Daytripper #10
Written and Drawn by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon
Colors by Dave Stewart
Letters by Sean Konot
DC/Vertigo Comics
Price: $2.99
Release date: September 9, 2010

The books that matter are the ones that stick with you, that make you think about your life and how you can improve and what you’re doing wrong. The books that matter are the ones that make you laugh and cry at the same page. The books that matter are the ones that you never want to forget for the rest of your life. Daytripper #10 is a book that is going to stick with me, and it is a book that matters.

Over the last ten issues, the Brazilian art team of brothers Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon have shown us the life and deaths of Bras de Oliva Domingo. Each issue has shown a moment from the character’s life at different stages of his life, whether it be birth, childhood, adulthood, or old age, and each issue has ended with the character’s death. Does it matter that we’re never told if these are alternate realities, different dimensions, or any other sci-fi gobbledygook that comics readers are generally predisposed to jump to? No. Any explanation would ruin this comic. It is simply the story of life. His life, my life, anyone’s life. I don’t live in Brazil, I don’t have kids, in fact, I have nothing in common with the main character, but every issue affected me in some way.

I can’t tell which of the brothers did the actual art for this issue, but it doesn’t really matter at this point. I’d imagine that one is doing pencils and the other inks, or something similar where they are both doing the art. What you get is a deceptively simple, decidedly cartoony style with bright, expressive faces that always get the point across. There is a level of detail in the backgrounds and settings that draw you into the story and make you feel like you are sitting next to the characters. It is the humanity in every character that connects you with them, and the art brings that humanity to life.

Honestly, there are not enough good things that I can say about this book. The art is spectacular. The writing is brilliant. This is a comic that we don’t see enough of, which is kind of a shame, but makes us appreciate it even more when a great work like this emerges. If you have not read this series yet, either find the issues, or pick up the collection when it comes out. You are doing yourself a disservice by not reading it. If you’ve read this far, you should know this is going to get a 5 out of 5. Now it’s time to get out there and start living.