Daytripper

As if Vertigo comics weren’t already diverse enough, Brazilian brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá bring another distinct kind of comic to the imprint’s lineup. Daytripper reads like something you would find from one of the industry’s smaller companies. It is a powerful set of stories asking the question “What are the most important days of your life?” The structure of these comics at all times emphasizes that question as it follows the life of one man.

Brás de Oliva Domingos is a man who in some chapters seems rather ordinary. In other chapters he is more like a celebrity. He always has his doubts, he always has his faults. In Daytripper we get glimpses into his life unlike any others; we see him live more and die more than any normal person. 

Dave Stewart lent his coloring skills to Daytripper.

Yes, this was the structural idea that the brothers had when they decided how to craft their story. There are ten comics collected in Daytripper, and each one focuses on Brás when he is at a certain age. The only thing that is certain in each comic is that Brás will die by the last page. Maybe some people will get bent out of shape about this “non-temporal” kind of comic. But then they would be missing the point. 

Daytripper is crafted to make the reader remember the most powerful moments in his or her own life. So the many deaths of Brás show how mortality is always just a moment away at any point in time for any person. There are so many unfortunate things that can happen in life, but Moon and Bá made this story to emphasize all of the good and happy things that can happen too. The result is a comic that feels so real, in a way that stories can’t often accomplish.

Brás de Oliva Domingos wants to be a writer like his father. So far his writing career has amounted to him writing obituaries for a local newspaper. This is the status quo in which many of the stories begin. Other stories show him before he found the job, and some stories even show him as a successful novelist who followed in the footsteps of his father. Brás makes his way through the stories that are marked by his corresponding age in each chapter.

May I point out a few of my favorites?

How about “28.” Brás is in a time of upheaval and uncertainty. His longtime girlfriend has had enough. Her boxes are packed and she’s moving out. One angry tirade, some mean words, and a slammed door and Brás is on his own again. Now maybe her frustration wasn’t completely unjustified. Maybe Brás wasn’t very good to her. But he knows now that his life needs to change, but he is a little worried about how he’s going to do it. He talks to his father, a novelist who is full of insight into the human condition. He advises Brás to look for the moments that give life meaning. It doesn’t seem to be the message that Brás wants to be hearing right then and there. 

But then he finds his way to a bakery...and he sees the woman that he knows he will spend the rest of his life with. It’s obvious to him. He watches her from across the store and doesn’t even notice when his purchase is rung up. Brás is too smitten to talk in the store, but then he realizes that he has to talk to her. He goes running into the street, too excited to pay attention, and gets hit by a car.

Maybe the chapter that most clearly emphasized the duality of life and death would be “41.” This comic starts out looking like it’s going to be the most joyous of all of them all. Ana, Brás’ wife, is about to have their child. They head to the hospital, nervous and yet excited. Then Brás knows that something is wrong. At the same time that he is awaiting the arrival of his firstborn son, his mother is at the hospital for an altogether different reason. Brás’ father has just died. So Brás has to deal with the feelings of extreme joy and extreme sadness all at the same exact time. He has to hide his pain from his wife until she is well enough to bear the news. And it is far from easy for him.

The saddest and most haunting chapter would have to be “47.” Brás himself is never really seen in this one, because he is away on a book tour. Ana is having a difficult time in the temporary role of a single mother for Miguel, who is now old enough to go to school. Brás is always calling, sending texts, and writing emails for Ana to find. He’s doing all that he can to make sure that Ana is alright while he has to be away and living the life of a successful novelist. He doesn’t ever come back as his life is taken unexpectedly by tumors in his brain, dying in an emergency room surgery. Ana and Miguel know that life is going to be difficult and that things are going to be sad for a very long time, but that they have the strength to move forward.

Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon have deservedly won a lot of awards for their work on Daytripper. They created meaningful characters and down-to-earth situations that I sincerely hope everyone could identify with in some way. It’s a beautiful story with a lot of depth that really forces you to realize what is important in life. Everything can change so fast...

Hellblazer: City Of Demons

This is the first post in a series that will amount to a lot of gushing about how great Vertigo comics are. I must have already said by now how I think it’s one of the most important little branches in the comics publishing industry. They tell all kinds of stories, sometimes even the stories that anyone else would be afraid to publish.

So here’s part one of four in “Thoughts About Vertigo in August.” Hellblazer: City of Demons is a great place to start, since John Constantine’s adventures have been the one constant running throughout the entire history of Vertigo since it was officially started in 1993. It’s curious to me that this story was published as a separate miniseries rather than as part of the nearly 300 issue long saga that has been running since the 80s. I guess it’s nothing to complain about...extra Constantine is a very good thing.

City of Demons is a really top-notch Hellblazer comic. I had never heard of Si Spencer, the writer. He did a Vertigo series called The Vinyl Underground a few years ago which was completely under my radar. And apparently in the 90s, being a good British comic book writer, he lent a hand in telling some Judge Dredd stories. So it’s always a little strange wandering into the writings of someone you’ve never before encountered, but Spencer proved himself to me.

Moving onto the art, Sean Murphy really made City of Demons into an incredible comic. I can now say that I believe the hype that this guy generates. The only book I ever read by him before this was a Batman/Scarecrow Year One story that was put out in 2005 to sort of tie in with Batman Begins. Looking between the pages of that comic and City of Demons was amazing. He’s come a long and way and has certainly deserved all of the praise that he is getting. Everything is very stylized and powerful.

Let’s not forget to mention that Dave Stewart is the colorist. As usual, he has developed a unique coloring style for yet another project. Here’s another guy who is much lauded, and deservedly so. He does so much for all of the comics he contributes to.

John Constantine gets hit by an SUV in the first few pages of City of Demons. This results in him being carted to a hospital for brain surgery while his disembodied spirit wanders around the hospital. What he doesn’t realize right away is that some of his blood is taken to be used for other patients, and this is some very, very bad news. Constantine kind of sort of has a lot of demon blood in him after a certain transfusion he took from Nergal some years back. So if a pint of his blood was used for plasma and distributed to a bunch of people who needed it at the hospital, well...there’s going to be trouble. Hence the title City of Demons. 

There are several people who start acting crazy and bloodthirsty and downright demonic. And it’s all because Constantine went to the hospital. Sure enough, the Hellblazer gets to the bottom of it all and the evil doctors who are all too aware of what they are doing are cast into the gaping maw of the infernal regions. But even when he thinks he’s safe again he is dead wrong.

John Constantine is a character whom a lot of people have grown attached to over the years. He isn’t a pleasant type of person, and in fact he’s usually being a cranky asshole. Si Spencer had the characterization down perfectly, which was great to see from someone who was new to the character. His story was fast paced and always exciting, and yes, frequently gory. Murphy in turn was only too happy to indulge in Spencer’s scripts, bringing everything into perfect detail. 

This was really an A+ Hellblazer story. If you’ve been too afraid to jump into the collections of the regular series, check this out. All of the Constantine books are fairly self-contained, but this is a book that seems especially designed for someone who doesn’t know a thing about the character and wants to dive in headfirst. 

As a bonus, the end of this book features a prose story by Dave Gibbons which he also provided spot illustrations for.