The Self Cartoon

What does Adrian Tomine think of himself?  His tintin-esqe portrayal got me thinking about how cartoonists decide to portray themselves in their comic strips.

For a man who is not in the public a lot (except for a few interviews here and there), he certainly has exposed himself a lot via his books.  Perhaps more obvious to those who actually know him;  he cannot escape that part of being an author that reveals one-self, as he said in his New Yorker Interview:  "It's hard to get away from being autobiographical." (Kaneko M., 2012).

It seems that Adrian tends to go for a more of a caricature approach, as he doesn't seem to make himself look particular unattractive, or attractive, just very much like himself...  kind of a dork, (like me)!

Lets take a look at some of Adrian's contemporaries.  Stormingthetower.com compiled a nice list of some web comic cartoonists and the cartoon versions of themselves. I think it helps create a nice contrast when looking at Adrian's portrayal.

James Kochalka

Erika Moen

Jeffrey Brown

See the rest of the list here.

Adrian: Bearded

Okay, so maybe the accuracy I thought was there, isn't completely there.  I love the attention to detail.  The beard, no eyes (huh?) a little tuft of hair sticking out on his head, and a pencil behind the ear.  For your enjoyment, here is a snippet from Scenes from an Impending Marriage, and please notice the glasses, lack of eyes, the beard, and overall unkempt look.  

Excerpt for "Scenes"; when the couple try to find
for their wedding reception.

I'm pretty sure I would have been frustrated if I'd had anyone other than my brother in law attempt to make the playlist for my wedding.  I probably looked just as unkempt as Adrian around the time leading up to the big day.  Adrian has a very casual look, sometimes calm, sometimes frustrated or overwhelmed.  He almost always looks a little annoyed to me.  There isn't a lot of exaggeration... although I did notice he does not make it completely apparent that he is Asian in any way.  I think this may be intentional, as he leaves his race ambiguous, as if to say, it doesn't really matter. 

Going back to the thought about being autobiographical.  Unless you're writing about things you've never done, and have never happened, that have nothing to do with anything you've ever done before... wait, I shouldn't say that.  What we write always contains something of us, it's what we choose to write, and there are reasons for it.  If we try to write about something we've never done, then we're telling the world, hey, I've never done this, albeit that tells us less than choosing to write about something we have done. 

Adrian seems to write about things he's done in a comical fashion, giving us little snippets, and perhaps altering the reactions a little bit.  Sometimes when you're planning a wedding, things really don't seem all that funny, but Adrian captures these moments well.  His techniques went for something of a cartoonist style.  Short and to the point renditions of wedding planning, in chronological order for the most part.  Each phase had a different title to it, such as "Invitations" (Tomine, 2011). 

I find I'm wishing for more Adrian in cartoon form.  I want to see more of his life than just his marriage.  His art style is interesting, and he's able to find the humour in his life, and he's genuinely funny. 

I believe everyone should have a chance at some point in their lives to make a cartoon of themselves, and tell their story through it.  Regardless of skill level.  Just an honest story.  I think that will be my next challenge.