Two Brothers

Heartbreaking story at times of a family. Beautifully drawn with fast paced storytelling. Recommended.

Two Brothers is a graphic novel written by famed Brazilian brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, of Daytripper fame, loosely based on Brazilian novelist Milton Hatoum's 2000 novel “Brothers.” The story is generally about two brothers, one dark in spirit the other light all set in the Brazillian port of Manaus during the rubber boom in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The story is multi-generational with the twin's mother being the central focus of the story and at times, the narrator.

The central theme of the story is jealousy: jealousy of brother versus brother, or father jealous of the attention his wife bestows up their children. As the characters in the story age, their perspectives change as well. Some of the jealousy and passions displayed earlier as a younger person that were destructive, are put to higher uses and channeled into something much more positive as an adult. Aside from that, the plot of the story is a meandering labyrinth of story and perspective, to sum up. It is best read to be understood.
As much of a fan of the authors, this story left me cold. It has an overly complicated plot, made even more so by the shifting time frames. The art, of course, was well done. The authors are master artists, but even with such great art, it was too convoluted for me to get the full meaning out of the characters and stories. I found myself not caring after awhile. There are many great works put out by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, and I would skip this one and read one of their other great ones such as Daytripper, or How to Talk to Girls at Parties which they wrote with Neil Gaimon.

Adapted from Brazilian writer Milton Haltom's book The Brothers it is the story of radically different twin brothers set against each other since childhood. Significant in that Ba and Moon are also twins. I found the artwork and story compelling but difficult to resolve as the narrator moves back and forth through time and across generations. It touches on larger themes and hints at varied motivations but is confined by the medium. I suspect the original book might answer some of the questions I have.