Are we all destined to become our parents? There’s a lot to think about in this book. It’s clear this family has something to teach us all, especially as we watch grown-up Caleb, now a recovering addict, trying to connect with his dad while establishing his own career as an artist and understanding his own self-worth, or lack of it. “Fictional Father” focuses on Caleb’s attempts to have a relationship with parents who aren’t equipped to be parental.

More interested in a martini than a hug, Wyatt hobnobs with A-list stars while ignoring the people closest to him. This has made Wyatt world-famous as “everybody’s dad.” His son, Caleb, jokes bitterly that he was everybody else’s dad, because the real Jimmi Wyatt is a self-obsessed misanthrope who neglects his son and resents his wife. There’s a blue-collar dad and his cheeky boy, and they often share a cookie while we enjoy the moment. Here’s the story: cartoonist Jimmi Wyatt has been revered for decades as the man behind “Sonny Side Up,” a sickly-sweet newspaper strip about the bond between a father and son. “Fictional Father” is a story about comics by a creator who loves comics, and it’s a treat. This level of craft is hard to achieve and impossible to fake. I also took two Xanax.” He replies “Jesus,” completing a single panel rendered effective by sheer cadence of language, arranged neatly in 14 words across two word balloons. Take, for example, this line from Caleb’s mother, Pearl: “I’m not drunk, Caleb. His constant use of the classic nine-panel grid creates accessibility, while characters such as the aging, angry Jimmi Wyatt look grotesque but are simpler than they look.Īnother part of comics that’s hard to get right - and easy to get wrong - is dialogue, and Ollmann paces his perfectly every time. Ollmann, who is from Hamilton, Ont., has a delicious understanding of the craft of good comics, and his visual language shows it.

On the back cover, none other than Canadian comics legend Seth calls Ollmann “a national treasure” - and he’s right. Now, with a deep understanding of the medium, he’s made “Fictional Father,” a graphic novel about comic strips, those who make them and the people trapped in their orbit. He will also be popular among his fellow cartoonists, because Ollmann gets it. Seek him out at a book event: he’ll be approachable, affable, self-deprecating and probably drawing. Joe Ollmann is the cartoonist’s cartoonist.

Fictional Father by Joe Ollmann