Old man, take a look at my life…– a review of Daytripper #4

Old man, take a look at my life…– a review of Daytripper #4

Message from scott.cederlund@gmail.com:

"After years spent pursuing the wrong love and the not-quite-right job, Brás de Oliva Domingos had finally gotten it together."

At age 41, this is the life that Brás was meant to live.  No longer working as an obituary writer in a local paper or following his friends or lovers on some youth-necessitated trip of discovery, Brás is going to be a father.  Rushing his wife to the hospital as her contractions begin, Brás misses a very important call from his mother, a call telling him that something had happened to his father.

Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon's Daytripper #4 takes Brás to a point where we haven't seen him yet, to the point where Brás is a family man.  We've caught glimpses of Brás' family in his younger days, in the days were he didn't know how to deal with or accept his father, in the days where he was possibly looking for a love to make a home with.  Issue #4 takes us beyond those days to an older, more mature Brás as he himself is about to become a father.  With an older Brás, the tone of this issue becomes something different than the previous issues have been even as by now we've figured out the structure of a Daytripper issue; it's the events of Brás' life at different points, as he learns about life and love only to have something tragic happen just as he's about to accept and embrace his world and the people around him.  This has been a young man's story so far, as a man searches for a perfect love.  But in this issue, he's finally found it with a wife and a son.  He's finally moved beyond the self-involved stage he was at in the first couple of issues and is ready to become a family man, just like his own father.  He had gotten it together.  And, as in each issue before it, Brás' happiness comes too late.

In four issues, Bá and Moon have shown us moments of Brás' life, moments that can't have possibly happened after the first issue and the tragic ending there; moments that couldn't have happened after the second, the third or now the fourth issue.  With each issue, they close Brás' story but, sure enough, they're Báck one month later with a new moment to show us, a new event in Brás life that reveals to us the man he is and the man he can be.  Here in issue #4, we see Brás as almost a father and as a son, experiencing all the emotions, joys and losses of life and death simultaneously; even as his son is being born, he has to bury his father.

Moon's artwork is near perfect as he reveals so much of story just through simple body language.  Brás spends so much of this issue looking to his right or his left that when Moon draws him looking straight ahead, it's startling.  Flipping through Daytripper #4 and watching where Brás is looking, it's like his life is happening to the side of him, in the corners or even behind him.  His life is rarely in front of him or he's rarely looking at his own life head on.  It's a moment like the birth of his son that finally makes him look at what is in front of him.  It's then when he finally faces up to his life and responsibilities.  But it doesn't last long.  Even on the last page of the story, Brás is looking off to the side again, trying to catch a glimpse of some hidden object or person and ignoring what's right in front of him.

Where does Brás' life go from here?  Another event, another life and another tragic ending most likely. 

Daytripper #4
"Chapter Four:  41"
Written and Drawn by: Gabriel Bá & Fábio Moon
Colored by: Dave Stewart
Lettered by: Sean Konot

Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

Posted via email from Wednesdays Haul’s posterous

GREEN HORNET: YEAR ONE #1 TO SHIP 3 WEEKS EARLY!

Legendary Writer Matt Wagner's Green Hornet: Year One follows the astounding success of Kevin Smith's Green Hornet #1!

Following the successful launch of Kevin Smith's Green Hornet, Dynamite Entertainment is releasing Green Hornet: Year One #1 a full 3 weeks early!  The very first days of the original Green Hornet and his faithful sidekick Kato begin under the masterful hand of writer Matt Wagner and artist Aaron Campbell! Follow Green Hornet and Kato as they move into the pages of history and form the ultimate crime-fighting duo!

With a renewed interest in Green Hornet due to Kevin Smith's comic book and the upcoming major motion picture starring Seth Rogen, now is the time to read our Green Hornet comic books!  Green Hornet: Year One features the writing of Matt Wagner, bringing the characters to their basic roots a la All-Star Superman!  Rooted in the pulp tradition, the original tales of Britt Reid and Kato begin here! Joining Wagner is artist Aaron Campbell (Sherlock Holmes), whose stunning recreation of the industrial world of 1930's Chicago is sure to wow fans across the globe!  Witness the origin of the original Green Hornet in Green Hornet: Year One #1!

"THE GREEN HORNET stands as one of the prototypes of the modern super-hero…and yet, surprisingly, the original version of the character featured no distinct origin tale," says writer Matt Wagner.  "In GREEN HORNET; YEAR ONE, we're filling in the holes so that new and old readers alike can finally see and understand what makes this character such a long-lasting and vital part of American pop culture!"

"At long last the Green Hornet and Kato return, not only to their gritty roots, but in a way that has been lacking since their debut over 70 years ago," adds artist Aaron Campbell.  "Matt Wagner's take on this iconic duo is sure to set the gold standard for years to come."

"Matt is the perfect writer to pen this tale.  And after seeing Aaron's art on Sherlock Holmes, he stood out as the artist that would bring the right feel to this series.  Dynamite is proud to have Matt and Aaron be the team behind this special series.  They are integral to it!"  stated Dynamite President and Publisher Nick Barrucci.

THE GREEN HORNET: YEAR ONE #1
Written by MATT WAGNER
Art by AARON CAMPBELL
32 pages $3.99

To find a comic shop near you, call 1-888-comicbook

For art and more information, please visit: www.dynamiteentertainment.com

ABOUT DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT:

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT, the publishing division of DYNAMIC FORCES, INC., was founded in 2004 and is home to several best-selling comic book titles and properties, including Red Sonja, Project Superpowers, The Boys, Army of Darkness, Battlestar Galactica, The Lone Ranger, Zorro and more!

In addition to their critically-acclaimed titles and best selling comics, Dynamite works with some of the most high profile creators in comics and entertainment, including Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Garth Ennis, Michael Turner, Jim Lee, Michael Avon Oeming, Brian Reed, Mel Rubi, Marc Guggenheim, Stephen Sadowski, Mike Carey, Jim Krueger, Greg Pak, Brett Matthews, Matt Wagner and a host of up and coming new talent and fan favorite creators!

DYNAMITE is consistently ranked in the upper tiers of comic book publishers and several of their more recent launches – including Alex Ross and Jim Krueger's PROJECT SUPERPOWERS – have debuted in the Top Ten lists produced by Diamond Comics Distributors. In 2005 Diamond awarded the company a GEM award for Best New Publisher and another GEM in 2006 for Comics Publisher of the Year (under 5%). The company has also been nominated for several industry awards, including the prestigious Eisner Award.

Aside from their monthly periodical comic book series, DYNAMITE also produces new and classic material, including Tim Truman's SCOUT, Carlos Trillo and Eduardo Risso's BORDERLINE and TALES OF TERROR, Jim Starlin's DREADSTAR, as well as well as reprint editions of classic RED SONJA material.

I'm glad that the comic is shipping three weeks early but does it actually say anywhere in this release when the actual release date was or when the new release date is?  Other than the opening line, this press release is just a general release about the book and has nothing to actually do with the proposed subject of the release.  I guess I could actually try to be a journalist or something (perish the thought) and email Dynamite asking for clarification but I hate to say that I don't even really care.  I'll be getting the trade anyway.

Oh, and if you're Dynamite and if you're going to call out that you're publishing classic material like Jim Starlin's Dreadstar, please ship the book that I ordered back in October sometime in 2010.  I'm not being too picky there, am I?

Posted via email from Wednesdays Haul’s posterous

Also, these books feature some terrific art by guys that just aren't talked about that often like Moritat and Boo Cook.  Moritat is on an upcoming Spirit title from DC so hopefully that'll get him some more notice but these guys have taken the original designs of Ladronn and been faithful to them while making the book something different.  And I think that one of Starkings' strengths has been gathering a group of artists together who all have different but complimentary styles.  Elephantmen isn't reliant on one consistent artist working on the book but yet there's been a strong continuity for the most part in the general art style that's been maintained during this run.

Posted via email from Wednesdays Haul’s posterous

But then we get this from the same author:

And finally this:

If there's one title I look back on over the last 10 years that has really surprised me, it's been Phonogram.  The first series was really good but the second series, The Singles Club, was something special, an experience where you really saw two creators really step up their game and create something fantastic.

Phonogram: The Singles Club should be available soon from Amazon.

Posted via email from Wednesdays Haul’s posterous

Catching up on my RSS feeds today, I found this blog post from Gaiman that has just a lovely piece of artwork in it:

My initial reaction of it was that the design and color of it is just so much more dramatic than the American edition.

Then I noticed the lovely use of negative space used in both covers, the way that the the face just appears out of nowhere.  I still kind of prefer the Japanese edition because of the flow and design of the whole cover, the way it just leads your eye diagonally over the whole image, like watching liquid being poured out of a container.

Posted via email from Wednesdays Haul’s posterous

At a local comic shop today, I was essentially able to buy one trade and get another one for $15 off.  I went with the fanboyish idea that I was going to pick up both X-Men Forever trades, a series that I want to really, really read even as I know that I'll feel dirty for it.  Surprisingly and probably all for the better, the shop didn't have either of them in stock so I started roaming the aisles to figure out how else to use my coupon.  I was eyeing Millar's Kick Ass but, right now, that book is more of an investment that I want to make.  Maybe when the softcover comes out.  Instead, I picked up his and Tommy Lee Edward's 1985, what looks to be a gorgeous book.  Millar is a very hot/cold writer to me; some of his stuff I love (Superman: Red Son may still be the best Superman story of the last 20 years) and some stuff leaves me scratching my head, such as that thing with the talking birds at Avatar.  I've always heard good stuff about 1985 so now I can read it.

Another writer that's been running hot and cold with me has been Warren Ellis.  After No Heroes, I was ready to walk away but the concept of Ignition City sounds fantastic, a cross between his Ministry of Space, Orbital and Quit City.  That's the Ellis that I love so I'm hoping that I love Ignition City as well.

Posted via email from Wednesdays Haul’s posterous

Posted via email from Wednesdays Haul’s posterous