The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

With a resume that includes works like “Summer Blonde,” “Shortcomings,” and “Killing & Dying,” Adrian Tomine stands as one of the comics industry’s most respected cartoonists.  It’s not nothing, but “most respected” doesn’t translate into personal wealth, fame, or actual respect.  This is something that “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist” makes abundantly clear with its series of vignettes about the creator’s life at different stages of his career.  Such as the time he went to Comic-Con in 1996 where he didn’t win an Eisner and presenter Frank Miller skipped over his name.  Or the time he went to Tokyo in 2003 for a book signing and had to deal with someone who wanted him to sign a book by Dan Clowes.  Or when he prepared for NPR’s “Fresh Air” in New York in 2008, and saw all that preparation go right out the window (literally) when he saw an awful dental procedure in the next building over.  Or when he went out to dinner with his family in Philadelphia in 2017 and was gifted a dessert by a fan at a restaurant he went to, that he was also charged for.  Or when…

As you can see, there’s a certain formula to the stories in “Long-Distance.”  Tomine starts off each story in great spirits, only for some combination of arrogance, social misconceptions, or just plain bad luck to bring him low, just in time for things to wrap up with some awkward humor.  There’s enough variety in the characters our protagonist interacts with and the situations he finds himself in to keep things from getting dull in their repetitiveness, however.  Plus, Tomine’s version of himself manages to project just the right amount of smugness and shame throughout to keep things from getting too depressing or himself from being too unsympathetic.  He even manages to tie everything together with a heartfelt speech to his wife in the end, with her response being very on-message for the volume as a whole.  It ultimately results in an engaging series of stories that are funny, sad, uncomfortable, and truthful in equal measure.  Assuming you can get on Tomine’s wavelength of self-deprecation, you know.  

Of course, if I ever meet him in person, I’m not going to be able to stop wondering if I’ll be starring in one of these if he ever makes a second volume…