Daytripper is set in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and follows writer Brás de Oliva Domingos. To get one of the big things out of the way…Brás dies. In every issue. We see what his life (and death) would look like if it had been just a tiny bit different each time. If he had crossed the street to talk to the cute girl, if as a child he had reached for his tangled kite, if he had that surgery…Seeing our main character die over and over again could, and maybe should, make this a sad or melancholy book, but that’s not what happens. What we get instead is a rich story about life, and how we go through it. The things that matter and what we hold onto. There are sad moments for sure, and things that are hard to read. But I took it as a very uplifting story.
It certainly helps that Gabriel Bá and Fabio moon are master storytellers. They are brothers that I am familiar with only as an art team, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the story. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the writing easily kept up with the amazing art. I’m not sure how those tasks are divided up between them, but it works really, really well.
This review is of the trade paperback, but I think this is a book best read in ten chapters the way it was originally serialized. Do yourself a favor and put the book down, at least for a little while between each one. Reading Daytripper in single issues was a reading experience unlike any I’ve had in a long, long time. The month wait between each gave me the space to digest the story. In #1, when Brás dies, I was left wondering where the book would go next. Would it shift focus to one of the other characters? His more famous father perhaps? Or follow his best friend Jorge? Then with #2 we are back with Brás, but it’s a younger Brás on vacation in Salvador with Jorge. And then he dies again. Another 30 day wait. Now an older Brás on the eve his first son, Miguel’s birth. There was a slight confusion at the beginning of the series, but that was overwhelmed by how GOOD each issue was, how enjoyable. Despite being a different version of him each time, we really get to know Brás, and care about his struggles and triumphs. We see him as a depressed lonely man, a young boy, and a workaholic among other things. Each one of these chapters has something to love, and frequently more than one thing. When we get to the last, with a 76 year-old Brás, it is breathtakingly beautiful in its simplicity and elegance. Brás has grown and earned every bit of the maturity and wisdom he has. It is an absolute joy to watch him walk and smile, his words coming from a life well lived and full of understanding, and when he dies that last time…there is no sadness at all.
There is continuity to the stories, but it is hazy. Brás is nicknamed “Little miracle” by his mother because he was born during a blackout, and that shows up in multiple issues. So does Jorge and the vacation he and Brás took in their early 20’s. The woman Brás met on that vacation led in one instance to his death, and in another to a seven year relationship. Sometimes his relationship to his father is strained and tense, other times it is close and caring. It seems best not to hold on too tight, and just let the story unfold, and accept it for what is presented each time. This was my favorite comic and is highly recommended.