And Then I Read: DAYTRIPPER 8 – 10

© Gabriel Bá & Fábio Moon.

This series has been keeping me guessing as to where it might be going, and the final three issues continue to go places I didn't expect. The previous issues have explored different paths in the life of one Brás de Oliva Domingos, a writer, husband, father, son, friend. Each issue caught a day in his life from different years, a wide range of them. While many of the same people appeared in each, the situations were often different due to alternate choices made by Bras, or events that happened to him.

In issue 8 we see the extended family of Brás at what would have been age 53, but he's not there — he has died six years earlier. It's a sentimental story, as everyone has fond memories of him, but an unusual one. Issue 9 suggests that all these stories are the dreams of Brás, and he revisits some of the events in earlier issues, as the story flows with him from one age to another, not in age order, in a very dreamlike fashion.

Finally, in issue 10, the series concludes with an elderly Brás reaching the end of a long and fulfilling life, with time to reflect on where he's been and a chance to decide his own fate: further medical work to prolong his life, or an acceptance of a relatively quicker end. Moon and Bá have crafted a series that allows readers to explore one man's life, but more than that, to reflect on their own, and all in a very entertaining package. I think I'm going to remember Brás and his family for a long time, and continue to think about him and the choices he made. Highly recommended.