Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings: A Review

Shortcomings - the first full-length graphic novel by Bay-area cartoonist Adrian Tomine - is undoubtedly a turning point in the career of one of the independent comics scene's most promising young talents. Recently released in a 104 page hardcover edition by the Montreal-based indie comics publisher Drawn and Quarterly, Shortcomings was previously serialized in Tomine's comic Optic Nerve #9-11. The story, concerned with the politics of identity and sexual desire, centers on a young Asian-American man, Ben Tanaka, who is fixated on white women (blonde women, to be specific) who remain unattainable. His Japanese girlfriend, Miko, is obviously not happy with these desires, and Shortcomings details in heart-rending detail Ben's destruction of their relationship, along with his disastrous fling with a young, blonde, and bi-sexual girl. Although Shortcoming's story is simple, the questions it raises about the role of race in sexual desire are not.

Tomine has been creating comics since he was a teenager, and his work drew attention early on. His early self-published comics were scratchier than his recent output, but many of the themes-the feeling of being an outsider, heartbreak, unrequited love-remain the same. Indeed, it was these first self-published works that drew the attention of Drawn and Quarterly, and soon after they began publishing Optic Nerve. The first eight issues of the series were anthologies, featuring multiple short stories dealing with melancholy subjects. As the series continued, Tomine's output slowed. When Tomine began serializing the Shortcomings story in Optic Nerve, it was clear it was something serious; the three-issues that make up the story were released over the course of four years, with the first issue appearing in 2004 and the last in 2007.

Tomine's career, however, has not been without controversy. After achieving early success as a teenager, many questioned the character-types he featured in his comics, claiming they were simply "emo" typecasts. Others said his drawing had become stilted; they preferred the sloppier look of the self-published comics. It's important to consider Shortcomings with this criticism in mind. For better or worse, Shortcomings is a turning point in Tomine's career. It represents his first full-fledged attempt at a serious, self-contained graphic novel. It also comes on the heels of Tomine doing illustrations for magazines like The New Yorker, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and Time.

So is Shortcomings a success? Not completely, but it is close enough to potentially make those critics reconsider his work. The characters in the story are not simply emo teens. They may run into heartbreak, but the issues they face are real and relevant. Ben Tanaka is not a loveable emo stereotype, but a conflicted and self-destructive man who's difficult to stomach. There are scenes in Shortcomings that make you cringe, as the characters wade through the politics of race and sex, often falling short of the ideal. For the first time, Tomine seems comfortable making the reader uneasy, and this is the triumph of Shortcomings. Real life is messy, and Tomine comes closer to realism here than he ever has before.

As for the art, there could be a little more warmth in some of the facial expressions, but there are still moments where Tomine nails them perfectly. It's these moments that make you want to keep reading. So no, Shortcomings is not perfect, but it is definitely a step forward for a rising comics artist.