19.Feb.2013 Upcoming: Joe Ollmann’s Science Fiction [previously Burden]
NOTE: Bumped up from last month, to add this link to Conundrum Press’ announcement page. The big news is that the book has moved publishers from D+Q to Conundrum and has been retitled “Science Fiction”. As Joe Ollman notes on his own blog, “my latest book called Burden was supposed to come out from Drawn & Quarterly in January. It didn’t. They feel this book is not a good follow up to Midlife and decided not to publish it. I think Burden is a good book which is decidedly more serious in tone than the farce quality of Midlife, but it’s the book I want to do right now. So, the book is now being published by my old friend the good Andy Brown at Conundrum Press, and should debut at TCAF in May. As the book was already listed in catalogues and websites, we decided to change the name to simplify the publishing process.”
From January 2013:
by BK Munn
As you may know, we’re big fans of cartoonist Joe Ollmann here at Sequential (read our review of his last book Mid-Life in our print edition here). That’s why we’re pretty excited about Ollmann’s newest book, Burden, scheduled for release later this month; to our minds the first big book of 2013.
This preview, available at the creator’s website as a pdf, gives a taste of the book’s deliciously dry-ronic flavour.
According to Drawn and Quarterly’s solicitation,
“Burden follows the slow, often wryly funny, disintegration of a relationship. Mark and Susan have been together for five years, and, despite Mark’s occasional bouts of depression, they have always had a strong bond, prompting envy and jealousy from their friends. A movie rental sets in motion events that test their relationship’s strength and their faith in one another. When Mark’s suppressed memory of being abducted by aliens is uncovered while watching an alien abduction film, Susan is forced to deal with the repercussions. Though she tries to be supportive, it grows increasingly difficult, as Mark becomes obsessed with alien abduction chat rooms, and refuses to leave the house. With all the keen observational wit and incisive, self-deprecating dialogue of Mid-Life, Burden is Joe Ollmann at the top of his form. Another hallmark of Ollmann’s style–his ability to write page-turning stories–is in strong evidence throughout. With a self-aware quip and a never-finer drawn line, Joe Ollmann has done it again. “
