Copyright Moon and Ba
If your life flashed before your eyes, what would you see? Your first friend? Your first kiss? The birth of a child? The death of a loved one? While the experience would be different for everyone, chances are there would be some milestone moments in your life that would stand out, both positive and negative. Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba’s Daytripper gives us a life-flash of sorts, and along the way reminds us just how beautiful and precious life is, and how easily it can end at any moment.
The book’s main character, Bras de Olivia Domingos, works as an obituary writer, trying to sum up peoples’ entire lives into a few lines every day. The job is understandably draining, and he can’t help wondering what his life would be like if he could ever finish that novel. The fact that his father is a world-famous novelist doesn’t help matters. The icing on the cake is when, stopping in at a bar for a quick drink before a gala his father is holding, he gets shot in the face. On page 32. Wait, what?
No, this isn’t the world’s shortest graphic novel, and it also isn’t some sort of afterlife story. There’s still plenty of story after this, and I think I’ve told you enough about it already. All I’ll say is that the book isn’t Bras’ life literally flashing before his eyes, as you’ll see if you read it. By the end of the book you really feel like you’ve just experienced the entirety of a person’s life, and it’s pretty astounding. As Craig Thompson writes in the introduction, “Daytripper is an honest meditation on mortality,” and that couldn’t be more true. In spite of the prominence of death in the story, the book succeeds in never feeling morbid or depressing
Moon’s writing here is really top-notch, and the people in Bras’ life feel like just that: people. They all have their own hopes and fears, strengths and insecurities, and are so well-written as to feel familiar. Moon takes us through the ups and downs of Bras’ extraordinary, yet perfectly normal, life. There’s some powerful stuff in here, especially in regards to Bras’ love life and his relationship with his father; all I have to do is just look at one of the last pages to get choked up again.
Ba’s art is outstanding as well, and works in perfect tandem with the writing to really bring the story to life (no wonder; the two are twin brothers). The art is detailed and realistic, but also has a fluid, dreamlike quality that reflects the storytelling. The colors are excellent as well, bold, beautiful watercolors that echo the tone of the story and highlight the colorful Brazilian culture.
In our day-to-day lives, it’s so easy to get caught up in the most insignificant things, or to not realize the significance in the little quiet moments where life’s beauty is at its fullest. Every day is a chance for happiness, and Moon and Ba remind us of all this in their beautiful book. Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to Daytripper; it just might change your life (or get you to change it).
Happy reading,
-Nate
A great example of the gorgeous writing and art in Daytripper. Copyright Moon and Ba
Tired of Superheroes 
I’d heard this was supposed to be quite good.
Also that page you posted is awesome.
Yeah it’s one of my favorites from the book, and I thought it summed things up pretty well. Definitely check it out! Also, thanks for all the comments, Joe haha