Off The Shelf: Torso

In Depression era Cleveland circa 1935, a series of unbelievably grisly murders took place that to this day have never been solved. The killings involved the brutal dismemberment of 14 men and women who were reduced to anonymous torsos. Many of the "Butcher's" victims were known only as John Doe. A total of seven John Doe torsos were recovered in the Cleveland, Ohio area never to be identified.

Brian Bendis and Marc Andreyko re-create the story of The Cleveland Torso Murders by focusing on investigator Elliot Ness, famous for going on the offensive against organized crime in Chicago and hired as a Public Safety Officer for Cleveland. Elliot Ness spent the final years of his career in law enforcement futilely attempting to solve the Cleveland Torso Murders. The mini-series won the 1999 Eisner Award for Comic Book Excellence.

The six comic mini-series was originally published by Image/Jinx in 1998 and 1999 and is now available in one complete 280 page collection at Amazon. Additionally, two new books dealing with the Cleveland Torso Murders, Murder Hath No Tongue and Broken Rosary, are schedueled for 2010 releases.

References:

• GCD, Jinx: Torso
  
• Comic Reader, Torso Collection


• Prairie Ghosts, Torso Killer