The Observer

Former Berkeleyite Adrian Tomine began self-publishing his hit comic series, Optic Nerve, at age 16, and cracked the New Yorker cover racket before the age of 30. Having already hit such heights, the 33-year-old cartoonist is taking his work to a new level with next month’s Shortcomings, his first full-length graphic novel. Tomine’s trademark flawed characters and simply drawn realism—reminiscent of an indie-film storyboard—are in full effect, but the novel also bridges new cultural territory. Its protagonist, Ben Tanaka, struggles with his relationship with his Japanese girlfriend, his attraction to white women and a host of other Asian issues and stereotypes. It even addresses such popular urban talking points as the SF-NYC divide, something Tomine knows all too well, having moved to Brooklyn three years ago.

Do you feel equally competent in drawing and writing?
Writing is more problem-atic. If I draw a line [wrong], I can see it. The writing floats around in my head.

Would you work in film?
I’ve had fantasies about [it]. But as a cartoonist you get spoiled—it’s one of the few art forms where one person makes every decision.

You address some pretty sensitive Asian issues.
There are TV shows and movies that focus on an ethnic group that can still be enjoyed by an audience outside of that group. I looked around and felt like mainstream culture hadn’t quite allowed that same level of comfort with Asian issues. I wanted to address some of the more outrageous ones, but in a way that fits my sensibilities.

Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings available in stores early September; drawnandquarterly.com