The word “umbilicanism” means something along the lines of “waiting for light to come out of your navel.” Navel-gazing is admittedly a hypnotic activity, but I’ve yet to see any light come out of my belly button. This installment of Optic Nerve, about some characters who go through various stages of feeling shitty about themselves and each other and their relationships to each other makes me feel like I’ve been staring at my navel for a good 48 straight hours without blinking and my eyeballs are so dry they are about to become two piles of dust sitting in sockets. Emotional, but in the most antiseptic of ways. (Amy Lam)
Comic, #10, Adrian Tomine, $5.25, 32 pgs., Drawn & Quarterly, www.drawnandquarterly.com