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A review by inkyyy
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri
5.0
I remember when I first saw that Time magazine cover. I was probably 14 or 15. I had just become suddenly fascinated with murders, serial killers, gang killing, mafias, etc. I was obsessed with the show Gangland and I loved all the books about police officers and detectives solving cold cases. I wanted to be one of those criminal profilers, catching murders and killers and understanding their MO's. In my usual placed, I found the Time cover of Robert 'Yummy' Sandifer. When I saw it, I stared at it. I stared at his hard face. He wasn't smiling, why would he? It was a mugshot. I've seen those Manson mugshots, or Ted Bundy, or John Wayne Gacy. Those sinister stares. This one...I was just transfixed.
I saw the eyes of a child, I learned about the Yummy case and still then I was still hypnotized by his cold gaze staring at me. People considered him a hardened criminal, incapable of change and someone who is just born evil (a la Michael Meyers or something out of a horror movie). All I saw was a kid who had no reason care about anything--society had failed him.
I don't know how true this graphic novel is. I was only 1 year old when this case happened and I admit I don't consider myself an expert. I just know the basic background. In this graphic novel it talks about the main character coming to terms about Yummy Sandifer and his accidental murder of a fourteen year old girl and then his own murder by the Black Disciples. The novel humanized the boy, and asked the question 'Who is to blame for the untimely demise of two young people?'
I believe Robert slipped through the cracks. People stopped trying and Robert clung on to any one who could give him attention. He was a child, his death and the death of Shavon is incredibly tragic. While I cannot comprehend why someone would do the things Robert did, I can understand. It was all he had.
This graphic novel did a very good job at describing that.
I saw the eyes of a child, I learned about the Yummy case and still then I was still hypnotized by his cold gaze staring at me. People considered him a hardened criminal, incapable of change and someone who is just born evil (a la Michael Meyers or something out of a horror movie). All I saw was a kid who had no reason care about anything--society had failed him.
I don't know how true this graphic novel is. I was only 1 year old when this case happened and I admit I don't consider myself an expert. I just know the basic background. In this graphic novel it talks about the main character coming to terms about Yummy Sandifer and his accidental murder of a fourteen year old girl and then his own murder by the Black Disciples. The novel humanized the boy, and asked the question 'Who is to blame for the untimely demise of two young people?'
I believe Robert slipped through the cracks. People stopped trying and Robert clung on to any one who could give him attention. He was a child, his death and the death of Shavon is incredibly tragic. While I cannot comprehend why someone would do the things Robert did, I can understand. It was all he had.
This graphic novel did a very good job at describing that.