Origin
Alice appears in issues 9 – 11 of the Drawn & Quarterly comic book series, Optic Nerve.
Creation
Alice was created by Adrian Tomine.
Character Evolution
Alice is the best friend of Ben Tanaka. She and Ben are very close, and are a constant source of advice and support for one another, often calling each other for help at significant moments. She is not keen on Ben’s partner Miko Hayashi, but this is partly because Ben is not always honest about their relationship, and as a result Alice’s impression of Miko is far worse than the reality.
She is openly homosexual around her friends, and can often be seen hitting on women wherever she and Ben go. She even invites Ben to a lesbian party, where he meets his later lover, Sasha. But Alice keeps her sexuality hidden from her strict family, who would disapprove. She asks Ben to pose as her partner for family functions, to save the embarrassment of having to explain why she is still single. Alice eventually finds love, moving away from Ben to be with her partner, Meredith. She encourages Ben and Meredith to become friends, but the two are diametrically opposed in their views, and clash from the offset.
Major Story Arcs
Alice is a prominent character in the Optic Nerve story arc Shortcomings, the issues of which were later collected into a single volume of the same name.
Powers And Abilities
Alice is a human character with no special powers or abilities.