Shortcomings

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A+ for Style, C for Story submitted by Sara W on June 20, 2011, 11:13pm I already knew I loved the drawings of Adrian Tomine, and now I know I love his stories too! For anyone who has never read a graphic novel, this is a great way to start.

It's about identity and relationships but it never feels heavy. Maybe this is because of Tomine's lovely and exact illustrating style. Characters sort of flow in and flow out of this book, and there isn't a great deal of action, the primary movement is just following emotion. Tomine is incredibly gifted at subtle expression, his work has none of the KABOOMs of GASPs associated with comic books.

There are many delicate scenes in this book where no words are used, or needed, because you already understand. If Tomine were to describe the feelings of the moment, he would plunge it all into cliche. His relationship plotline is not groundbreaking, but it never feels tired, instead, it feels familiar or relatable.

This story is an excellent example of Tomine's ability to describe the intensity and confusion of human emotion in his charming, minimalist style