Anonymous asked: tomine's comics dont have only one character who is potentially "unlikeable" while all ur characters r potentially "unlikeable." all tomine's characters are selfish but the difference is that they more "relateable" because he gives them more human dimensions and psychological motivations raher than just being shallow collections of hip memes. and he bravely follows their selfish behavior to its logical, ugly conclusion instead of just cutting to an easy ending like "so i just dumped them both"

You could argue that “Summer Blonde” and “Shortcomings” had more than one unlikeable and selfish character, but the rest of his work(Optic Nerve, Sleepwalk, Scenes From An Impending Marriage, etc.) usually feature sweet natured outcasts. The characters in “Yeah, YOU’RE Cool”  are hardly hip memes, and usually those using “hip” in an accusatory tone do so as a result of their own insecurities of being seen as not particularly “hip” themselves(which isn’t a very ___ thing to do).  The story had an arc, themes, and a purposeful ending planned out and written way before it premiered, and as it gained a following and Clara became pretty popular amongst readers, I could’ve changed the ending to a more traditional one that would’ve aligned with how stories usually end, but wouldn’t have been true to my vision or the character. I was brave enough not to do that though, and instead I followed the characters selfish behavior to its ugly and logical conclusion. After being caught and having the pressure put on him, Jameer reacted in a certain way and when talking about that reaction he never said he “dumped” anyone — he used the word “delete”(and was even called out for it by one of his boys) which is an important distinction that tells you a lot about who he is, and could potentially be if he continues down this path. It also tells you alot about the current climate we live in now while you read this on a computer or mobile device(hint hint).

Seemingly inconsequential details like that, and others were strategically placed by me all throughout each and every frame of the story in order to give the characters more of the human dimension and psychological motivation(which you claim to be so big on) that all pays off in the end, if you’re looking at the work with a critical eye. I’m very knowledgeable of so many different types of storytelling, and the structures and expectations that go with most narratives, so I didn’t expect my ending to leave everybody satisfied. If you don’t like it that’s fine, but in no way was it an “easy” ending, especially if you’re Clara, Raquel or even Jameer(though he’s not aware of how tough things will be for him). I can see how you didn’t grasp certain concepts or pick up on the subtext in the story, since instead of “your” you use “ur” and instead of “are” you use “r” and of course you’ve decided to forego “they’re more relatable” in favor of “they more relateable.”  You seem to be reacting to my statement about him having one potentially unlikeable character as a dismissal of him, even though it was just me pointing out our differences. And, while we’re on the subject of differences, I must also point out that you’ve bizarrely decided to compare the complexities of  our characterizations using his professional oeuvre of over 15 plus years of comics and a 100 plus page graphic novel against my first attempt at a 12 page webcomic. All in all, Adrian Tomine is a great artist, I highly recommend his work, and he deserves better and brighter fans than you.

~ C.J. Johnson