Q & A Tour 2024

 

 Details, info, and tickets available here.

Q & A

 

Everything you wanted to know about storytelling or Adrian Tomine but were too afraid to ask

“That would’ve been too easy and spontaneous for me, and I had to find a way to make everything more complicated.”

And yet for over thirty years, bestselling author, screenwriter, and New Yorker cover artist Adrian Tomine’s work has set the standard for contemporary storytelling. With Tomine, his readership has grown from the dedicated following of his comic-book series Optic Nerve to include a wider but still engaged, opinionated, and ever-inquiring public. And now, for the first time in print, Tomine responds to his readers directly, tackling their questions and comments with generosity, humor, and vulnerability.

Q&A is one part personal history, one part masterclass in crafting quality entertainment. With questions pulled from his time at the Substack Writers’ Residency, and with additional, new material, Q&A is an indispensable addition to the collections of eagle-eyed fans and aspiring artists, writers, and cartoonists alike.

Tomine answers questions about his preferred tools, his creative process, the ups and downs of adaptation, and perhaps most importantly—how to pronounce his last name. Illustrated with drafts, outtakes, and photos from the artist’s personal collection, this rare peek into the mind of a contemporary cartooning giant lays out the method to his meticulous brand of madness. The artist looks back on his career in response to queries from his—maybe adoring but mostly curious—public with his signature dry wit and unflinching, self-deprecating honesty.

 Available now from Drawn & Quarterly or wherever you get books.

Shortcomings: A Screenplay

 

The annotated and expanded screenplay adaptation of the landmark graphic novel

Ben and Miko’s relationship is in trouble. He’s a struggling filmmaker, she works for a local film festival, and in various ways, they’re both searching for something else. When he’s not managing a derelict movie theater, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice, a grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben begins to explore what he thinks he wants, throwing himself headfirst into new relationships, unfamiliar surroundings, and uncharted emotional territory. Equal parts comedy and drama, Shortcomings explores the complexities of culture, desire, and Asian American identity with a critical eye and unsparing, irreverent wit.

Based on Adrian Tomine’s groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name, Shortcomings was written by Tomine and directed by Randall Park. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the Tribeca Festival in advance of a theatrical release from Sony Pictures Classics.

Tomine’s screenplay is presented here with extensive annotations, commentary, and bonuses, including alternate and deleted scenes, a selection of color film stills, an introduction from Randall Park, and an exclusive new comic from Tomine. An essential companion to the original graphic novel, this volume is an illuminating document of an iconic story’s adaptation from page to screen.

Available now from Drawn & Quarterly or wherever you get books.