Optic Nerve # 2 - Adrian Tomine

Copyright 1995 by Adrian Tomine. Published by Drawn & Quarterly. 3rd printing. $2.95 cover price.

From the publisher:

"After self-publishing seven mini comics as a teenager, Optic Nerve became a regular comic book series when Adrian Tomine was only 20.

Tomine’s work developed steadily over the years, from the rough, sketchy drawings of his early mini-comics to the stark, crisp graphic approach of his D&Q series. Although his work is no longer strictly autobiographical, his contemporary stories are still deeply personal. Tomine creates a new cast of characters for each story, and he has become a master of penetrating their fragile exteriors.

This 2nd issue in the series features four stories:

• The Connecting Thread, a lonely woman tries to find the man leaving cryptic messages for her in the Personals section of the newspaper;
• Summer Job, a teenager reluctantly applies for a job at a photocopy shop and then proceeds to waste the following two months;
• Pink Frosting provides a vivid and unsettling glimpse at the suggestion of violence murmuring beneath the surface during a traffic altercation;
• Layover, a missed flight forces a man to ponder his strained relationships with his lover and friends as he discreetly walks through his neighborhood waiting, afraid to announce to anyone that he has not left yet.

Uncirculated, new as published.


Optic Nerve # 2