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Saturday, March 5, 2011

Books / Nerd Memoirs of a Creepy Middle-Aged Man

Posted by Paul Constant on Sat, Mar 5, 2011 at 3:12 PM

I swear I've read the same comics page fifty times by now: The middle-aged alternative comics memoirist draws himself naked or in his underpants, with a series of caption boxes explaining the various problems with his body that have developed over the last few years, (literally) warts and all. The most recent version of this reverse-narcissism to be published is in Joe Ollmann's Mid-Life, on page 10. He takes great paints to point out the "turkey wattles" on his neck, varicose veins, and chronic constipation that plagues him. (I think Crumb might have been the first modern comics artist to do this, but to my mind the best example remains Ivan Brunetti's.) I admit, I almost gave up on the book right there. It didn't exactly inspire trust.

I'm glad I stuck with it, though. The thing that pulled me through that first awful sequence of Mid-Life was Ollmann's art, which is expressive, gorgeously composed, and tight. He sticks to the nine-panel grid with an arduousness that would make Watchmen-era Dave Gibbons blush, and that neurotic boxiness is what inspired trust in me.

Mid-Life does read like something very familiar: Of course Ollmann gets caught up in the possibility of a relationship with a younger woman (her name is Sherry Smalls), and of course things get remarkably creepy. But the best part of Mid-Life is that Ollmann tries his best to tell a fair accounting of Smalls's perspective. Her story unfolds at the same pace as Ollmann's in alternating chapters. I suppose it's kind of sad that I'm applauding a cartoonist for treating a woman like a real human being with motivations and desires of her own, but when he explores Smalls's life—poor, overworked, her friends fucking up all around her—Mid-Life feels like something entirely new.

Comments (7) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Congrats!

Sounds like you found something that completely verifies your Agendist view of heterosexual adult men.

Me? I'm reading Charlie Sheen's tweets...

http://www.cbsnews.com/i/tim/2011/03/01/…

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on March 5, 2011 at 4:33 PM

My should-I-read-it rule for comics is this: Would I watch it if it were a movie? From your description, the answer on this one is a resounding "no. "

Posted by Free Lunch on March 5, 2011 at 6:26 PM

CHARLIE SHEEN LIVE!

RIGHT NOW!!! STREAMING STARTED AT 7PM PST.

http://www.ustream.tv/charliesheen

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on March 5, 2011 at 7:25 PM

Sadly, it is entirely novel to see women being treated as three-dimensional beings in so, so much of our popular culture. One of the things I've always appreciated about you as a reviewer, Paul, is your sensitivity to that.

Posted by TVDinner

on March 5, 2011 at 8:57 PM

@ 2, no offense at all to you (your intentions with what you read are your own, and I'm sure very arguable), but when I'm reading a comic I often ask myself, "Should this have been a comic? The unique thing that a comic book is?" The easier it could have been a movie, or a novel, or a poem, or a song, or straight propaganda, I think, "This is a failure of the format." The reason that many of our favorite books have been optioned but not produced may not only be the unfairness of the universe / the stupidity of producers in the marketplace / work falling into the wrong hands, but the fact that comics from HATE to Love & Rockets to Y: The Last Man to 100 Bullets are just so great in the comic format. The Walking Dead was adapted fairly well, and yet I still missed the subtle nuances and unusual creativity of the format it was originally in (though I enjoyed it as a TV series, with all the very good stuff that comes with that as well). Don't misunderstand: I'm not "comics are better than everything else! as I probably like more TV shows than comics these days. Again, I like the very peculiar comic-ness of a comic.

Posted by Estey on March 6, 2011 at 8:00 AM

@SRoTU: No surprise that you idolize a psychopath who only gets away with beating and shooting bullets into his spouses because of his upperclass, male privilege.

Die in a fire.

Posted by sheen's acolytes disgust me on March 6, 2011 at 4:23 PM

Sounds really good actually - I am thinking about reading it though it is not quite the genre I usually prefer but sometimes one has to expand ones horizon!

Posted by leighthom on May 5, 2011 at 4:37 AM