Tomine's style and subject matter are restrained and realistic. Many are set in Northern California. Several of his stories for Optic Nerve feature Asian American characters, including "Hawaiian Getaway," "Six-Day Cold" and "Layover." Adrian Tomine is Asian American and lives in Berkeley, California. Many topics of his stories are at least partly autobiographical.
In the initial self-published issues, as well as the first eight Drawn & Quarterly issues (1995-2001), Optic Nerve was typically a collection of short stories. After an extended hiatus, Tomine resumed the comic in fall of 2004 and began his first multi-issue storyline with #9. The most recent issue, #11, was published in early 2007.
Collected editions
32 stories: The Complete Optic Nerve Mini-Comics (1995, collects original mini-comics, ISBN 1-896597-00-9)