Daytripper #8 made me cry. No shit. I mean, I wasn’t blubbering or anything, but there were definitely tears. Then issue ten, the finale, did it again. This is a book that everyone should read. Some people want to buy the world a coke, I’d like to buy them this.
Daytripper tells the story of one man’s life’s obsession with his own mortality, by showing his loves, his fears, his broken relationships, and his shattered—and realized—dreams. It is a graphic novel in which it is impossible to separate words from art. Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá work together, seamlessly, like the best music you’ve ever heard, to combine elements of words and picture, lines and imagination, and transport the reader into the life of a fictional character who, by the end of the work, feels as real as your own family.
I don’t want to say too much about it because it is full of surprises, but I will say that I was reluctant to read it because it sounded boring to me. A fake biography? No capes? No zombies? No guns?
But this creation shows what comic books can do that no other medium can. Yes, I can see how Daytripper could be made into an art film and probably a decent one. Hell, probably a damn good and impactful one. But I doubt a movie would stay with me the way this book undoubtedly will. Unlike movies, comic books allow the reader to linger and focus—to pause, and reflect. And Daytripper invites a lot of that. And unlike novels, where the reader has to conjure pictures in his head, comic books provide basic imagery so that when the brain begins to tire of reading, it can refocus and regroup. When I read novels, I find my mind frequently wandering, but comic books let me focus.
Let me also say this: I read Daytripper on my iPad in one sitting. The iPad is a terrific way to read this—it’s bright, you can zoom in on particularly detailed and beautiful panels (many of which are almost like paintings)…But as soon as I was done, I ordered the hardcover.
I want other people to read this book. It is brilliant, and it is the greatest graphic novel I have ever read.
I leave you with this, just one visually beautiful and well written panels out of hundreds in this ten-issue series.
