Recently I made the decision to move out of my parent’s home. I’m 21, a month and a half away from 22 and since moving in, thoughts of purpose, life and relationships have been steadily increasing each day. Daytripper is a graphic novel founded on the clichés and expectations derived from a typical life story (at age 11 he has his first kiss, at age 21 he meets his first love, 28 where he meets his true love, age 41 his son is born) explored in depth during touching passages of introspection divided by the unfortunate fates of the protagonist, ever so amplifying the quiet beauty of our melancholy lives. I wanted to write this very brief analysis in response to a few comments and fan reviews that expressed confusion in why each issue ends in death.

The events of the story aren’t always necessarily based in the “oasis we like to call love”, yet each issue dives into the intimacy of our interpersonal relationships and struggle of legacy, whether it be his somewhat difficult relationship with his father, or his eventual destructive relationship with his best friend, whom he fell out of communication with after receiving great praise from the literary community due to the release and success of his first novel. It is through these details of life Fabio and Gabriel ask what the most important days of our lives are, and how do we find the heart to achieve our goals and one day look back and remark on a life well spent.

When we are introduced to Bras de Oliva Domingos at age 32, we see from the first issue that he is an obituary writer that has dreams to be a successful author much life his father. Bras’ career progression, from writing about death restricted to small pieces in newspapers to writing freely and openly in books demonstrates what I believe to be the point of this novel, that focusing on life ending only restricts our enjoyment of living, and how we perceive our most memorable experiences of life whether they be focused on relationships, family, or achieving our dreams, are often wrapped in between seconds of our day to day lives.

And with this in mind, as we flip through page after page, adoring the magic of the artwork, and the delicateness of the dialogue, it is almost like a punch to the gut each time Bras meets his untimely deaths, and subconsciously inserts the idea that the multiple final moments of his lives, have great significance and value, despite mirroring moments in our pasts or futures that may end up being taken for granted.

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