Scrapbook (Paperback)

~ Adrian Tomine (Author) "I'D NEVER BEEN MORE NERVOUS OR SCARED..." (more)
Key Phrases: adrian tomine

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; illustrated edition edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896597777
• ISBN-13: 978-1896597775
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 8.4 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 (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #768,140 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fans should be pleased, February 3, 2006

By	Adolfo Y. Hernandez (BURBANK, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Great collection of stuff. It displays the diffrent types of his work from the serious comics, the cartoony stuff, posters ect...a fan of his art work would be pleased. The color and line of his work is as beautiful as ever.....and the black and white stuff...bla bla

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 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

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.