Finally, a follow up to Ollmann's fine 2001 collection,
Chewing on Tinfoil. Ollmann is the Canadian cartoonist no one seems to have heard of down here in the states, which is a damn shame as he really has a lot to offer (learn more about Ollmann in
this interview he recently conducted with Tom Spurgeon).
This Will All End in Tears is one book you definitely don't want to judge by its cover, as it contains a fascinating collection of deftly delineated discoveries in the field of human nature. Ollmann is an explorer who seeks out obscure and remote emotional terrains that most other cartoonists find too arduous to reach. He has an unerring eye for picking out incidents that will provide just those details in his characters that will light their souls from the inside, serving to illuminate the particular, often peculiar, hidden corners of our society that are his stock in trade. Heartache, hunting, health care, hangovers and more are the subjects of the short, and not so short, comics stories that make up this thoroughly engrossing volume. The longest, "They Made a Movie Here Once," runs 52 pages, and is a pitch perfect tale a young woman's lonely life in a small northern town. Fans of the
Caricature-era work of Dan Clowes should seek this volume out and give it the once over, as should readers of Pete Sickman-Garner's
Hey, Mister! and anyone else who appreciates finely crafted stories focused on character and told in comics. Ollmann possesses deep empathy for his fellow sentient beings and crafts finely nuanced characterizations. His stories generally unwind in episodic series of vignettes which conclude once the tension has been released. We really think you ought to take a look at this collection. Here's a
PDF preview to give you a taste (you can skip past the first few pages, which are just credits, etc.). And this just in: This Will All End in Tears was awarded the 2007 Doug Wright Award at this year's Toronto Comic Art Festival. How about that!