Optic Nerve #9

Optic Nerve #9

by Adrian Tomine

This remarkably illustrated collection of postcards features the best of Tomine's distinctive, critically acclaimed Optic Nerve comic book series, as well as selections from his work for magazines such as The New Yorker, album covers, and more. Share these 30 different postcards or keep them all to yourself.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

Paperback

Published January 1, 2004

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

[Matt Graupman · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Optic Nerve” #9 is the first third of what would later become Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel, “Shortcomings” (a MUCH better title than “White On Rice,” the original one Tomine proposed in the letters page of this issue). I read “Shortcomings” in its entirety years ago and I liked it quite a bit, noting that the success of the book really comes down to whether or not you can stand Ben Tanaka, the self-centered and misanthropic main character. While I still stand by that conclusion, now that I’m in a better place mental-health-wise, and I don’t see so much of myself in Ben, I have to admit that he’s more insufferable than I originally thought. Still, Tomine doesn’t do any half-assed stories, even difficult ones like this, and “Optic Nerve” #9 is a nuanced, knockout little chunk of comic.

[Maggie May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this story so much.

The storyline, the background, and the characters are amazing.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review of #9 covers #10 and #11 as well, for some reason I couldn't find them using search. The last three in the Optic Nerve series together form the single story of Ben and Miko, a Japanese-American couple living in Berkeley and who split up for a time after Miko gets an internship and moves to NYC. I give it a 4 for verisimilitude -- the characters are emotionally spot-on and bear frightening resemblance to people I knew in Berkeley. I also give it a 4 for personal reasons, because it's always fun seeing places I used to live and frequent depicted graphically. It give it a 3.5 for style; I'm a fan of the sparse line and somber mood. I give it a 3 for everything else though. I didn't particularly like any of the characters and thought the subject matter was shallow and self-absorbed. It's a good work, don't get me wrong, but what keeps it from being great, is that it never leaves its own self-referential and highly-circumscribed world. I don't want to come away from a book saying "Nice, but who cares?" The struggles of Asian-American identity and interracial dating seem like a very rich thematic pool to draw from, and this material on skims the surface, rarely, if ever, dropping a line down below.

[Nayeli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm hating this Ben character, probably because he reminds me of my own outbursts of negativeness, but I'm proooobably not as superficial. In any case, I probably felt this issue was better because even though it ends in a cliffhanger... I knew there'd be a second part, phew. Also the coffee cup left behind in the airport parking lot part.

[Kevin English · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one.

[Liberty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and honest portrayal of the Asian-America experience. Tackles race, relationships, gender and all those preconceive notions.