Tak Toyoshima, the cartoonist behind "Secret Asian Man," went to the Adrian Tomine presentation in Boston -- and wrote about it in his blog! Here's an excerpt:

The best thing I walked away from the presentation (besides a signed copy!) was a better insight into Tomine's views on being Asian American. Artistically he doesn't make it a mission to infuse every story with typical AA issues. Characters may be AA but that does not define them. It may add depth to his characters but beyond that, it's not an issue. He spoke a bit about the expectancies that many AAs had of his work and how he felt pressured to represent the community, like it was his duty.

Shortcomings, as the graphic of a ruler under the book jacket implies, does have some AA themes in it and it seems these themes are increasing. It's like he's going through the opposite experience as me. I started off out of the gate spewing out strips about lack of AA media representation, kung-fu stereotypes and xenophobia. Now I've come to embrace a far wider range of topics which I aim at a broader audience. It'll be interesting to see how Tomine's work progresses in terms of subject matter. All that being said, he has a new fan.

(And many thanks to Toyoshima for adding AsianAmericanComics.com to his links page!)