A review by senqin
Eighty Days by A.C. Esguerra

5.0

I want to fly, but I'd rather stay free. They are not the same thing anymore.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oh don’t mind me -- just crying over the fact that what started out as one of my favorite webcomics by one of my biggest art inspirations has now become one of my favorite books of all time. I remember buying a copy of the original comic back when it was still a work in progress and the author was self-publishing part 1 but in a tragic turn of events that (along with a lot of my others books) was lost because of water damage to my house. Now, years later, it’s just surreal being able to not only hold this piece of art again in my hands but also to actually experience the story all at once in its brilliant entirety.

And what an ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING story it is.



Eighty Days is about 3 people whose lives intersect as they are swept up into a revolution. An aloof pilot meets a mysterious thief-turned-resistance fighter and adopts some ideas about the nature of freedom and class boundaries that end up clashing with the belief and goals of the organization he serves...as well as those of his best friend, a fellow pilot. It is all at once a thrilling war drama ft. queer and POC heroes, an epic romance, and a quietly beautiful love letter to flight that has the feeling of a golden age film. There is especially such a strong sense of nostalgia, adventure, and timelessness in this book that's hard for me to explain but even harder for people to capture. The blend between the gorgeous artwork and the oftentimes poetic text is masterful and evokes so many emotions in you. I've lost count the number of times I would come across a page spread where the composition and the ink-work and the story would just stun me and I'd have to close the book simply to BREATHE and take everything in. There is no such thing as wasted space in the graphic novel, and so far I've read this twice and have discovered so many little details that I didn't notice initially it's simply brilliant. It literally blows my mind that A.C. Esguerra is somehow both the artist AND the writer...AND that this is their debut work. I loved the 3 main characters so much - they were multifaceted and their voices were so rich and distinct and they just lived and breathed off the pages. In fact, even very minor characters are just brimming with so much personality, and everything about the book's world just feels so alive.

To be honest, I wasn't sure about how I wanted to review this absolute gem to do it justice but decided that I don’t even want to give literally anything else away besides the fact that YOU NEED TO READ THIS! I, for one, am not going to stop shouting about it until Eighty Days gets the recognition that it deserves and wins ALL the awards.

Also, the physical copy of this book is stunning and so yes it is in fact a literal treasure.

— A.C. Esguerra's website
— ♩♫♩ ~ The Sky Crawlers