Adrian Tomine has made a name for himself with his poignant and delicately illustrated series Optic Nerve, as well as the collections Summer Blonde and Sleepwalk. With Shortcomings, his first long-form graphic novel, Tomine finally has room to fully explore the dramas and foibles of the young adults who populate his work. Here, he tracks one young Japanese-American man's inner search for love, understanding, and having the last word in any argument. Fearless in his study of the heartbreaking and bizarre mating rituals of the young, restless, and angsty, Tomine is just as bold when it comes to capturing the intense racial issues that bubble, and sometimes explode, within casual daily conversation.

Ben Tanaka is a movie-theater manager aimlessly stumbling into his 30s. His life consists of alienating his girlfriend Miko, venting to his sharp-as-a-tack lesbian best friend Alice, and attempting to seal the deal with cute young blondes. Although Ben could easily have been a completely unlikable anti-hero, instead he's a surprisingly sympathetic guy, whose awkward charm lurks just beneath his prickly wit.

While the story isn't expansive in its physical scope, it does find ways of speaking to touchy topics — New Yorkers vs Northern Californians, interracial dating, and sexuality — without feeling pompous or preachy. These moments feel genuine because Tomine keeps them topical: some of the most refreshing real conversations about race and gender in Shortcomings erupt around Margaret Cho and Steven Segal. Although Ben's story feels intimate and specific, the questions he asks and his daily dilemmas are infinitely relatable, so that when he attends a horrible performance-art show of middle-aged naked men in order to get close to a cute college co-ed, the reader cringes along with him. Ah yes, the sacrifices one makes for love, or at least a kiss goodnight.

-Diana Metzger