Scrapbook [Paperback]

Adrian Tomine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004

The ultimate collection by one of the most recognized talents in graphic novels: includes over a decade of comics and illustrations by the still-under-30 Adrian Tomine, from Pulse to The New Yorker and Esquire, collected together for the first time in one sharply-designed book.

Scrapbook is the first comprehensive Adrian Tomnie collection. here you'll find the complete run of strips which was originally published in Tower Records' Pulse Magazine which Adrian started when he was only 17, along with comics originally published in Details and a host of other magazines of the past decade. A large section of Scrapbook is dedicated to Tomine's extensive illustration and design work, featuring his best material over the years from virtually every major publication in America including The New Yorker, Details, Esquire, and the late JFK Jr.-edited George. Tomines' art has also graced popular album covers and posters for bands such as The Eels and Weezer and posters and its' all included here in this beautifully packaged book.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tomine's comics series Optic Nerve has made him a cartooning icon for the disaffected, 20-something subculture. His work is instantly recognizable—clean-lined, understated, psychologically acute—although his subject matter (young hipsters listening to indie-pop and hitting emotional roadblocks) gets somewhat repetitive in large doses. As its title suggests, the attractively produced Scrapbook collects bits and bobs that didn't make it into Tomine's earlier books: one-page strips about music and heartbreak from Pulse magazine, a few pieces for magazines like Details and Giant Robot, and some pieces abandoned after a page or two (and, in some cases, later reworked). The collection also includes a long sketchbook section, which, Tomine notes, is modeled on similar projects by Robert Crumb and Chris Ware: drawings of people he sees in public, copies of interesting pieces by other artists, casually doodled comic strips without the polished surface of his "finished" work and commentary on his own artistic process. The book's most entertaining section is devoted to Tomine's commercial illustration work: album covers, New Yorker illustrations and a few advertising posters, in which a single, heavily stylized image suggests an entire narrative. There's little that will surprise Tomine's fans, but it's an entertaining look at the evolution of his style.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Tomine has been drawing his alternative-comics magazine Optic Nerve for more than a decade but, since he began publishing at 16, still has the aura of a young turk about him. Yet here is this "odds and sods" compilation of that veteran's staple, uncollected work. First up are some 40 brief early strips, chronologically presented to verify Tomine's impressive development as illustrator and storyteller. Like his later work, most of the early stuff sympathetically depicts the alienation and loneliness of Tomine's twentysomething compatriots, but in vignettes rather than short stories; the best are minor masterpieces of concision. The book's second section documents Tomine's successful sideline as a commercial artist, gathering illustrations for the New Yorker and other publications, album covers, movie posters, and other jobs. The third section, devoted to Tomine's sketchbooks, constitutes something of a revelation. The relaxed roughness of these drawings makes one wish he would inject some of their attractive looseness into his sometimes suffocatingly stiff comics work. In all, an impressive demonstration of this still-developing artist's talent and versatility. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 203 pages
• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly; First Edition edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896597777
• ISBN-13: 978-1896597775
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 8.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #514,420 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Drawn and Quarterly

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not 'scrap, May 18, 2010

By 

Sam Quixote - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scrapbook (Paperback)

"Scrapbook" is just that, a mix of comic strips, commercial artwork, and sketches from his notebooks. Some of the comic strips remind me of the 32 Stories book where Tomine's early 90s work is scratchy and largely amateurish compared to his standards today. That said they show a master of the medium learning the ropes, seeing what works and what doesn't. The stories vary from 6 panel short stories to 24 panels. One of them shows a couple breaking up in parallel to their favourite band "Crabwalk" breaking up. Later on, Tomine redoes the same strip, almost panel for panel, except with the knowledge that it is now based on a real life relationship of his and he changes the band to the Pixies who had broken up at that time. It's interesting as it shows the confidence Tomine's gotten in the 2nd strip to the 1st, and also because I like the Pixies.

The design work is wonderful, ranging from CD album artwork for bands like Weezer and Eels (his drawing of E is magnificent), to adverts for Coca-Cola, posters for local events, promos for Drawn & Quarterly. It all shows Tomine's range and some are so good I wish I had them as posters to put up. The sketches too are excellent and show how a comics artist creates his strips in utero. Very cool stuff.

Fascinating book, great artwork, just don't expect a graphic novel like "Shortcomings" and think more along the lines of "32 Stories" with extras. Good stuff.

4.0 out of 5 stars See Adrian develope his skills, reveal his limitations, then see how good he can be., July 18, 2009

By 

Michael Dubisch "Reader, Writer, Illustrator" (San Diego) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scrapbook (Paperback)

This book can serve as either an introduction to Tomine's work or to fill in the gaps for his dedicated readers, of which I am the latter. From the perspective of examining his art work, as an artist myself who has admired and sometimes felt intimidated by his hyper-clean drawing drawing and coloring style, and his achingly perfect depictions of young women, it was very compelling to see how much experimentation he did with heavy inking styles and harsh figures before somehow making the leap in a year or two long period to his current style. It's also revealed that indeed he does copy from fashion catalogues as well as drawing from life, though his work from nude models is less masterful. Finally, a collection of published illustrations from various major magazines and record companies cement his reputation as one of the most striking, poignant and relevent cartoonists of his time. I would have given this book five stars were it not for the fact that it simply does not contain any of the comic work of his that is truly wonderful, and of course this is because all of those pieces have already been collected elsewhere.

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting collection, March 6, 2005

By 

Bill K (Philadelphia, PA area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scrapbook (Paperback)

I've been an avid reader of Adrian's stuff for years and purchased this collection a few weeks ago. It is quite interesting to see how his artwork/storylines have changed over the tears, as well as see some items that I've never even heard of (album cover and magazine pieces, for example). I think the 32 stories collection is better if you wanted an intro collection, but I think this is quite worthwhile.

Adrian is one of the best, most poignant if that is the best word, storyteller and artists around today.