Optic Nerve 1

Optic Nerve #1

by Adrian Tomine

Optic Nerve 1 [Comic] [Jan 01, 1995] Adrian Tomine

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Sequential Art, Comics Manga

Comic

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Adrian Tomine was born in 1974 in Sacramento, California. He began self-publishing his comic book series Optic Nerve. His comics have been anthologized in publications such as McSweeney’s, Best American Comics, and Best American Nonrequired Reading, and his graphic novel "Shortcomings" was a New York Times Notable Book of 2007. His next release, "Killing and Dying" will be published by Drawn and Quarterly in October 2015.

Since 1999, Tomine has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughters.

Reviews

[Mark Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of five underground-style graphic short stories is a remarkable start for this newcomer to comics. Adrian Tomine, now 20 years old, has been self-publishing his comics since he was sixteen, and he writes well beyond his years. The most promising thing about this young artist is that this is his first widely-distributed comic and he has already shown so many strengths to build upon that he will just keep getting better.

The stories in "Optic Nerve" are bleak, realistic stories about people in anguish, failed relationships, strange situations, and other themes of urban angst. In "Echo Ave", the main couple in the story settle in for a night of voyeurism, watching the new couple in the apartment across the street with the curtains open. They act like they are watching a movie--getting up for drinks and snacks, moving their chairs, talking about the action...until something dreadful happens across the road, a la "Rear Window".

Tomine's greatest strength is his artwork. He strikes the perfect balance between black and white, light and shadow, and realistic and abstract representation. Clearly he has mastered a wide variety of graphic techniques and is able to manipulate them to control mood, tension, and all manner of characterization and expression.

Where his work needs work is, ironically, in the balance between graphic and narrative storytelling, or words and pictures. You can feel his progress in these stories, where the later ones use either no captioning or present a strictly internal monologue in the captions, and the earlier ones run into trouble trying to balance thoughts and narration in caption form. The trouble comes when the caption and the panel contain the same information. Such as a caption from "Sleepwalk" which says, "I wash the overflow of dishes and scrub the bathroom" with a picture of him scrubbing the bathroom. Or a caption which says, (I'll paraphrase) "I suggest somewhere else to go before she can mention heading home" with a picture of him saying, "Let's go get a drink or something."

This kind of repetition is a common weakness in the comics field. Scott McCloud says it best in his "Understanding Comics": "In comics at its best, words and pictures are like partners in a dance and each one takes turns leading. When both partners try to lead, the competition can subvert the overall goals." It's the kind of thing that you only notice subconsciously when you're reading a story, but which affects your overall enjoyment of a story. It feels like you're being patronized, in a way, and it's really just a kind of occasional laziness on the part of the storyteller to not think of a better way to fuel the action.

But there were many times when the opposite was the case, and Tomine's words and pictures were the perfect complement to each other. Those times are going to be the key to Tomine's success. If he can take care of a few rough edges and build on his already prodigious strengths as a graphic storyteller, his future is very promising indeed.

[Kaustubh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raw, incisive, and an intriguing commentary on the human condition!

[Yasmin Rahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stark, dreary, nihilistic...real. Very moving stories, but didn't particularly care for the art.

[Alexander Lisovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Жанр slice of life (если не ошибаюсь, практически отсутствующий среди наших локализаций и комиксов вообще). Главная отличительная особенность произведений Томинэ заключается в том, что этот "срез" очень и очень глубокий. При чтении не покидает ощущение, что мастерским движением скальпеля автор обнажает не только мясо и кости, но самую душу своих героев — те глубинные переживания и особенности их психики и жизненного пути, которые они и сами-то не очень осознают.

Эдриан — настоящий мастер экспозиции: на протяжении считанных страниц он выстраивает потрясающе глубокие образы героев, с их живыми, сложными проблемами и характерами. Здесь лучшие диалоги, которые я видел в комиксах. При этом автор то и дело изображает нетривиальные, разнообразные ракурсы и интригующие житейские ситуации, взаимодействия и мысли, а потом ему вдруг не то наскучивает, не то он не может придумать какой-нибудь эффектный финал своего рассказа, и он просто резко обрывает его, отчего остаётся ощущение недосказанности и даже бессмысленности того, что ты только что прочёл. Типа, "что это было вообще?"

Истории довольно откровенные, всегда с налётом грусти или даже депрессии — и постоянно висящее над героями серое облако частично передаётся и читателю, отчего мне бывало сложновато усадить себя за новый выпуск. Как и с хорошим документальным кино, полученные эмоции с лихвой оправдывали все усилия, но вообще немного задумываешься о возможной глубинной причине, по которой автор всех своих героев делает в чём-то неприятными и даже гадкими. Особенно хорошо заметна данная черта на примере восьмого выпуска, где Эдриан выдаёт свою собственную прекрасную версию "Чёрной дыры" Чарльза Бёрнса: характеры персонажей и достоверность происходящего выстроена, пожалуй, даже лучше, чем в "оригинале" (и без привлечения сюрреалистичных элементов), однако здесь нет ни одного мало-мальски положительного героя. И, разумеется, сюжет обрывается на полуслове.

Тем не менее, многие рассказы мне очень понравились: про близняшек из третьего выпуска, про девушку, которая была очень похожа на известную порно-модель из Killing and Dying, про асоциальную телефонистку из шестого номера. Кстати, о сборнике Killing and Dying, который в том году выпустили JJ под названием "Смех и смерть", стоило бы отдельно отметить, что туда входят выпуски #12-14 Optic Nerve, но, на мой взгляд, они далеко не самые лучшие у автора — ни по сюжетам, ни даже по рисунку. Либо Томинэ, как Клоуз, пробует разные стили, либо в поздних выпусках собраны на самом деле ранние рассказы автора, настолько разителен контраст между неряшливым внешним видом выпусков №12-14 и почти всеми предшествующими. Но если вы предпочитаете читать на русском, то сборник вполне можно рекомендовать как хорошую вводную точку (разве что я бы посоветовал пропустить первый кошмарный рассказ про унылого скульптора — ну или по крайней мене не бросать после него книгу).

Настоящий шедевр (и то, с чего я бы лично рекомендовал начать знакомство с Томинэ) — это большая история в трёх частях под названием Shortcomings (выпуски Optic Nerve #9-11). Она настолько хороша, что я решил написать о ней отдельный отзыв.



Небольшая галерея (включая небольшой интригующий рассказ полностью) по ссылке.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

O Nervo Óptico" é uma obra singular que mistura memórias, ensaio e ficção para explorar a relação entre arte e vida. Através de onze narrativas interligadas, María Gainza reflete sobre a influência da arte na percepção humana e como ela molda nossas experiências. A escrita da autora é marcada por um lirismo sutil e uma abordagem ensaística perspicaz, tornando o livro uma leitura instigante para amantes da arte e da literatura.

A protagonista, uma crítica de arte, compartilha suas reflexões sobre diferentes pinturas e artistas, enquanto simultaneamente traça paralelos com sua própria vida. Essa fusão entre análise artística e experiências pessoais cria um texto envolvente, que desafia o leitor a reconsiderar o impacto das imagens no nosso dia a dia.

Com uma prosa elegante e um olhar afiado sobre o universo artístico, O Nervo Óptico nos lembra que não apenas observamos a arte, mas também somos observados por ela, sendo atravessados e transformados por suas imagen

[Matt Graupman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adrian Tomine’s comics are so polished nowadays, it’s kind of remarkable to see how rough and raw his stuff still kind of looks in this first issue of his rebooted Drawn & Quarterly-backed one-man anthology series, “Optic Nerve.” You know, comparatively. It’s still obviously a Tomine book, though, because there’s plenty of cringeworthy romantic interactions, dry humor, and ennui. Also, his less-is-more approach to storytelling, the ability to suggest so much in just a few panels, was so well-developed at such an early stage in his career. The standout story in this issue is “Echo Ave.,” about a couple who witness more than they bargained for when their new neighbor keeps his curtains open.

[Emil Reiling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the all the stories in this series. Adrian Tomine, one of the best.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why no ending?

[Rosafsanta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un MUST

[Shawn Robare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven’t revisited Tomine’s Optic Nerve since I was in high school back in 95. Damn this first issue was bleak. Still dig it, but I see why it hit me so much harder as a teen…

[AZRGHZL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gambaran kehidupan yang menyedihkan dan Adrian Tomine sebagai seorang yang realist dengan sengaja memberi pengakhiran yang kabur untuk setiap darinya. Pengakhiran yang kabur barangkali bagi pembaca yang tidak berusaha akan berfikir kesedihan itu suatu perasaan berpanjangan dan tiada kesudahan. Bagi pembaca yang sentiasa dahagakan kekaburan ala Adrian Tomine, mereka percaya kekaburan itu sengaja diwujudkan untuk mengajak pembaca berfikir dan mengubah sendiri kesinambungannya sekaligus isu yang agak nipis ini bakal tebal dengan pelbagai versi pengakhiran yang halimunan.

Membaca 'Sleepwalk' sekaligus mengingatkan akan tarikh ulangtahun kelahiran aku yang bakal tiba melabuhkan tirai bulan ke-lapan ini.

[Michael Palkowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much character and subtlety involved in each vignette that each has it's own power in evoking well known but often poorly expressed feelings. The endings are fantastically edited to create an unrealistic craving for closure, which is never granted, just like the majority of life and most meaningful relationships.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

stories that left thinking because of their vague endings. I guess Tomine wants us to create our own interpretation endings or just want to troll us bothered by the ending. IDK.

I love the underground comic styles. And I still love floppies!

[Kevin English · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why no ending?

[Nayeli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked these, some stories seem to work better than others with the "no ending" thing. I must admit I was enjoying it but not loving it, until the last one, he got me with that one, damn.

[Rachel Drrmrmrr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like these short blips.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did I really read these stories upon publication twenty + years ago? This feels like the first time.
Highest recommendation.