The reward is a complex look at an artist’s evolving relationship to the past. The framing device, in which Ollmann wrestles with a story that has been told before-Cal’s life is reminiscent of the real Dennis the Menace-requires acrobatic parsing. Of course they do!” Cal takes this tough-love kick in the pants and “finds his voice.” Ollmann’s illustrations are ugly-charming, wrinkled and shadowed, but tinted in bright colors (with yellowed “vintage” cartoons a particular visual joy). Cal hires a salty, sober editor-for-hire, whom he meets at a 12-step program, and she offers, “Do you think-in the present climate-that anyone wants to listen to a rich, old white man complaining about an older, richer white man?. When Jimmi dies and bequeaths his strip to his son, Cal considers the proposition, to the surprise of his father’s staff-who reveal that assistants have drawn it for years-and Cal’s boyfriend, James, a Black flight attendant who’s had it with Cal’s spoiled-rich-kid ways.

By middle age, Cal is a recovering alcoholic struggling to launch his own art career. The winners will be announced on Nov.Ollmann’s funny, faux-meta memoir follows Caleb Wyatt, the angst-ridden son of Jimmi Wyatt, a cartoonist whose treacly daily strip, Sonny Side Up, earned him the nickname “Everybody’s Dad.” But Jimmi’s actually an egomaniac with little time for his wife and son. Joe Ollmann, author/artist of Fictional Father When I began reading Gasoline Dreams, I was immediately mesmerized. His work resonates with so many readers because his characters are portrayed as a mixture of admirable and loathsome qualities. It’s in-depth, academic and playful and examines petroculture through multiple cultural lenses coupled with visually inventive imagery, creating an incredibly readable book. Ollmann is one of those rare artists who can capture people in all their flawed glory. Part of the tragedy that is Ollman’s Fictional Father is that even though Jimmi knows how to be a good dad, as demonstrated by the relationship he has built for the father-son duo within his. Seabrook, Science Fiction and Happy Stories About Well-Adjusted People. It tells the story of Caleb, the miserable son of a famous syndicated cartoonist, the twist being that while his father’s newspaper strip centres on a loving father-and-son duo, Caleb’s famous dad is a garbage human being. If picking up awards means more work for and wider acceptance of comic creators, I say let a thousand flowers boom.Īnd if you haven’t had a chance to read Fictional Father, treat yourself. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.

Fictional Father by Joe Ollmann