03/26/2026
A 3"×3" Jack the Ripper illustration by the legendary Rick Geary, for the ninesquareinches.com collection!
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Rick Geary, raised in Wichita, Kansas, after early years in Kansas City, Missouri, is a distinguished cartoonist and illustrator known for his meticulous graphic novels on historical true crime. With a clean, elegant pen-and-ink style rich in period detail, maps, diagrams, and subtle ironic humor, he prioritizes facts and lingering questions over sensationalism or easy resolutions. “I like questions more than answers,” he has remarked.
Geary earned degrees in communication arts and film from the University of Kansas. Early newspaper work in Wichita sharpened his skills in visual storytelling. In 1975 he moved to San Diego, where he illustrated the long-running “Straight from the Hip” column for the San Diego Reader for 36 years. He contributed to National Lampoon’s “Funny Pages,” Heavy Metal, MAD, Spy, and the New York Times Book Review. His output also includes children’s books and a Gumby series (with Bob Burden) that earned a 2007 Eisner Award.
His landmark achievement is A Treasury of Victorian Murder, launched in 1987 (with broader NBM publication from 1989) and spanning nine volumes plus compendiums. These standalone graphic novels reconstruct notorious 19th-century crimes through exhaustive research from newspapers, court records, and archives. Geary captures the era’s visual richness—gaslit streets, elaborate costumes, horse-drawn carriages, and ornate interiors—while presenting multiple perspectives and leaving moral judgments to the reader.
Standout volumes include Jack the Ripper: A Journal of the Whitechapel Murders 1888–1889 (the cover of which is homaged in this piece), framed as a contemporary diary with maps and theories; The Borden Tragedy (the 1892 Lizzie Borden axe murders), styled as a period memoir; The Fatal Bullet, contrasting the lives of President James A. Garfield and assassin Charles Guiteau; The Beast of Chicago (H.H. Holmes); The Mystery of Mary Rogers; The Saga of the Bloody Benders; and The Case of Madeleine Smith. The series avoids gore, favoring atmospheric, journalistic storytelling that echoes Victorian popular literature.
Success led to the companion A Treasury of 20th Century Murder series. Geary has also created graphic biographies (Trotsky, J. Edgar Hoover) and fictional works like Louise Brooks: Detective. Under his Home Town Press imprint, he self-publishes titles including The True Death of Billy the Kid and Carrizozo: An Illustrated History.
Geary and his wife Deborah live in Carrizozo, New Mexico, where he continues producing work from his historic home in Billy the Kid country. His honors include the Inkpot Award and National Cartoonists Society recognitions.
Rick Geary remains a master of graphic nonfiction, blending precision and artistry to explore humanity’s darkest, most enduring mysteries.
