Intergenerational angst and imposter syndrome feature in this tragicomic memoir by Caleb, a middle-aged recovering alcoholic and painter who inherits his late cartoonist father’s syrupy but hugely popular newspaper strip based on a father-son relationship nothing like their own. Ollmann’s true talent is drawing and painting faces that demand attention. Before he arrives at his destination though Cal must run a gauntlet of indignities, humiliations, heartbreaks, and poor decisions (many of his own making), but thanks to Ollmann’s confident, assured storytelling it’s a journey well-worth taking. This is the central theme of Ollmann’s book and one our hero must wrestle with until the ultimately life-affirming final pages. London Free PressĪre we destined to turn into our parents?. He is an artist at the height of his powers.

Ollmann is a master craftsman who has given us a mid-pandemic treat in Fictional Father. He’s the last of the great funny/sad underground cartoonists. His stories are page-turners, gut busters and tear jerkers. Joe Ollmann is the cartoonist’s cartoonist. In addition to being a devastating portrait of the Wyatt family, Fictional Father is a hilariously sardonic interrogation of art-making and cartooning in particular. Caleb storms around and slumps in equal measure as he tries to figure out who he is beyond the neglected son of a famous man. His furrow-browed and deeply-lined cartooning has never been more expressive than in Fictional Father. His characters vacillate and sob and rage. Joe Ollmann is a master at portraying inner torment. Is it too late to repair the harm? Are we forever doomed to make the same mistakes our parents did? When Caleb gets the chance to step out from his father’s shadow and shape the most public aspect of the family business, he makes every bad decision and watches his life fall apart. His always patient boyfriend, James, is reaching the end of his rope. Now sober, Caleb is haunted by his wasted past and struggling to take responsibility for his present before it’s too late. Known for the internationally beloved father and son comic Sonny Side Up, Jimmi made millions drawing saccharine family stories while neglecting his own son.

He also happens to be the only child of one of the world’s most famous cartoonists, Jimmi Wyatt. A dysfunctional family lives in the shadow of a world famous comic strip and its tyrannical creatorĬaleb is a middle-aged painter with a non-starter career.

Fictional Father by Joe Ollmann