The Days That Disappear is an existential novel - one of the most important comic books of recent years. Timothe Le Boucher uses a simple story concept to present us a universal truth about life. Seemingly known to everyone, but not yet available in this form.
Lubin is a very talented twenty-year-old acrobat. The young man is happy - he has a group of trusted friends, a beautiful girl and he enjoys life to the fullest. Each day is an opportunity for him to pursue his passions, have fun and spend time on pleasures. He doesn't like stabilization, prefers video games to hard work. At some point, his life situation changes. The protagonist realizes that he is conscious only every other day - as if he slept all day long. He doesn't know what happens to his body while he is away. After some time, a terrifying truth comes to him - the power over Lubin is taken over by the other "me", who is his opposite. Pragmatic, more polite, goal-oriented, not interested in fun - the new Lubin quickly interacts with the previous owner of the body. Two personalities try to communicate and live in harmony, but with time the competition takes over. The new version of the hero begins to dominate. Carefree Lubin wakes up every two days, then every week, every month, every year, every decade ...
The Days That Disappear is a graphic novel with a fatalistic overtone on the one hand, and telling a lot about the present on the other. The creators deserve a huge round of applause for an excellent starting idea. Its strength lies in its simplicity, and it is thanks to it that the metaphor works so effectively and efficiently. After all, we have a story about a man who, on the threshold of adulthood, chooses everyday toil instead of chasing fleeting dreams and permanent carpe diem. The adopted path of life requires fitting into the social framework and abandoning previous fascinations. Lubin waking up from time to time is nothing more than flashes of the former "me" - a life force that never died in the hero. The story of two personalities is, therefore, the starting point for philosophical and existential considerations. Timothe Le Boucher is an absolute success in the plot. The story is thought out to the very end, and the conclusions drawn from the finale are a wonderful loop of everything that we experienced with Lubin.
Timothe Le Boucher is both a screenwriter and comic book artist. On the graphic level, however, there are no fireworks. It's a fairly simple line. Here and there you can see inspirations from Far Eastern aesthetics, but in general, we do not experience experiments in the comic. The visual layer is not eye-catching, but it can be considered the weakest element of the comic. A slightly less standard form would certainly complete the plot and bring the comic to the heights of excellence. You feel unsatisfied, but fortunately there is no failure - in the worst case, the quality of the drawings can be considered satisfactory.
The comic book The Days That Disappear draws heavily from magical realism. On the one hand, we have a real life that is very easy to relate to our daily lives. On the other hand, an unusual situation balancing on the verge of literalism and fantasy. What happens to Lubin is therefore both supernatural and completely real. The author, however, presents his vision so clearly that there is no problem deciphering the message. It will not be an exaggeration to say that we are dealing here with an important humanistic work that constitutes an important voice on the issue of existentialism in the context of modern times. This is an extremely up-to-date story, thanks to which even the Sunday reader will be able to gain some wisdom. Perfect proof that comics can be an important field of art nowadays..
