Daybreak
Volume 1
Two high school students take tentative steps toward a relationship in Moosopp’s romantic graphic novel Daybreak.
Marcus and Cog are classmates from different friend groups who pass each other in the halls and around campus. Marcus has a crush on Cog and thinks Cog may return his feelings. A home economics class mishap leads to Marcus sharing his culinary skills with Cog in the form of a once-a-week lunch. This small act starts the boys on a winding path toward revealing their feelings to themselves, their friends, and each other.
In the manga-style illustrations, Cog and Marcus are illustrated using individuated color palettes. Cog appears in cool-toned blues and greens, suited to his dark skin coloring and contemplative demeanor. Marcus appears in warm-toned pinks and yellows, announcing his bright personality and complementing his light brown coloring. Much of the story takes place within small, asymmetric panels concentrated in the center of the page. Breakout scenes, which take place outside of the panel, have less scenic depth; they float in the space, without background texture and color.
The boys’ slow-burn romance blossoms from Marcus’s nervous yet excited offers to make Cog’s lunch to Cog’s quiet insistence that they like it when Marcus dresses to impress. Though Marcus shifts between Cog’s he/they pronouns with alacrity, the boys are quite shy with each other; they tend to blush when they’re questioned about the other, morphing into chibi versions of themselves. But their timid conversations belie their mutual desires, which are reflected in the art: their panels sprout realistic flowers to reflect their growing mutual attraction. Other characters begin to showcase flower motifs in support of them, too.
Daybreak is a lighthearted graphic novel in which two boys navigate their crushes on each other.
Reviewed by
Dontaná McPherson-Joseph
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
