In Adrian Tomines The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist, success is measured in increments of humiliation

What may be called success by some looks more like death by a thousand mortifying cuts in Adrian Tomines The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist. Humanitys predilection to focus on our worst reviews and shouldve-saids is the guiding force in this autobiographical graphic novel chronicling a life devoted to comic art, for better or for worse (mostly worse). Every insult, shitty review, and awkward encounter has been meticulously catalogued and presented for further painful public scrutiny, from getting mollywhopped on the playground for loving Spider-Man too hard to getting snubbed at the Eisner Awards during his boy wonder cartoonist superstar years to every catastrophic book signing, flubbed interview, and ill-timed bowel movement ever since.

As a casual witness to Tomines early career, I dont recall any of the empty signings or ostracism described in this latest graphic novel. To the contrary, I remember hordes of indie college kids with A-line bob haircuts, wearing mod parkas, looking so much like one of his characters it was pretty much cosplay, all of them standing in a huge sprawling line waiting to get a book signed. These were the same kids who probably listened to Modest Mouse and couldnt wait for the next Harmony Korine movie to drop. While some of these very same kids were likely spending their formative years experimenting with typical 20-something rites of passage, Tomine describes a coming-of-age experience spent either chained to the drawing table meticulously honing his craft or hanging out with grown-ass men (his true peers). Read the rest