Joe Ollmann

The daring and destructive life of the man who popularized the word “zombie” In the early twentieth century, travel writing represented the desire for the expanding bourgeoisie to experience the exotic cultures of the world past their immediate surroundings. Journalist William Buehler Seabrook was emblematic of this trend—participating in voodoo ceremonies, riding camels cross the Sahara desert, communing with cannibals and most notably, popularizing the term “zombie” in the West. A string of his bestselling books show an engaged, sympathetic gentleman hoping to share these strange, hidden delights with the rest of the world. He was willing to go deeper than any outsider had before. But, of course, there was a dark side. Seabrook was a barely functioning alcoholic who was deeply obsessed with bondage and the so-called mystical properties of pain and degradation. His life was a series of traveling highs and drunken lows; climbing on and falling off the wagon again and again. What led the popular and vivid writer to such a sad state? Cartoonist Joe Ollmann spent seven years researching Seabrook’s life, interviewing surviving family and accessing long neglected archives, in order to piece together the peripatetic life of a forgotten American writer. Often weaving in Seabrook’s own words and those of his biographers, Ollmann’s The Abominable Mr. Seabrook posits Seabrook the believer versus Seabrook the exploiter, and leaves the reader to consider where one ends and the other begins.

The Abominable Mr. Seabrook

"When high school science teacher and pragmatic realist Mark is inexplicably drawn to renting a cheesy alien-abduction flick, it sets in motion a chain of events that makes him rethink everything he has ever believed. After a hysterical breakdown while watching the movie, he reveals to Sue, his longtime girlfriend, that he suddenly remembers being abducted as a child-- by aliens. He becomes obsessed with alien-abduction chat rooms and stops leaving the house. As Mark becomes more heavily immersed in his inner world, their relationship slowly disintegrates. All he wants is for her to believe him. But how can she believe him, when it's just science fiction after all?" -- from publisher's web site.

Science fiction

A dysfunctional family lives in the shadow of a world famous comic strip and its tyrannical creator Caleb is a middle-aged painter with a non-starter career. He also happens to be the only child of one of the world’s most famous cartoonists, Jimmi Wyatt. Known for the internationally beloved father and son comic Sonny Side Up, Jimmi made millions drawing saccharine family stories while neglecting his own son. Now sober, Caleb is haunted by his wasted past and struggling to take responsibility for his present before it’s too late. His always patient boyfriend, James, is reaching the end of his rope. 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. Is it too late to repair the harm? Are we forever doomed to make the same mistakes our parents did? Joe Ollmann is a master at portraying inner torment. His characters vacillate and sob and rage. His furrow-browed and deeply-lined cartooning has never been more expressive than in Fictional Father. 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. 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.

Fictional Father

WHEN THE BODY SAGS AND THE HONESTY LAGS Mid-Life is the story of John, who at forty becomes a father again with his much younger second wife, which results in a slow, painful attack by flowered baby bags and front-facing baby carriers on his former virility and self-identity. John always believed that age is a state of mind; however, his adult daughters, baby son, energetic wife, stressful job, house full of cats, and flabby body—complete with bloated stomach and sagging bosom—all lead John reluctantly to admit that he is having a midlife crisis. The crisis drives John to yell at his wife, pick fights with his daughters, and miss deadlines at work that put his job on the line. He takes solace from the stress of everyday life with a seemingly harmless infatuation with the pretty children’s performer Sherry Smalls, who sings adoringly to him directly from his son’s DVD. Sherry, meanwhile, is equally desperate to find a distraction in life. Her path to rock stardom has been rudely overtaken by a semi-successful but completely loathsome gig as a children’s performer. It pays the bills, and a Saturday-morning television show is on the horizon—that is, if she is able to fire her alcoholic on-again, off-again boyfriend/bandmate. As their lives snowball, John’s infatuation turns into obsession and a haphazard, fateful e-mail leads to a necessary reality check that neither John nor Sherry may have wanted, but that both will surprisingly welcome.

Mid-Life

Art Gallery of Hamilton

Alana Traficante

Co-published by Art Gallery of Hamilton THIS IS SERIOUS reveals the considerable contributions artists from across the country are making to the greater field of global comics - of which Toronto, Montreal, and Hamilton are significant creative centres. Surveying the work of 40 contemporary Canadian artists, THIS IS SERIOUS showcases the energy of underground artistic production and indie publishing, expressed through a diverse range of artists. Co-curated by Alana Traficante and award-winning cartoonist Joe Ollmann, THIS IS SERIOUS presents the recent arc of production that has helped shaped the current state of graphic storytelling, here and now, on home soil. With contributions from Jeet Heer and Peggy Burns. Featuring the work of contemporary and historical Hamilton artists such as: David Collier, Jesse Jacobs, Sylvia Nickerson, Doug Wright, James Simpkins and Joe Ollmann. Featuring four of the most well-respected Canadian artists: Seth, Julie Doucet, Fiona Smyth and Chester Brown. Also featuring a national survey of artists working today, including: Jillian Tamaki, Michael Deforge, Hartley Lin, Ho Che Anderson, Gord Hill, Diane Obom, Kate Beaton, and Pascal Girard, among many more.

Canadian Indie Comics

This Is Serious

A recovering alcoholic lives in the shadow of a world famous comic strip and its tyrannical creator Caleb is a middle-aged painter with a non-starter career and a checkered past. He also happens to be the only child of one of the world’s most famous cartoonists, Jimmi Wyatt. Known for the internationally beloved father and son comic Sonny Side Up, Jimmi made millions drawing saccharine family stories while neglecting his own son. Now sober, Caleb is haunted by his wasted past and struggling to take responsibility for his present before it’s too late. His always patient boyfriend, James, is reaching the end of his rope. 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. Is it too late to repair the harm? Are we forever doomed to make the same mistakes our parents did?

In these five beautifully illustrated stories, Ollmann peers into the cracks of everyday life, finding inspiration in those slightly uncomfortable moments, both extraordinary and mundane, that make life... well... interesting. Influenced by a variety of artists such as Ben Katchor, Charles Schulz, Ralph Steadman, and Edward Gorey, Ollmann draws the inhabitants of his world with remarkable craft and an eye for detail, making each character unforgettable. 'Day Old' is the story of a single mother waiting at a children's hospital with a sick baby and a bunch of kids in tow, trying to get a break at a bagel shop. 'Oh Deer' tells the story of Schultz, a mild-mannered office drone suffering a mid-life crisis who, instead of leather pants, buys a rifle and goes hunting with the alpha males he works with. The beginning hunter gets lucky but with terrible results as he refuses to deal with the deer carcass in his garage. 'They Filmed a Movie Here Once' is about Amy, a young girl in a Northern Ontario town living with her pious, alcoholic father, both of them crippled by the loss of her mother. Amy is working in a diner and is in the midst of losing her Catholic faith and possibly more to the mysterious new fry cook at work. 'En Retarde (Delayed)' tells the story of the Salt brothers Dennis and Robbie. Dennis has a drinking problem and has spent his adult life avoiding taking on the responsibility of taking care of his older, mentally handicapped brother, Robbie. When their mother is injured and institutionalised, Dennis is forced to take in Robbie temporarily and scrabbles to find a way out of the responsibility.

Joe Ollmann

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