Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
The Saga of the Bloody Benders (Treasury of Victorian Murder)
by
Rick Geary
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...more
Hardcover, 76 pages
Published
July 1st 2007
by NBM Publishing
(first published May 7th 2007)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
376)
I had ordered this and The Borden Tragedy for the library, but someone checked out the Borden book before I could get to it... I had never heard of the Benders, but as I read, the story sounded a bit familiar... I will have to go home and check, but I read a book once called Katie by Michael McDowell, which shared these features: a girl named Katie, who claimed to be able to see the future, call up dead spirits, etc., and killing using hammers. It makes me wonder if that book was based on this t...more
This was one of the first tale of the series "A treasury of victorian murders" which I was not already familliar with. A gruesome but probably not at all uncommon kind of serial killing, the Benders set themselves up in a place, did what they did (and not too badly at that!) and then.... dissapeared.
When you think about it, the era wasn't hard to get away with murder in, but in the case of the Benders there were so many complete blanks in the tale- who they even WERE, for example- and why they d...more
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 m...more
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 m...more
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...more
I know that I said the Axeman of New Orleans was the best in the series, but I lied! Bloody Benders is by far the best. The illustrations are far more complex and intriguing. The story kept me hooked and strapped to my seat. In all due honesty, I had never heard of the Bloody Benders so some of my excitement could have come from being introduced to the legend. Still, this adaptation of the legend is very intriguing and perfectly fits the mysterious story.
In case you're like me and don't know the...more
In case you're like me and don't know the...more
Only Rick Geary can make serial killing this entertaining! This ninth volume in Geary's highly successful Treasury of Victorian Murder series is as good as the preceding volumes demand, and the murderous Bender family (if that was their real name...) are among the most heinous of the killers that Geary has profiled to date. As always, Geary's singular and beautifully styled pen work is instantly recognizable and truly rewarding, and his ability to render his frightening story with such an even,...more
"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 prarie and in a ditch beneath the house.
The ringleader appeared to be the young woman who pretended to 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...more
The ringleader appeared to be the young woman who pretended to 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...more
Jul 30, 2007
Trevor
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of comics as literature, true crime enthusiasts
Geary’s Treasury of Victorian Murder series never falters, and continues to give readers interesting, well researched, and exquisitely drawn grapic novel experiences. Bloody Benders tells the story of the Bender family, a group of German immigrants who open a sundries business catering to travelers on the Osage Trail in Kansas circa 1870. When it appears that people begin to connect the disappearing travelers with the offbeat family, the Benders are nowhere to be found, their “store” abandoned,...more
This is the first Treasury of Victorian Murder book that I've read. I've been interested in the concept and series for a while now and they had this one at my local library. Geary's art is adequate and the story is very matter-of-fact but ultimately it feels like From Hell Lite. That's not necessarily a fault, but when you have meticulously researched (sometimes to a fault) historical graphic novels of that caliber it's hard not to compare it.
Graphic novel version of a true crime book. The bloody Benders were an infamous homicidal family of Labette County, Kansas. In 1870, out on a deserted stretch of road linking newly forming towns, a strange family stakes a claim and builds an inn for travellers. Soon, people who travel through this area begin to go missing and eventually it's discovered that the Bender family is responsible for at least 8 murders if not more.
Set in graphic novel form (that I don't usually care for) it was informative and fun to read. This is one sick family from America's frontier history. The only ommision from the facts was the aside that "Pa", Laura Ingles Wilder's father was among one of the vigilante posse that tracked down the Benders when they skipped town. I am waiting for a movie adaptation of this grizzly clan of killers. Done right it could be fab!
I had heard about the Bender family and wanted to read more about them. When I did a search through the local library this was the only book that came up so I reserved it. Needless to say I was not thrilled to find out it was a "graphic novel". But, I already had it so I read it anyway. Total waste.
Another volume of wonderful drawings by Rick Geary, though perhaps not *all* the way up there with the last one I read; The Borden Tragedy.
I enjoyed this very much on my Saturday comic book read, and I especially love the feeling of hopeless lawlessness that is created through the story.
I enjoyed this very much on my Saturday comic book read, and I especially love the feeling of hopeless lawlessness that is created through the story.
The true story of the first "family" of serial killers. A great historical view of the Benders, a Germanic family that settled in the west only to invite people to their doom in their makeshift "inn". While the tale is interesting the mystery of who the Benders were and what happened to them will keep you wondering and begging for more.
Geary accompanies his tales of deliciously bloody mayhem and murder with black-and-white drawings--which might owe something to Edward Gorey but are nonetheless distinctive and original--provide a winsome, tongue-in-cheek contrast to the horrid events that he relates.
read an excerpt in the best american comics thing and picked it up a couple of days later when i happened upon it at a bookstore. it's neat, but not terribly exciting. perhaps i'm dense but when i read the excerpt i thought it was fiction, and i sort of liked it more that way.
This might be the creepiest of the Rick Geary Victorian Murder series -- perhaps because it's the only entry based on a real-life story that I did not already know something about. Not knowing what would happen, or who it would happen to, added a shiver of suspense to the grim proceedings.
Not too thrilled with this type book...seemed like I was reading a comic only not amusing! Interesting story that I checked out on the internet. Little Katie was a loonie and there were (and still are)some incredibly evil people on this earth.
I read this in a couple hours. A nice look at the banality of murder in the old frontier, complete with grisly pictures. The image of the soldiers searching through the empty house is the creepiest, and will stay with me.
The problem with this volume is not the writing, the layout or the art...but the subject matter. For my tastes, there are too many unknowns here and with so many theories, you start to wonder how true the story itself is.
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.
I read a small portion of this story in a compilation of comics and HAD to check it out from the library to read the whole thing. The mysterious story, which I was compelled to research further, was supported by Geary's great artwork.
I remember reading about this family in one of my mother's many additional books about Laura Ingalls' family. Such a creepy story! I was disappointed that Geary made no mention of the Ingalls being involved.
The title makes it sound rather more prurient than it is. In fact, this is a measured, well-researched, and unspectacular (in a good way) account of a particularly bizarre and nasty family.
I love this series! It combines two of my favorite types of literature: True crime and graphic novels. The drawings are amazing and the stories are fascinating. - Trevor Adams
It's always fun to read about the true story of a family of serial killers in the plains of Kansas! A fun, educational and wuick read to boot.
You may have heard the legend of the Bender family (who live somewhere in the Midwest) luring travelers into their home and them murdering them. This is the true story that spawned the legend. More than a hundred years ago, the Benders settled in rural Kansas and opened a small inn and grocery store. Soon after, people began disappearing. Nearby townsfolk got suspicious when it was discovered that one of the missing men had stayed the night at the Benders, and they were the last people to see hi...more
You can read my thoughts here.
What's this? An entire series of graphic "novels" about true crime cases? For teens? Cool.
I love this style of illustration, and the story was intriguing as well.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
RICK 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 Nat...more
More about Rick Geary...
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 Nat...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
