Thanks to Netgalley and Boom! Studios for the ARC.

Gosh, this comic book!!

It's a fantastic tale of adventure, love and freedom. The illustrations are amazing black and white, somewhat simple, and just alive with motion. Beautiful.

The characters were somewhat... eh at first, and I did not know what to think of them, but as I kept reading they really grew on me and now I love them to bits.

The story is of a rebellion against a Nazi-like flying company that dominates the sky. We follow Jay, a brilliant pilot that only wants to fly, and Fix, an engineer with a troublesome background.
The duo finds themselves in the middle of the war, and our stubborn pilot must pick a side.

It's an utterly stunning comic book.

Jay is a phenomenal pilot who works for Avo, a military government, although he would not consider himself a strong supporter. When he meets Fix, a quirky guy needing a lift, Jay takes him on a trip… then does not get paid and finds out his passenger is a smuggler and a thief. Fix is also gifted working with radios and code. As they get to know each other on the run, they begin to try and find a way to take down Avo.

The illustrations in this novel are great! I like the simplicity of them. The beginning part of the novel is almost written like a journal/logbook from Jay’s perspective. Then it shifts to other characters point of views later on. I like the changes in font when characters are talking at times, so you know who is who in the communication – since much of it is over radio. It took me some time to get the gist of what was going on at the beginning and get to know the characters and what they were doing. There is a queer romance that is rather endearing, but not over-the-top – just sweet. One thing I found hard to follow were the action scenes, maybe that was intentional in the chaos, but the images just seem like blurred and squiggle lines at times.

Thank you Netgalley and BOOM! Studios for this ARC. I look forward to sharing this book with my secondary students.

An organization called Avo is gaining power after the last war. An Avo pilot transports a boy across the country only to find out he is a wanted thief. The pilot unconsciously becomes attached to the thief, so he helps him out of jail and to get a passport. They go on a high flying adventure together and eventually fall in love, but Avo comes after them when the pilot refuses a promotion and the thief makes a name for himself. The pilot turns himself in to save the thief. The thief works tirelessly to free the pilot from jail. Once that is accomplished, they fight to destroy Avo.

Eighty Days is A.C. Esquerra's debut graphic novel - and what a jaw-droppingly gorgeous debut it is! The story follows AVO pilot Jay as he falls into step with the mysterious but brilliant thief, Fix, and finds himself on the run and joining the resistance.The writing style was wonderful (especially once I realized that we were initially reading the scrawlings from Jay's journal, which I found particularly clever) and kept my attention glued to the page.

Esquerra's art style is mind blowingly beautiful and captivating - they create such an incredible world with a fantastic cast of unique and lovable characters, all in black and white. The lack of color made it a bit difficult to grasp what was happening in certain action scenes, but the frames were beautiful nonetheless. 

I found my heart aching for these characters so early on (which, of course, is how you know they're well developed); on more than one occasion, I found myself holding my breath as their lives were put on the line.

This is a beautiful story of the ache and fight for freedom, romance, and found family. I'm excited to read more works by Esquerra!

Another beautiful book from Archaia! Eighty Days took me a minute to settle into the writing style, but the story pulled me in as a pilot, Jay, finds himself embroiled in a resistance when he starts working with Fix, a young mysterious thief at odds with a dominant aviation guild--very reminiscent of the spread of Nazi-Germany through Europe. Freedom, flight, betrayal, and romance all play a part in this epic tale, all beautifully drawn in black and white.