This is an excerpt from Joe Ollmann’s new graphic novel Mid-Life. You can read the first chapter for free over at Joe’s site.
On the surface, that first chapter makes Mid-Life out to be a straight-forward autobio comic about the trials of middle age. But what makes Mid-Life a little more interesting is that it is only semi-autobiographical. The protagonist is not Joe Olmann, but rather John Olsen, and while all the little details about their lives, jobs, and families are the same, Joe makes it clear that some of the story is fiction; he just won’t reveal which parts. This muddling of the truth includes the main storyline—the build-up to an affair with a children’s entertainer.
At first I thought this was an unfair device on Joe’s part. He could share embarrassingly truthful moments of his life, but shrug them off as being maybe fictional. All autobiographical work is filtered through an author’s intentions anyway, so why the extra layer of obfuscation?
But, as I read on, and further characters were introduced, I realized what Joe was doing. He was able to use his real life to give the narrative a sense of legitimacy and detail, while still allowing himself the freedom to create a story and to frame this moment of his life in a sort-of fantasy.