What I Took Away From Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba

I first read Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba at the age of 22. At the time, I still had a mother, I was in college and I was revisiting metal for what must have been the umpteenth time. I read the book in one sitting and most of what I read made little sense to me.

I read Daytripper for the second time today after a text from my book club admin revealed she was reading it too. (DM paperbacks.n.backpacks on Instagram to join). Six years have passed since the revisit to metal and now I am not exactly listening to metal but I'm also not not listening to metal. It is complicated. I no longer have a mother and I am no longer in college.

Perhaps the fact that six years being a long time and change is practically sacrosanct is what made Daytripper hit some different chords this time on the musical instrument that accompanies me and I call thought. 

It is difficult to sum up Daytripper. I feel it analyzes the fickleness that is life. We walk in the shoes of a man called Brás de Oliva Domingos, a man who writes about death everyday. He is employed by  a newspaper and he is in charge of the obituaries.  Sensing that he possesses a certain flair with the pen and an understanding of the fact that his obituaries give closure to a sect of people who have lost a loved one makes Brás de Oliva Domingos take his job seriously. However, the narrative changes frequently as we shuttle between different stages of his life. 

The twist is, each chapter of this unusually crafted graphic novel ends with Brás dying. Fabio Moon would perhaps be considered a bit macabre for imagining varied scenarios in which his main character dies. I believe the obvious message to take away is that life is fickle and can be snuffed out at any time, at any age (for in one scenario, a very young Brás meets his maker while still a child) and thus life is something to be enjoyed and lived. 

Concepts of loss are explored immensely well in this tome and so is the concept of carpe diem and living without regret. Although it may seem a tad nihilistic to some, it is actually a profound look at the importance of being happy and structuring your life with small moments, which in turn add up to a bigger picture that you, the one living your life is painting. We have often been told of that statement that we should look at the bigger picture. This novel tells us to paint the bigger picture using all the tools we have at our disposal, so that someone may one day come along and look at the picture of a life lived. Perhaps this is what Moon and Ba were intending when they wrote this novel.

I came away from my second read of this book with the resolution to make the most of the fact that I am at this moment on a rock made of stardust floating somewhere in space, inhaling an invisible compound consisting of multiple gases. 

I think Daytripper serves to remind us that we could die at any time. 11, 41, 21, 76. It reminds us that many die each day and that some die sooner, some later and some before taking their first breath. It reminds us that the life we are leading now is the unrealized dream of every stillborn child, that loss is inevitable and that Death is as much a part of living as the sun is a part of the Milky Way.

I wrap up with some panels from the novel, one of which is on my wall right now.

Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba. Rating 5/5

(All images are the result of a Google Search)

The Bilge Master