The Woodchipper

by Niamh O’Brien

The Woodchipper is a collection of five stand alone, character-driven short stories that explore the messy, often unglamorous realities of contemporary life. Across all five stories, Ollmann portrays flawed, believable characters whose problems reflect broader issues: underpaid labour, economic instability, burnout, and the false promises of modern capitalism. The afterword ties these themes together, offering a gentle critique of the systems that contribute to the misery and occasional joy of everyday life.

For the purpose of clarity, the short stories will be identified throughout this review using “Story Title.”

After a deliberately vague workplace incident, Charlie, “The Woodchipper” becomes the subject of a viral video in one of his most vulnerable moments. This series of events leaves Charlie struggling with his mental health and marital problems, and eventually leads to drug addiction.

Ollman slowly reveals the catalyst for Charlie’s reliance on oxycontin, illustrating how one small event—or lack thereof—can acutely trigger mental health conditions such as PTSD and drug dependence.

Sasha finds herself “Nestled All Snug” in a precarious situation after her co-workers reluctantly leave her to close the Book Freaks shop on Christmas eve. After an avalanche of poorly stacked books fall in front of the bathroom door, Sasha finds herself trapped and reflecting on her relationship with her semi-estranged boyfriend, and the racism she’s experienced in the company of his family. Sasha spends her Christmas eve – and most of Christmas day grappling with hope and hopelessness for her immediate situation and relationship at large.

In “Meat,” Kara (the only female security guard at the Greenleaf meat processing plant), along with her misogynistic male colleagues, spends her working hours battling the unions and the vegans who are protesting the plant. That is, until she forms an unlikely friendship with an animal-rights activist. Along with workplace gender discrimination and social pressures to perform femininity and accept dating suggestions from her family. This story wrestles with the tension between the moral conviction to defend the welfare of workers and animals, and the economic necessity of continuing to work in an environment that conflicts with one’s beliefs. “Meat” is pointed, at times horrifying and other times funny, the whole story sits perfectly between the others in this graphic novel, especially in light of the afterword where Ollman admits that he likes to “slip a little vegetarian propaganda into every comic I do [pg. 214].”

“The Late Check Out” is grounded, uncomfortable, and very human. George is a man of dubious morals who runs a Home@Home Rental (an off-brand Airbnb type business), cuts corners in his daily life as the owner of a subway shop, and takes advantage of his elderly mother. Despite the unlikability of George, he is uncomfortably sympathetic. As a victim of a get-rich-quick scheme, George pathetically tries to cling to the hope he will one day be wealthy, but in each comic panel, it is clear this sad man’s dream will never become a reality.

The final story, “The Thought That Counts,” plays out at a party that Kaye and her husband Brian are hosting for her work colleague. Brian feels uptight around academics and watches on as his wife spends the evening with her “work husband” Callan. Callan, a professor in film studies, who seems only to have a superficial understanding of film and is unable to discuss films in depth with Brian. This highlights the contradiction brought about by over emphasising the status of academia and social capital endowed by formal education that values titles over knowledge. As Brian cleans, cooks, and checks in on their daughter during the party, he reflects on the early days of his relationship with his wife where they were significantly more sexually active, how different things are now that they are older, but how they are ultimately still in love.

The Woodchipper, page 23, panels 1 – 2

In the opening story, “The Woodchipper,” Ollmann’s distinctive use of colours strongly conveys the character’s emotions (see panels above). The red in panel 1 extends past Charlie’s face and fills most of the panel with palpable anger, in contrast to panel 2 where the deflated blue colour of the walls demonstrates the sense of hopelessness he feels after arguing with his wife. This is continued throughout the novel, creating a visually striking graphic reading experience.

The collection’s strength lies in its emotional honesty. Each story in The Woodchipper offers new but genuine insight into the quiet hardships people carry in their everyday lives.

Editor’s note: Ollmann’s prior pseudo-memoir, Fictional Father was reviewed at this website.

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Niamh O’Brien is the Systems Librarian at the Atlantic Technological University Sligo campus. She has been involved with the Graphic Medicine community for the past 5 years acting as the volunteer supervisor for the 2024 Graphic Medicine Conference in Ireland and providing technical support to create Graphic Medicine @ dotMD, online exhibition. Niamh is currently working on creating a Graphic Medicine Collection in the Yeats Library at ATU.