A review by jekutree
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist by Adrian Tomine
5.0
Hilarious. Touching. Honest. Self Reflective.
The Loneliness of The Long Distance cartoonist is some of Tomine’s absolute strongest work. He’s been one of my all time favorites ever since checking out Killing and Dying and as a follow up, this definitely stacks up. Throughout the story we get stories of Adrian Tomine as a cartoonist and as a person. A large large portion of these stories are played comedically and work really effectively. Tomine is absolutely ruthless with himself, often painting himself for a joke. The book’s humor definitely could come across as niche since most deal with alt comics and picking up on references engrained in the scene definitely enhance it.
Being familiar with his work, I thought it was really interesting that he’s never really strayed away from the short story model. Even though this does have ongoing themes of fatherhood, humility and being humble, it’s still a series of connecting vignettes. The stories very much standalone but are enhanced by reading them together. I could totally see myself flipping through this book to read a few of my favorite stories over again if I was browsing my shelves. Another thing about this book in particular that’s worthy to mention is the major change in art style. Adrian flirted with this sketchy/doodly style previously in his Marriage book, taking it on for a full length project like this was awesome. I also really love the consistent 6 panel grid. Consistent panel layouts always set a tone perfectly for a book.
The construction of the book as well adds to the whole charm of it. The notebook paper and look of the whole thing adds a bunch to the honesty on personal feel of it all.
Overall, this book down to the presentation is incredible. It adds something very worthwhile to Tomine’s bibliography and that’s saying something since the whole thing is worthwhile.
The Loneliness of The Long Distance cartoonist is some of Tomine’s absolute strongest work. He’s been one of my all time favorites ever since checking out Killing and Dying and as a follow up, this definitely stacks up. Throughout the story we get stories of Adrian Tomine as a cartoonist and as a person. A large large portion of these stories are played comedically and work really effectively. Tomine is absolutely ruthless with himself, often painting himself for a joke. The book’s humor definitely could come across as niche since most deal with alt comics and picking up on references engrained in the scene definitely enhance it.
Being familiar with his work, I thought it was really interesting that he’s never really strayed away from the short story model. Even though this does have ongoing themes of fatherhood, humility and being humble, it’s still a series of connecting vignettes. The stories very much standalone but are enhanced by reading them together. I could totally see myself flipping through this book to read a few of my favorite stories over again if I was browsing my shelves. Another thing about this book in particular that’s worthy to mention is the major change in art style. Adrian flirted with this sketchy/doodly style previously in his Marriage book, taking it on for a full length project like this was awesome. I also really love the consistent 6 panel grid. Consistent panel layouts always set a tone perfectly for a book.
The construction of the book as well adds to the whole charm of it. The notebook paper and look of the whole thing adds a bunch to the honesty on personal feel of it all.
Overall, this book down to the presentation is incredible. It adds something very worthwhile to Tomine’s bibliography and that’s saying something since the whole thing is worthwhile.