Daytripper going #1... and flying to London!

CBR's Tim Callahan talks about his top 10 comics of 2010 so far (also discussing the topic on Splash Page Podcast 21 with Chad Nevett). A lot of good comics there. Demo: volume 2, by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan; Scalped;Viking, by Ivan Brandon and Nik Klein; American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, Stephen King and Rafael Albuquerque; 2 Grant Morrison books.
But guess which one is number 1? Daytripper.
I won't pretend I'm not happy. We are really glad with all the feedback our series is getting. With only pages away from the end (readers still have 3 issues more to wait for), we're working with our chest filled with pride.



And that pride is also carrying us (and we're carrying it) to London on next friday, to be part of Festival Brazil on the Southbank Centre. We will give a lecture/panel on monday, July 5th, 7pm inside the Udderbelly (tickets still available), with the mediation of Jamie Mckelvie. Don't miss out on that one! After that, I believe we'll have a signing session on the Southbank Centre book store. And on friday, July 9th, at 9am (yeah, in the morning) we'll be painting a big-ass mural artwork, our Wallstrip, on the ramp alongside Queen Elizabeth Hall. We'll have help from young people and other artists (including our new friend Rufus Dayglo) and it's going to be lots of fun.



There's a lot to be done before we go, so I'll just go back to work. But I'm sure as hell will be working happier for the rest of the week. My plane leaves only on friday, but my feet are already off the ground.

A stranger, always watching.

I'm always watching.
Always searching.
Everywhere you go, there's something to see, to find, to learn.



You can rest by escaping the world, but you can also rest when you dive right into it. Find strangers in your world, or be a stranger in somebody else's world. In the end, it's just one world, one boat, and we're on this boat together.

Daytripper 7, their best work to date.

We are on the second, most intense half of our story. The rules have been set, the players are all there and one might think it's all figured out.
But the beauty of life is it's unpredictability, it's capacity to surprise us at any moment.



Daytripper 7 hits the stands on June 7th, and we're only going forward with this. There's a nice preview over at the Vertigo blog. Check it out.

You don't wanna miss this journey. And it's almost over.


Written by GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
Art by GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
Cover by GABRIEL BÁ

What's life without your friends, right? The good ones will stick with you through anything, won't they? Find out here why Brás' best friend has given that up and how far Brás is willing to go to get him back.

"This latest from Bá and Fábio is surely their best looking work to date. In DAYTRIPPER, they give us a glimpse into an exotic yet believable world. It makes you want to be there with them...!"
-- Paul Pope

And there he goes.

Way and away. He gathered all his courage and deep he went, searching to take a little breath.

Portugal

We just finished Daytripper 9 and Daytripper 10 is halfway done. We leave in a few hours to Portugal for the VI International Comics Festival of Beja. We couldn't be more excited to our first european comics festival. We'll have an exposition of originals at the festival, and will do a signing and a panel. Check out the festival's site for all the info.

And that's not all.



We're also opening another exposition in Porto, another portuguese city. We'll be at the opening on June 1st, and I did a new painting for a exclusive Giclée print at the gallery. The images illustrating this post are two details of the print, and you can check out the full print at the Gallery's blog



We love comics, and every chance we get to spread this love around the world is welcome. We'll bring along some of the comics we made in Brazil for our portuguese fans. Let's see what happens.

Let's keep reading, creating and enjoying.

We'll be back soon, and will try to update our twitters on the way.

Daytripper and Casanova solicitation for August

Busy month for us. Exciting.



DAYTRIPPER #9
Written by GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
Art by GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
Cover by GABRIEL BÁ
Brás is going through one of those days that seems like a lifetime; when so many things happen and change so fast and so dramatically that he can’t keep track of what the hell is going on. In this penultimate issue to the acclaimed miniseries, can he figure things out before it’s too late?
On sale AUGUST 11 • 9 of 10 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • MATURE READERS


CASANOVA #2
Written by Mat Fraction
Art by Gabriel Bá
Cover by Gaberiel Bá
CASANOVA: LUXURIA continues! Strange, sweaty, naked things are afoot deep in the jungle metropolis of Áqua Pesada. A rogue E.M.P.I.R.E. agent has gone mad and, in between throwing the most decadent parties the world has ever known, spills his spy-guts out in the pages of a breathless, confessional, comic book... and Casanova Quinn is given orders by his father to bring the agent in... but Newman Xeno wants Casanova to kill him instead. Bloodshed, betrayal, a trial, an exile, a Paco Rabanne dress made entirely out of credit cards, and a shocking twist that sets Casanova irrevocably on a path of no return. 32 PAGES OF COSMIC COMIC SPY-CHEDELIA. All new back-matter! Soul-elevating colors! Staples and paper! READ!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ... $3.99

De:TALES hardcover

We're very happy to be releasing this again. When Diana called us and said they were doing a new edition, we were delighted with the idea of doing a new cover. We love the original cover and we wanted to preserve the same mood, but at the same time we wanted to try to apply all that we have learned in these years that separate this edition from the first.

If you never read this, this is your chance.

The solicitation reads like this:

DE:TALES
Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon (W/A)
On sale Oct 6
b&w, 112 pages
$19.99
HC, 6" x 9"

From the company that introduced American audiences to Brazilian twins Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Daytripper, Pixu) comes a new hardcover edition of Dark Horse’s out-of-print De:Tales, a collection of the twins’ breakthrough short stories!

After three Eisner Awards and a series of acclaimed projects with writers Joss Whedon (Sugarshock), Gerard Way (The Umbrella Academy), Mike Mignola (B.P.R.D.: 1947), and Matt Fraction (Casanova), Moon and Bá are now among the hottest artists in comics. De:Tales is the duo’s most personal work to date, presenting their work separately, together, and in tandem—as the twins trade off on the roles of writing and illustrating, share those roles, or fly solo. Brimming with all the details of human life, their charming tales move from the urban reality of their home in São Paulo to the magical realism of their Latin American background.

Featuring a brand-new cover, Moon and Bá’s seminal and sought-after work is finally back in this handsome hardcover packaging, proving once again that they are a talented pair to watch out for.

• Named by Booklist as one of the 10 best Graphic Novels of the year, Foreword Magazine gave it a silver medal on the Graphic Novel category of their “Book of the Year” award, and it was nominated for an Eisner Award.

Now available in hardcover!

Daytripper 6 and the trips around the world!

Time is ticking and our lives keep spinning like they never did before as we approach the last month of production of our beloved Daytripper. We've seen the white light and we're walking towards it.

We are halfway there and everything starts to make a little more sense on our story, as we know the characters better and begin to understand what their roles are and the reasons behind their actions. Next week, a new issue hits the stores. It relates directly to issues 4, 7, 9 and well... it's not going to be easy on Brás.



Daytripper 6
Written by GABRIEL BÁ and FÁBIO MOON
• Art by GABRIEL BÁ • and FÁBIO MOON
• Cover by GABRIEL BÁ
When life takes us by surprise and makes everyone want to close their eyes, Brás finally gains something he's been waiting his entire life to find. But he would trade it all to know what happened in Rio


These solicitation texts are so exciting to write.

After we cross that final line, we'll start the crazy tour around the globe, spreading the love of comics all around. As seen on the previous post, we'll go to Portugal to be part of the VI Festival Internacional de BD de Beja, then we'll open an exposition on the comic-store Mundo Fantasma in Porto.

After a short break, we'll go to London to participate on the massive Festival Brazil, where we'll do a panel about our work and how we take Brazil with us in it, on July 5th. We'll be there until July 19th and we're planning a signing on a store in London, since we'll have both Casanova and Daytripper fresh out of the oven. And, of course, we're gonna watch the World Cup finals there, drinking lots of pints and celebrating.

We'll leave the UK and go straight to the San Diego Comic Con International from July 21st till 26th. And let's have some fun while we're there, shall we?

Well, if that not enough, I'll go to Bolívia to be part of the 8avo Viñetas con Altura, in La Paz from August 2nd till 8th, then Santa Cruz from 10th till 15th.

We have a little more traveling to do, but I think I have to get back to work now. Don't miss Daytripper 6 on May 12th and we'll see you around... really.

May the future we have once planned come to us soon.

It all started in 2007 (actually, if we point towards accuracy, it was way before that) and it is a little more than 3 week s to see it's completion. From the first idea until this day, we have come a long way, a much welcome one that has no return.

As relieved I am to have finished the last Daytripper script yesterday, I know we still have a lot to do before our journey really reaches it's end. There's no stop, no weariness, no fatigue to slow us down. This is the most important project of our lives and we need to see it through.

Soon after we finish everything, we'll set sails to the old continent, to be part of the VI Festival Internacional de BD de Beja, in Portugal. We'll be there from May 28th until June 1st, when we go to Porto, to open an exposition on the comic-store Mundo Fantasma.

It will be strange to be far away on a different country, but speaking the same language.

Well, it's in fact the language of comicbooks that keeps us together, wherever we may be. Daytripper is just another proof of that.

Daytripper 8 in July in London and San Diego!

We were not born to be alone. Well, I have a twin brother, so I really take that seriously from very early in my life. The more people we can count on, the better our lives can be.

We're drawing the last two issues of the series, our journey is almost over. The end is near and it's hard to let go. Also, it's very liberating.

On the eighth issue of Daytripper, as readers, we already know Brás, we already trust him. We count on him to lead the way on another story. He already has a place in our lives, that's for sure.

Daytripper #8 comes out in July, on a week we'll be away from home, in London, during a big Festival. Soon after that, we're going to San Diego. Comics have been taking us a lot of different places and, sometimes, away from the people we love and care about.

Well, this is a very strong story and the cover adds even more intensity to it.

See you in 2 months in London, San Diego, and everywhere else.



Written by GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
Art by GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
Cover by GABRIEL BÁ
Brás is constantly on the road, but that doesn't stop a caring husband and loving father from having a big role in his family's daily life. Do they miss him? Can they manage well enough while he's away? And how large a hole would he leave if he weren't there anymore?

CASANOVA is BACK!!

New covers!
32 pages comics!
Re-colored by Cris Peter!
Re-lettered by Dustin Harbin!

Third arc ON THE MAKING!
At ICON!

Daytripper 5!

We're on full speed here, driven by all the good words and good numbers of our little tale. The story is only midway through for you, but it's reaching the end for us. The next two months will bring the last chapters of the story to life, and I'm dying to get there.

Meanwhile, Daytripper #5 is on the stands and it's the most beautiful of all so far. You don't wanna miss this one.



Written by FÁBIO MOON and GABRIEL BÁ; Art by GABRIEL BÁ and FÁBIO MOON; Cover by GABRIEL BÁ
At 11 years old, Brás's world was only as big as his house. But that changed when his family headed to his grandparents' countryside ranch. And there – at a place where the sun was stronger and the stars shone brighter – Brás would suddenly see everything under a new light!

Image of love

I read a lot of comics when I was a kid, mostly super-heroes, and all of them had a big influence on me when I decided to work with comicbooks. Certainly books like The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen and Moonshadow had a huge impact over me, even if I wasn't old enough to really understand it. I was just enjoying it and being dragged inside that world.

As the 80's were coming to it's closure, I began to pay attention to the creators behind the comics I was reading, not only the characters and the stories. Claremont and Byrne on the X-Men, Jim Aparo on Batman, John Romita Jr., Walter Simonson, Peter David, George Perez. I noticed something was changing, I just had no idea how big this change would be. It was only on the early 90's that seven of these "names" I had been starting to follow took me by surprised and changed the world of comics forever. They were Todd McFarlane, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino and Whilce Portacio. Yes, I'm talking about Image.

I know we really repeat over and over how much the story is important to us on comicbooks, more important than the art, but we were 16 and Image Comics was the best thing on Earth for us back then. It was beautiful, it was fun, it was new (even if they used old formulas). Wildcats, Savage Dragon, Spawn. The Maxx, Gen 13, Pitt. At that time, all we wanted to do was work at Image Comics.

I have done my share of portfolio reviews and artwork submission here in Brazil and like many others in the 90's, I did walk the path of the "Jim Lee's mimics". Stiff and unnatural, (luckily) it didn't work out for me.

Back in 1996, on my first trip to California, with a handful of deskjet prints of color samples, I tried to visit Wildstorm and Extreme Studios. Found the post office in La Jolla and got stood up on my hotel in San Diego, but I did go to Extreme studios and showed my pages there. I was supposed to send more samples, but I never did.

In 97, everything changed for us when we went to our first San Diego Comic Con and we discovered a whole universe of comics we had never heard of, never imagined that existed. Image was there, all the creators were there (in person!), but even if we have been reading their books for years, we suddenly identified ourselves more with independent and alternative creators. Image was too big for us, too mainstream and there was too many deliciously unknown stuff for us to discover.

Our road on the comicbook world turned to a new and unknown direction with Roland: Days of Wrath and the all new connections we made during the following years, hanging with creators like Jeff Smith, Terry Moore, Jill Thompson and talking to editors like Diana Schutz and Bob Schreck. Every new book we published in Brazil, we took the artwork to portfolio reviews in San Diego year after year and showed the stories to Diana. We hanged out mostly on the Small Press area of the convention, where Shane had his Terra Major table, and we walked the floor following the creators we admired, showing pages to editors and buying new comics by the hands of strange authors.

In 2004 we did a self-published comic called Rock'n'Roll (with Bruno D'Angelo and Kako), a silent comic that we could sell at the convention. We were fed up of only showing pages on portfolio reviews. In 2004, we also got our first story published in the US, URSULA, by Ait/Planet Lar, a publisher we had discovered the year before and that had published a book called Last of the Independents, by Matt Fraction and Kieron Dwyer. It was at the AiT booth in San Diego that we also met a tiny little shy girl called Becky Cloonan. And it was with AiT that we would make our first really commercial comic, Smoke and Guns, written by Kirsten Baldock, with high hopes that it would be turned into a movie.

Smoke and Guns didn't turn into a movie, but it called the attention of a guy called Eric Stephenson, who was an editor at... Image Comics. He saw some pages of it online and looked for what Fábio had done before. He found Rock'n'Roll and liked it. And just like that, he contacted us.

He wanted to publish Rock'n'Roll at Image and he had this project pitched by a writer called Matt Fraction that he thought Fábio's artwork fitted the bill. It was called Casanova.

Like a work of magic (and more than ten years later), we were where we wanted to be in the first place. It was only then that we discovered that Image had changed a lot from the last time we checked. It was no longer Wildcats, Youngblood, Cyberforce, Spawn and Witchblade all over the place, but now it was more like a "big independent publisher", full of new creator-owned projects like Powers, Invincible, Pirates of Coney Island, Walking Dead and anthologies like Flight, so we felt right at home.

All at once, our efforts started to pay off and everything began to happen in our freshly started careers. Image published Rock'n'Roll and Casanova and we did a little story for an anthology called 24seven, also published by them, organized by Ivan Brandon. We ended up doing another story for the second volume of 24seven on the next year (nominated for an Eisner of best anthology).
As we were publishing new and interesting comics, we shared tables on the Image booth for 3 years in a row, an important move to look the audience in the eye and win them over with our charming accent. Located on a tremendous spot and sharing the space with incredible creators, we took the most of this experience selling all our comics (even the ones we had with other publishers), including our self-published "5", done with Becky Cloonan and Vasilis Lolos, that ended up winning an Eisner Award in 2008. Selling it at that table during the convention was crucial to it's success.

For the past three years, everything has changed for me. If it wasn't for Eric Stephenson's first contact, there would be no Casanova. If that would be the case, there'd be no Umbrella Academy, because that comic really made Scott Allie and Gerard Way invite me to the series. We met incredible people over these years. Eric Stephenson, Joe Keating, Drew Gill, Ivan Brandon, Andy MacDonald, Paul Azaceta, Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Rick Spears, Jason Pearson and Robert Kirkman. I'm sure there's a whole lot more.

We have worked with a lot of different publishers, small and big, in Brazil and in the U.S., on very different projects. No one is perfect, there's no easy way to do this thing we do. All you need is to really love what you're doing and that's what Image represented for me from the beginning: love for comicbooks.

I don't know about you, but Image Comics really changed my life.

Hulk Smash!

Soon, in a comic book store near you.

Witch and Wizard cover 2

I'm doing the covers for this Witch and Wizard mini-series at IDW. You can find out more about this at their June solicitation list.

It's good to stretch other muscles from time to time.

Below, a detail of the inking, the initial approved sketch, the inked version and the final cover.

Flower

What about you?

Going up or down?

Daytripper 4 ever.

Moon and Bá have crafted a frighteningly human story, winding together the moments that define who we are to weave a tapestry of life and death. Lyrical, poetic, and haunting, Daytripper is an experience that will resonate with you long after you have put the book down.
-- Becky Cloonan (5, PIXU, DEMO)



Daytripper 4 is out now.

Don't miss it.

a note in the mail

Along with the first issue of the new DEMO, we just got a note from Becky in the mail.


Do you still go to the mail to send your friends stuff? Doesn't it feel great when you get something in the mail from a friend.

In a profession where we work mostly by ourselves, it's good to have friends who reach out. We should all do it.

Lets make comics, and share with our friends.

p.s: Daytripper #4 comes out today. Go grab your copy before your store runs out of copies.

God Save the Queen - Brazilian comics in the UK

We had our share of traveling (nowadays mostly business trips) and we always come back home with the certainty that we will never leave Brazil. Not that there's something wrong with other places and Brazil is certainly not perfect, but it's our home. And we're glad to notice that for the foreign eyes turning their attentions to our home, even with all the flaws and things we're not happy about, Brazil has never looked so good.

The Southbank Centre in London, UK, will be holding Festival Brazil, a celebration of the country's cultural heritage, including music, visual arts, dance, literature, debates and food. It will begin in June 19th and it will go until September 5th. Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes, Tom Zé, Sócrates, Milton Hatoum and lots of other artists on one big event. Here's the promotional video, only a little taste of all the diverse talents that will be part of the festival.



And if Brazil is on a good phase, the same can be said about comics, getting a lot of attention and recognition all around the world, proving itself to be more than just pretty pictures, but one of the most fresh and inovative forms of art and storytelling of our times. With that in mind, among the literay attractions of the festival, there's going to be a panel with Fábio and me on July 5th at 7pm, where we'll talk about comics in general, our work and what Brazil has to do with all of that.

You can get all the information about Festival Brazil on their website. You can learn more about our panel and also book your ticket for one of the 250 seats here.

On our most recent work, Daytripper, we are telling a story different from all the others we have told before. We are showing this Brazil that no other comic has ever shown. Let's all meet up in London and talk about how we can always be surprised by people, what they do, the places we know and the ones we are yet to discover.

Spiderman

Brás

Find out more about Daytripper here.

Daytripper 6 solicitation

Daytripper 6 (of 10)

Written by GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
Art by GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
Cover by GABRIEL BÁ
When life takes us by surprise and makes everyone want to close their eyes, Brás finally gains something he’s been waiting his entire life to find. But he would trade it all to know what happened in Rio.


Vertigo, 32 pg, color, US $2.99 - mature readers
On sale MAY 12

Our podcast on the day Daytripper #3 hits

Today, Daytripper #3 hits the stands. We love this issue and now it's on the readers hands. It's on your hands.

That podcast on the previous post, on Alter Ego Comic Cast? Here the updated link with the actual talk. Fun stuff

Finally, also this week I contributed to a 4 page story inside DMZ #50. I liked the story and the idea behind it, and I'm very happy about the way it came out on paper. Also, I now have my name on a comic along with Jim Lee, Dave Gibbons and Eduardo Risso. Wow.

Strange fact: the artwork from Daytripper #3 was finished about one year earlier than the artwork for DMZ.

Alter Ego on the 10th

This wednesday, we'll be on the Alter Ego Comic Cast talking about our past and present work, focusing maybe on Daytripper since it's the same day issue 3 hits the stands. We talked to the Alter Ego folks last thursday, it was a night of heavy raining here in São Paulo, and just until half hour prior to recording the podcast, we had no internet at the studio and we kept wondering if we should go home and do it there. Little did we know that at home, because of the rain, the entire neighborhood was powerless, enjoying a blackout. The internet came back as we were packing to leave the studio, so everything worked out fine.

Beach

Childhood and the trip of growing up

Since we've done URSULA back in 2000 (wow! 10 years ago), we haven't really come back to the realms of children and childhood on our stories. There's a certain way of looking at life and explaining the world that sometimes is easier when you're looking at it through the eyes of a child.

Well, we certainly dug deep on our fifth chapter of Daytripper, just solicited, and I couldn't be prouder.

I like the power comics have to turn ourselves back into children at the same time they make the adults think harder about life. Very few things in life have this range.

I hope you are all enjoying our series. This is all I've ever wanted to do on a comicbook and we still have a lot to tell.

Daytripper 5 (of 10)

Written by FÁBIO MOON and GABRIEL BÁ; Art by GABRIEL BÁ and FÁBIO MOON; Cover by GABRIEL BÁ
At 11 years old, Brás's world was only as big as his house. But that changed when his family headed to his grandparents' countryside ranch. And there – at a place where the sun was stronger and the stars shone brighter – Brás would suddenly see everything under a new light!

Vertigo - 32pg. - Color - $2.99 US - Mature Readers
On Sale April 14, 2010

Do you remember that trip?

The second issue of Daytripper comes out today. This chapter was one of the first ones we knew we wanted to tell (the first promotional image of the book refers to this part of the story), and one of the hardest to write. It answers some questions and poses others.

Brás is going places, making a magical trip across the country.

And we're going along for the ride.

We wouldn't want to miss it.

We certainly wouldn't want to miss her.


Daytripper 2
Written by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon
Art by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá
Cover by Gabriel Bá

The first girl of 2010

I know, I signed the wrong date. It happens.
Happy 2010.

Daytripper 4 solicited!

After almost two years sailing in the dark, it's great to finally have the first issue of Daytripper on the stands, on everbody's hands, on so many reviews. And it is also good to look ahead and see where we are taking the readers. It's a long journey and we have just started.



DAYTRIPPER #4
On sale MARCH 10 • 4 of 10 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US MATURE READERS
Written by FÁBIO MOON & GABRIEL BÁ
Art by GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
Cover by GABRIEL BÁ

“Honest and arousing, everything about Fabio Moon’s artwork is sexy – even when it’s dirty and lonely. Once I started reading DAYTRIPPER, I couldn’t put it down!”– Jeff Smith (Bone)

It’s a day of celebration as Brás’ son is born! But why is Brás’ mother at the hospital before him? And when it comes to his family getting bigger, why might he not want to welcome all its new

Good Company

At the Vertigo Blog, you can find a very interesting line-up of artists. To be on the same book as them is thrilling. When I agreed contributing, I had no idea who else would be on the book.

I did my best, and I'm very happy with my pages, but right now all I can think of is "what will everybody else on the book be doing?"

Here's one of mine:

Daytripper day!

Daytripper is out today.

Every new day something can happen or you can meet someone that will change your life forever. These kinds of surprises make life an adventure and that's the kind of feeling we want the readers to have on Daytripper, our new 10 part limited series at Vertigo.

Today is one of those days.

We gave an interview to Comic Book Resources a month ago about the series, and another to Newsarama this week. We've written about the concept of the story and talked about our literary influences.

Our editor Pornsak has a delightful input on the process of getting the first cover right over at the Vertigo blog (and that's not even half of it).

Gerard Way, my partner on Umbrella Academy, sent the following quote about the series:

“From being two kids flying their portfolios halfway across the world to comic conventions, Gabriel Bá and and Fábio Moon are finally realizing their life’s work frighteningly young. Beautifully written and utterly gorgeous, DAYTRIPPER completely blew me away. Even more startling is the fact that for them this is truly just the beginning.”

Enough talk. It's time. Daytripper is out today and it will change everything.

Talking about the trip

"Have you ever realized how our lives can change at any given moment? Have you noticed how we can plan ahead all we want, but we're always surprised by the unexpected? And that, afterwards, we end up with a sum of moments, both good and bad, that really define who we are, what we want, and what we love? Well, such roller coasters of ordinary life happen every day, and that's what DAYTRIPPER is about."

That's part of our "On the Ledge" text that can be read on every Vertigo book this month and also here.

DAYTRIPPER is 10 issues mini-series and it's a story about life and all the little moments that ask the big questions. It's an adventure just like life itself, a journey where it's not so important where you're going, but how you get there.

Fábio and I are really excited about this. More than the day this idea struck me, more than the day the project was accepted, now the time has come for it to become a reality. We gave a long interview to Comic Book Resources almost a month ago about the series, but now this is actually happening and we want everyone to be there when it does!

I was talking to Gerard last week, chatting about life, traveling, comics and music, and we talked a lot about Daytripper. How could we not? Fábio had the camera ready and we got it all recorded, just so we could share this very special conversation about our very special project.

DAYTRIPPER #1 will be on the stands this wednesday, December 9th, and you should all go to your favorite comic-stores and be part of this story.

A WEEK FROM NOW!

A week from now, Daytripper will hit the comicshops all around the U.S. (all around the globe, soon after that).

A week from now, what started with one sentence and became an idea, what had been our first ever pitch to anything and turned into our first Vertigo project, a series of 10 chapters, will finally become a reality.

A week from now, Daytripper will change our career. It will change our lives.

It will change yours too.

Có

"This doesn't look like someone's FIRST comic at all!", I though as I read it. I wish all first comics looked this good, this crisp, this funny.

Có is Gustavo Duarte's very first comic, and it's amazing.

I know Gustavo for many years now, and we met in a Caricature event. I was doing caricatures for free at the park for some event, along with my brother and another friend, and when the event asked us to have more people working, our friend brought Gustavo.

And boy he was good at doing caricatures.


I soon discovered he world as a cartoonist on a sports newspaper and soon I realized not only was he good, he was really into comics. As I followed his blog, I kept seeing various comics related cartoons, some that he used on his work, and some he did out of pleasure.



Bá and I, we're stupid. We can't see an itch and we feel this need to scratch it. Somebody can have a very easy going and succesful life, but if we see this person has the "comics itch", we'll go there and scratch it until it grows. Some people want that itch to grow and need an excuse, and we love to be somebody's excuse to do comics.



Gustavo wanted to do comics. He might have wanted to do just one comic book. I told him "Go", and I kept telling him every time I saw him.

Go.

I'm so glad he went. And what an amazing comic he did.



This year, in San Diego, I convinced Gustavo to go to the convention and sell his comic there ( I guess this was another excuse he had to do it) and it was awesome to see the response of the public. Có is a funny comic, and there's nothing better than seeing people holding a funny comic and, suddenly, they would start laughing. Comedy must be immediate, and the response should be equally fast, and Gustavo hit all the right notes in his comic.

His VERY first comic.



He told me he would be happy if he could have done only one comic. And that he did, but soon he discovered what people discover when they start doing comics:

When you finish, it feels great because you did it.

When you finish, you can't wait to start the next one. It's addictive.

While Gustavo is already planning his next comic, you can look for Có at my favorite online retailer, Khepri.com (click here to get your copy). If you don't live in Brazil, Khepri is your best option to find this comic before it sells out.

And then you'll agree with me, and you'll join me as we wait for whatever is next.

note: all the images above on this post were drawn by Gustavo.

Daytripper 3, DMZ 50 and a conversation

Did you buy any Vertigo Comics this week? Last week? Well, if you did, you saw the Daytripper preview (a different one from the one that went online yesterday) printed inside. But, in case you missed it, along with the preview there was a conversation with Bá and me about the book, and that conversation is now online at the Vertigo blog.

Also, the solicitations for February are online and so is our lovely cover for Daytripper 3.

Written by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá
Art by Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon
Cover by Gabriel Bá
"I hate you, you piece of s---!" Those were her last words before she left him. If all we need is love, how do we keep going once we lose it? To find out, Bras' father will take him to the desert and take Bras' best friend to an art show.

Vertigo 32pg. Color $2.99 US Mature Readers
On Sale February 10, 2010

WAIT! There's more.

Also on February, Vertigo will release DMZ #50, and it will be an special issue with several guest artists, including me. That's the story I'm drawing this month along with my regular Daytripper pages, and this issue of DMZ will come out the same day ad the third issue of Daytripper.

I have to get back to work. I'm very excited about this series, I'm excited about next year, I'm excited about comics in general, but I really need to lower my head a bit and focus on some pages.

Thanks for the support and patience. The wait is almost over.

Big preview of Daytripper 1

What a day.

Today, at the Vertigo blog, you can check out an extended preview of the first issue of Daytripper. The cover and the first 8 pages are there for you to enjoy, get a glimpse of our new series, and hopefully they'll leave you craving for more.

In October, while visiting our studio, Ivan Brandon read the first 5 issues and said that Daytripper "is one of the most unique and heartbreaking books you'll ever read". I hope more people feel that way.

Tonight is tango night. It's always better to tango when you feel you have something to celebrate. As we get closer to the release date of the first issue, I feel every day I should be celebrating. Working at the same time, but still finding some time to celebrate.

As I tango, I suppose the internet will provide another treat tonight: the cover for the third issue of Daytripper. I'd keep my eyes open for that one. And to finish this post with something new to show, here's a sketch I did back in August as Bá and I were still figuring out what were we doing for the cover of issue one. Bá came up with the idea of Brás (our main character) sitting in the bench with his dog, Dante (yes, I'm giving away names, but that's because they're all on the preview I linked above), and I started to play with the background image and then Bá took that thought and created the awesome first cover.

13 at night.

Friday 13th. Here I am at night, headed home. First, I stop to think about all these things that seem to be happening at the same time.



I put aside my X-Men curiosity for a while. It was getting in the way of my pages. It was getting serious in an unhealthy kind of way. When time allows, I'll get back to it as the curiosity is still here, alive and kicking, but there are more urgent matter kicking harder. I did, however, managed to do some more sketches of the X-Men. And what trouble did they bring. I can tell you it's not easy to draw those people.

But back to what takes most of my time: Daytripper.

The release of Daytripper is getting closer and closer. Finally, after more than a year working on it, it's finally happening. We have never been so proud of anything we did like we are of Daytripper, and I think it really shows how much we like this project when we realize how much hard work it requires from us. We do everything the same we did with any other project, but it just seems harder, like it's so much more personal that it hurts to get it done, to get it out. Matt Fraction told us writing Casanova was a lot more trouble than writing anything else, so I guess it's expected.

Talking about Matt, he spent the entire week answering all sorts of questions on the WhiteChapel forum, and I found it very interesting for anyone who wants to know more about writing and making comic books for bigger and smaller publishers. I also liked that questions were balanced between his Marvel work and Casanova as it shows that readers are waiting for the book's return. We've been planning the book's return for some time now and it was very nice to see Matt share some information of the hows and whens of it. Everybody should check out that discussion, I couldn't help it myself and made some questions, and I ended up answering some as well.

That's how we'll learn: getting out there, making questions, trying things out by ourselves.

I have a lot of faith for the future of comics and I welcome all the hard work involved in being a part of this present and this future. I won't be easly scared if things get rough. Not now, on a friday 13th at night, and not ever.

Don't you just love comics?

Birthday sketch

I think this is my very first Sandman. Done over my coffe-break.
Happy birthday, Neil.

kid

the talk of X-Men

A week ago, I was thinking about Casanova and I read something on Matt's twitter about what he wanted to do someday in a story, and I joked ( on my twitter) he was already doing that on his X-Men. All this silly talking soon turned into a "what if I did draw the X-Men?" that got my corner of the internet talking.

I got curious.

Just the day before that, I was talking to Grampá, Rafa and Cobiaco I didn't thought I was a good fit for super heroes just because I wasn't curious to see super heroes in my style. I'm curious to see Grampá drawing them, or Paul Pope, or John Cassaday, or even Bá, but not me.

Now you imagine you're crazy like me, and then you mix the conversation with Grampá and the internet cheering, and then my curiosity suddenly grew and looked me in the face, challenging me.

I fed this challenging curiosity a few days, researching the current X-Men.

I opened the sketchbook during one of my many coffee breaks.

I just let my curiosity drive my hand.

My hand drew Casanova characters.

Halloween

Noir

It was in the end of 2008 when Diana called us to do a story for her Noir anthology. Of all the things she could have said to invite us to the project (we would have done it in a blink anyway, because it was for her), she just had the perfect two words:

Brian Azzarello

We've known Brian for some time and it was just great to finally be able to work with him. He's got this twisted mind, one that sometimes we wished we had when we're coming up with new stories, and it was nice to get inside his twisted mind for a while and draw this story.

Now, the book is out. Check the link here and look for it on your comic book store. There's a great selection of crime fiction in it from a all star list of creators. I'm a suspect, for I love all of Diana's anthology projects, but this one is a killer.