Adrian Tomine

In 1991, Adrian Tomine self-published the first issue of Optic Nerve. Consisting of three xeroxed sheets of paper, and with a print run of twenty-five, it was a less-than-auspicious, largely unnoticed debut. In the following three years, though, Optic Nerve developed at a startlingly rapid pace: the artwork and writing evolved with each story, production quality improved, page counts increased, and by issue seven, sales had reached 6,000. In 1994, Drawn & Quarterly took over the publishing duties of Optic Nerve, and the original seven issues sold out and were left out of print. 32 stories presents these rare, early editions, collected for the first time in a single volume.

"Adrian Tomine can draw, think, write and feel. He sees everything, he knows everything; he's in your apartment, he's on the subway, he's in your dreams. He knows about ageing baseball fans and delusional horticulturists, he knows useless fathers and awkward nerd-girl stand-ups, he knows the single and the married, the mad and the sane, he knows zines and hardback 'graphic novels,' knows when to use a speech bubble and when silence is enough. He has more ideas in twenty panels than novelists have in a lifetime." (Zadie Smith). In his first full-length work since Shortcomings in 2007, and working with colour for the first time, Adrian Tomine has produced a darkly funny and deeply moving collection of stories which showcases his exceptional range of focus and technique. A masterpiece about the anxieties of being alive in the twenty-first century, Killing and Dying is Tomine's most ambitious and empathetic work to date. Born in Sacramento in 1974, Adrian Tomine is the author of the acclaimed comic series Optic Nerve. His books include Shortcomings, Summer Blonde, Sleepwalk, Scenes from an Impending Marriage and, most recently, New York Drawings, all of which are published by Faber in the UK. Since 1999, his comics and illustrations have appeared regularly in The New Yorker, where he has created more than a dozen iconic covers. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and daughters.

With Killing and Dying, Adrian Tomine presents six new stories unlike any he has told before. Unpredictable, darkly funny, and deeply moving, they display an exceptional range of focus and technique. The Village Voice called Tomine "one of the most masterful cartoonists of his generation," and this is his most ambitious and empathetic work to date.

ILLUSTRATIONS AND COMICS FROM THE NEW YORKER COVER ARTIST AND AWARD-WINNING CARTOONIST Two strangers, both reading the same novel, share a fleeting glance between passing subway cars. A bookstore owner locks eyes with a neighbor as she receives an Amazon package. Strangers are united by circumstance as they wait on the subway stairs for a summer storm to pass. Adrian Tomine's illustrations and comics have been appearing for more than a decade in the pages (and on the cover) of The New Yorker . Instantly recognizable for their deceptively simple and evocative style, these images have garnered the attention of The New Yorker 's readership and the approbation of such venerable institutions as the Art Directors Club and American Illustration . New York Drawings is a loving homage to the city that Tomine, a West Coast transplant, has called home for the past seven years. This lavish, beautifully designed volume collects every cover, comic, and illustration that he has produced for The New Yorker to date, along with an assortment of other rare and uncollected illustrations and sketches inspired by the city. Complete with notes and annotations by the author, New York Drawings will also feature a new introductory comic focusing on Tomine's experiences as a New York illustrator.

MAKING LIGHT OF NUPTIAL NARCISSMAt the behest of his soon-to-be wife, Adrian Tomine set out to create a wedding favor for their guests that would be funnier and more personal than the typical chocolate bars and picture frames. What started out as a simple illustrated card soon grew into a full-fledged comic book: a collection of short strips chronicling the often absurd process of getting married. A loose, cartoony departure from Tomine’s previous work, Scenes from an Impending Marriage is a sweet-natured, laugh out-loud skewering of the modern marriage process, including hiring a DJ, location scouting, trips to the salon, suit fittings, dance lessons, registering for gifts, and managing familial demands. The most personal and autobiographical work of Tomine’s career, Scenes from an Impending Marriage is a charming, delightful token of love.

Shortcomings, Adrian Tomine's first long-form graphic novel, is the story of Ben Tanaka, a confused, obsessive Japanese American male in his late twenties, and his cross-country search for contentment (or at least the perfect girl). Along the way, Tomine tackles modern culture, sexual mores, and racial politics with brutal honesty and lacerating, irreverent humor, while deftly bringing to life a cast of painfully real antihero characters. A frequent contributor to The New Yorker, Tomine has acquired a cultlike fan following and has earned status as one of the most widely acclaimed cartoonists of our time. Shortcomings was serialized in Tomine's iconic comic book series Optic Nerve and was excerpted in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern #13.

Jeden z najgłośniejszych amerykańskich komiksów ostatnich lat, fantastyczny przykład nieograniczonych możliwości komiksowego medium, które w rękach utalentowanego twórcy potrafi – podobnie jak literatura – opisać niepokoje i nadzieje społeczeństwa XXI wieku. Tym zbiorem krótkich nowel Adrian Tomine udowadnia, że jest nie tylko jednym z najważniejszych współczesnych autorów komiksów, ale także amerykańskich pisarzy. Jego niezwykły zmysł obserwacji czy umiejętność uchwycenia najsub- telniejszych emocji widać wyjątkowo wyraźnie w historiach o poczuciu straty, twórczych ambicjach, tożsamości i skomplikowanych relacjach rodzinnych, o sukcesach i porażkach.

benso einfühlsam wie schonungslos porträtiert der 30-jährige Amerikaner Adrian Tomine in "Sommerblond" die emotionale Zerrissenheit seiner Generation. In drei melancholischen Erzählungen gewährt er Einblicke in das zuweilen abwegige Streben seiner Protagonisten nach Zuwendung und Anerkennung. Tomine gelingt in eindringlichen, naturalistischen Bildern ein Comic, "lohnend wie ein guter zeitgenössischer Roman" (Nick Hornby). In drei Erzählungen blickt Adrian Tomine in "Sommerblond" hinter die Fassade des modernen Alltags: Er zeigt Außenseiter, die aus verschiedenen Gründen mit dem Leben, der Liebe und der Gesellschaft um sich herum nicht klarkommen. Einmal ist es eine Frau, die an den Ansprüchen der Arbeitswelt und ihrer Eltern zu Grunde zu gehen droht ("Trip nach Hawaii"), das andere Mal ist es ein Teenager, der versucht, seinen Weg zwischen den coolen Highschool-Kids, den Außenseitern und seiner allein erziehenden Mutter zu finden ("Bombendrohung"). In der Titelgeschichte schließlich muss ein Außenseiter ohnmächtig mit ansehen, wie sein attraktiver Nachbar die von ihm krankhaft verehrte junge Frau ohne Anstrengung zu einer seiner Affären macht. Dass die Erzählungen in "Sommerblond" nicht glücklich enden, wird nach wenigen Seiten klar. Man wartet auf den großen Knall, aber so einfach macht es Tomine dem Leser nicht. Am Ende stehen eher nebensächliche Szenen oder Situationen, die trotz ihrer Beiläufigkeit im Gedächtnis haften bleiben und den Leser noch länger beschäftigen.

Adrian Tomine's cult comix series Optic Nerve is finally collected into one sharp-looking hardcover volume. Described as the Raymond Carver of comix, Tomine constructs tales of emotional disconnection with an ear for painfully real dialogue. Combined with his deft black and white depictions of urbane lifestyles, Tomine's fans have often accused him of eavesdropping in on their most intimate moments and, with forensic skill, laying their lives bare. The conflicts between emotional gratification, narcissistic neediness and moral discernment mark the title story in which a socially crippled man nurses an obsessive crush on a young woman. He watches close up, paralyzed by his guilt, as her beauty catches the eye of his neighbor: a hip, selfish young man with a short attention span. One of Optic Nerve's most popular stories, `Hawaiian Getaway,` features Hilary, telephone service rep who is having the worst week of her life. She lost her job, her apartment, and her grandmother. Close to the edge, she is losing her grip. Reaching out to random strangers on the phone, Hilary is looking for someone to help her. In "Alter Ego" a successful young author has writer`s block. He can`t, or won`t, decide between another ghostwriting gig and finishing his second "real" novel. He stalls on committing to his novel and his girlfriend when a chance postcard leads him to flirt with fantasies of changing the past. Finally, "Bomb Scare" documents the early unease of his generation by setting this coming-of-age story during the tense months of the Gulf War, the event that ushered in the 1990s.

A COMEDIC MEMOIR ABOUT FANDOM, FAME, AND OTHER EMBARRASSMENTS FROM THE LIFE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING CARTOONIST What happens when a childhood hobby turns into a lifelong career? The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist, Adrian Tomine's funniest and most revealing foray into autobiography, offers an array of unexpected answers. When a sudden medical incident lands Tomine in the emergency room, he begins to question if it was really all worthwhile: despite the accolades, awards, and opportunities of a seemingly charmed career, it's the gaffes, humiliations, slights, and insults he's experienced (or caused) within the industry that loom largest in his memory. But as those memories are delineated in excruciatingly hilarious detail, a different, parallel narrative plays out in the background. In between chaotic book tours, disastrous interviews, and difficult interactions with other artists, life happens: Tomine fumbles his way into marriage, parenthood, and an indisputably fulfilling existence. While mining his conflicted relationship with comics and comics culture, Tomine illustrates the amusing absurdities of life and how we choose to spend our time. Through these cringe-inducing moments, a deeper emotional story emerges, and we see Tomine’s life develop into something much more robust than the blunders. In a bold departure in style from his award-winning Killing and Dying, Tomine distills his art to the loose, lively essentials of cartooning. His stripped-down lines communicate effortlessly, with each pen stroke economically imbued with human depth. Designed as a sketchbook complete with place-holder ribbon and an elastic band, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist shows an acclaimed artist at the peak of his career.