claim to have exposed the killer this doesn't do that this is just the facts.
I think if you like to take an interest in Jack the Ripper but are not an aficionado there were many things I didn't know that are included and a surprising amount of detail. It is a nice addition to the Jack the Ripper books available and a different take on the normal books who claim to have exposed the killer this doesn't do that this is just the facts.
December 30, 2025
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*!*
May 5, 2013
I have been fascinated by The Ripper since my tween years, and this version just intensifies the fascination. Two of my favored worlds collided and I reaped the benefit :)
September 8, 2020
Got this just today and I was not planning on reading it, but I made the mistake of picking it up to look at it and the drawings and was right away drawn in. While the case of Jack the Ripper is well known it's still an interesting subject that never gets old, and only seems to get more mystifying. I enjoyed the black and white drawings and the clear way the facts were given. But really in a case as graphic and scary as this one over dramatizing was not done, nor was it needed. A learned a few new things while reading this but really I only read it to be entertained and it did not disappoint. The maps were helpful and the timelines on the case were also appreciated. If you Ripper case interests you or if you just enjoy a murder mystery I know you will enjoy this one. I scored it today at the Half Priced books store, I plan to look for more!
February 14, 2024
The art was a bit clunkier in this volume and I do wish it was a tad bit longer.
One thing I liked about the Borden Tragedies edition of this series is that they included some theories and unanswered questions still unknown to this day, but in the Jack the Ripper volume we learned exactly what happened with straight facts and then it ended. While I did enjoy hearing an in-depth minute-by-minute rundown of the crimes committed I do wish there was a little more content afterwards.
One thing I liked about the Borden Tragedies edition of this series is that they included some theories and unanswered questions still unknown to this day, but in the Jack the Ripper volume we learned exactly what happened with straight facts and then it ended. While I did enjoy hearing an in-depth minute-by-minute rundown of the crimes committed I do wish there was a little more content afterwards.
April 16, 2022
I'm not really a fan of true-crime and gruesome horror, but this book does what it is supposed to do. Teaches the known facts about the case, presented in a graphic novel format that makes it easy to learn. And I definitely learned a lot more than I knew before. Not for the faint of stomach, even in black and white.
January 13, 2025
I liked the Borden book more, but this one is fine, doing a really spectacular job of showing what it was like on the ground in Whitechapel during the murders. It’s hard to stack up next to From Hell or The Five, though, but as this precedes them and has a lil bit of its own spin it’s still worth seeking out.
July 26, 2017
Obviously an earlier entry in the series, it differs in most that there are page numbers on almost every page, and it's written in a first-person perspective from some journals that Geary is working from.
June 6, 2019
Gruesome!!
I am a big Rick Geary fan. I knew basically nothing about Jack the Ripper's crimes before reading this (just knew that he was a serial killer based in London during the late 1800s). Wow - I had no idea how twisted he was!! Good thing he is not around anymore...
I am a big Rick Geary fan. I knew basically nothing about Jack the Ripper's crimes before reading this (just knew that he was a serial killer based in London during the late 1800s). Wow - I had no idea how twisted he was!! Good thing he is not around anymore...
December 23, 2019
THIS MAN WAS VERY WIERD. 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀
April 5, 2020
Una interesante crónica, hubiera preferido que sacarán una mejor conjetura final. Sin embargo, según la estructura del libro es suficiente.
April 1, 2024
Gory and Graphic.
December 18, 2025
very good very interesting I didn't realize it was a true story but it is and definitely keeps your attention good read
Read
September 22, 2017super intense!!
April 5, 2017
Well, suppose I do get killed, it will be a good thing for me, for the winter is coming on, and the life is awful...
Rick Gearyn "Jack the Ripper: A Journal of the Whitechapel Murders 1888-1889" kertoo nimensä mukaisesti Viiltäjä-Jackin tapauksesta, joka on askarruttanut ja puhututtanut ihmismieliä yli vuosisadan (ellei mysteeri sitten viimen ratkennut suomalaisen tiedemiehen avustuksella, kuten viime päivinä on uutisoitu).
Sarjakuva kertoo murhista toteavaan sävyyn, tunnettuihin faktoihin tukeutuen ja ilman spekulaatiota tekijän henkilöllisyydestä. Tarinan taustalla käytetään lontoolaisen harrastajatutkijan päiväkirjoja, jotka ovat säilyneet tähän päivään saakka - tai itse asiassa näin meille kerrotaan, itse en osaa sanoa ovatko kyseessä oikeasti olemassa olevat historialliset dokumentit vai onko kyse taitavasta taiteellisesta tyylikeinosta.
Lyhyehkö sarjakuva on ihan tyylikästä jälkeä niin kirjallisen kuin kuvallisen ilmaisunsa puolesta. Onnistunut tapaus, jota voi suositella kaikille Viiltäjä-Jackista ja true crime -osastosta kiinnostuneille, vaikka mitään uutta tietoa tai käsittelytapaa se ei sinänsä tarjoaisikaan.
Rick Gearyn "Jack the Ripper: A Journal of the Whitechapel Murders 1888-1889" kertoo nimensä mukaisesti Viiltäjä-Jackin tapauksesta, joka on askarruttanut ja puhututtanut ihmismieliä yli vuosisadan (ellei mysteeri sitten viimen ratkennut suomalaisen tiedemiehen avustuksella, kuten viime päivinä on uutisoitu).
Sarjakuva kertoo murhista toteavaan sävyyn, tunnettuihin faktoihin tukeutuen ja ilman spekulaatiota tekijän henkilöllisyydestä. Tarinan taustalla käytetään lontoolaisen harrastajatutkijan päiväkirjoja, jotka ovat säilyneet tähän päivään saakka - tai itse asiassa näin meille kerrotaan, itse en osaa sanoa ovatko kyseessä oikeasti olemassa olevat historialliset dokumentit vai onko kyse taitavasta taiteellisesta tyylikeinosta.
Lyhyehkö sarjakuva on ihan tyylikästä jälkeä niin kirjallisen kuin kuvallisen ilmaisunsa puolesta. Onnistunut tapaus, jota voi suositella kaikille Viiltäjä-Jackista ja true crime -osastosta kiinnostuneille, vaikka mitään uutta tietoa tai käsittelytapaa se ei sinänsä tarjoaisikaan.
November 5, 2012
Of all Rick Geary's books, Lizzie Borden's tale remains my favorite. This is a detailed, chronological look at the Jack the Ripper killings and a good introduction for anyone not versed in this very cold case. For me however, it just wets my appetite to reread Patricia Cornwell's expose Portrait Of A Killer: Jack The Ripper -- Case Closed.
I wish Geary had been a little more thorough in his exploration of the suspects, but what can you do when all your leads died a hundred years ago. This is one of the great mysteries that makes me wish I'll live to see the day time-travel is discovered and somebody goes back to 1888 to find out what was up in Whitechapel.
I wish Geary had been a little more thorough in his exploration of the suspects, but what can you do when all your leads died a hundred years ago. This is one of the great mysteries that makes me wish I'll live to see the day time-travel is discovered and somebody goes back to 1888 to find out what was up in Whitechapel.
January 28, 2025
The history of Jack the Ripper has long tentacles that reach throughout English-language culture, and Rick Geary's "just the facts" approach works very well in graphic novel format, as it allows him to capture something of the character of daily life in Whitechapel at the time these events occurred. Geary's retelling includes no new information regarding these well-known crimes, but his boldly distinct visual style perfectly captures the world of poverty and neglect that allowed these events to happen in the first place. He doesn't shy away from depicting the constricted roles allowed to women in Victorian England, and how those constraints drove so many into alcoholism and prostitution, making them ready targets for any number of criminal assailants.
November 20, 2007
I enjoyed reading about the individual lives of the prostitutes whom Jack the Ripper murdered. (Hey, what can I say? I was a Criminal Justice major in my undergrad and chose my school primarily based on the fact that they offered a Serial Killers class.) It was interesting to read about the details (I had heard something about him possibly being a doctor or someone to that effect since he knew how to...well, you know). This particular volume in the Victorian Murder series by Geary was based on the journals of a man who lived in London during the Ripper era and who followed the crimes of the Ripper quite closely.
March 27, 2008
You kind of think you know everything about Jack the Ripper if you've seen as many movies about it as Jared and I have, but there are still new details, many of which Geary brings out. His tracking of the time and place of each event is, as always, impeccable. The maps are particularly useful this time around. One thing I've been wondering is whether, like the Lizzie Borden book, the diary this one is based on is real or not. The writer does occasionally seem a little too prescient and enlightened, complaining about anti-Jewish prejudice and mob rule. Not that there wouldn't be anyone doing such complaining, but it sure does seem convenient.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews