Twelve Hour Shift by Sean Azzopardi

All too often there’s a sharp contrast between the creative job you want and bill-paying job you can get. Azzopardi’s new graphic novel confronts this sobering fact of life with candor and insight. Twelve Hour Shift is the story of an artist who struggles through a series of tedious, menial jobs for sustenance, leaving his creative time squeezed into evenings and weekends. It’s an ambitious, 146-page story, that took Azzopardi 3 years to complete. There’s no doubt that it’s fiction. Some of the scenes are downright surreal, but much of the story is unmistakably drawn from the daily routine of working a low-wage job and commuting by rail in London and its surrounding boroughs. If you’ve ever felt torn between a creative pursuit and putting bread on the table, you will quickly find a connection with the frustrated artist, Steve Jones, and it will draw you into this illustrated docudrama.The artwork on some pages and panels is very tight, while others are sketchier and loose. I don’t know if this was intentional, an artifact of the 3 year development time, or a happy accident – but it all works. The artwork and page layouts are engaging, beautiful, at times satirical, and consistently inventive. Azzopardi is a captivating storyteller. He successfully combines the words and pictures into a heart-felt drama I couldn’t put down.

His other small press comic, Ed, also deals with a life of artistic pursuit. But the character Ed seems to be the world’s nicest struggling artist. If Ed’s world is conflicted or at times gut-wrenching, he’s doing a great job of keeping it all to himself. In sharp contrast, the world Steve Jones lives in is stark and gritty. Some days it takes all his energy just to cope with the mental and physical challenges of the daily routine he’s come to dread.A roster of consecutive twelve hour shifts is a schedule no one would welcome, but the story goes deeper than whining about surface hardships. Azzopardi explores the artist’s emotions and challenges with understanding and honesty. At times Jones is a screw up, in both his day job and his creative vocation. He wants to be an artist, but he doesn’t always have the drive. He has doubts. Sometimes it’s easier to drink or dope, than draw.Sometimes he’s angry and mean spirited. He doesn’t take the daily commuters he travels with on the train, seriously. He thinks his artistic cause makes him better than they are. But later on the job, he sees the other side of the coin when his customers treat him like a trained dog.He’s got a few issues with his coworkers too. Some are justified, but he also learns to appreciate that he’s not the only one who’s found the world doesn’t owe him any favors. Everyone has dreams and aspirations.Spoiler Alert: Finding a balance in life is a tricky business, especially when it’s a moving target. AsTwelve Hour Shift ends, Steve Jones is left still trying to figure things out. In that sense, the story is unresolved. But the creative soul is compelled to explore new territory, and in that sense we know the story and Mr. Jones will continue the journey.Twelve Hour Shift is a b&w, 148-page graphic novel. Available for £6.95 + £2 postage from Azzopardi’s website Phatcatz.