All that talk about Calvin and Hobbes played onto my head, guys. I even ended up splurging on a Joe Sacco creation as well and eagerly await its arrival. Won’t tell you which one yet, though. I even read Batman: Year One a couple of months ago and have been eager to add to the numbers. And no, I haven’t read Watchmen yet.
Daniel Clowes describes his graphic novel Patience with the following tagline: “a cosmic timewarp death trip to the primordial infinite of everlasting love”. Fairly accurate description, I’d say. The plot revolves around a couple, Patience and Jack Barlow, who are trying to eke out a half-decent living in 2012. The book opens with the news of her being pregnant which adds an additional layer of thought to their daily worries, as soon as the original euphoria dies out. Just as the couple is coming to terms with this moment, Jack comes home to find his wife and their unborn child murdered. Instantly, his life is in pieces with accusations of being the prime suspect, eventually leading to him living in the dumps. We are transported to 2029 wherein an unusual turn of events leads to him getting hold of a time machine. He uses it to get to 2006 where he eavesdrops into Patience’s life before she met him. While attempting to intervene and save her from Adam, her convicted ex who he believes killed her in the present as well, all hell breaks loose. Jack is transported back to 1985 and is forced to find his way back from there. The latter half of the novel plays on the familiar trope of ‘Would you kill Hitler’s mom if you had a chance’ with Jack trying his best to get his life and wife back.
The read: I had never read any of Daniel Clowes’ works despite knowing of his fame due to Ghost World and Wilson. I got what I expected and a lot more, quite frankly. I have a thing for time travel stories and coupled with the beautiful visuals, this made for a delightful read. Each panel was a story of its own and the way he’s made the colours pop deserves an essay of its own. The artwork is sorta reminiscent of comics from the 80s and one of my favourite indie artists Felipe Flores does a great job of recreating the same style as well. It’s interesting how this is titled Patience, despite so much of the projected mind space being occupied by Jack Barlow as we accompany him across the time spectrum. I can see why some people have an issue with its plot not veering too far from the usual time travel – romance trope, but for me, the character development and the general aesthetic of the book were big wins, outshining everything else. The 5 years that went into creating this psychedelic quest, seems well worth the patience.
Trivia: In the early 1990s, Daniel Clowes created art for Coke’s ill-fated “Gen-X” beverage called OK Soda. In an interview published over a decade later, he revealed that his male character’s eyes were based on those of Charles Manson. Here’s the interview, fittingly titled a Clowes encounter.
Documentation:
Book: Patience
Author: Daniel Clowes
Year of Release: 2016
Publisher: Fantagraphics