I think for someone who is reading a sci-fi graphic novel for the first time like me this was something that was very different and I really enjoyed it and it’s really crazy because I had a dream about this graphic novel and I hope the others can enjoy it as much as I did. I don’t wanna talk too much about what goes on in the book because I don’t want to spoil the book, but here’s my small review. Maya, a comic book artist caught in a creative slump, is stressed by looming deadlines and frustrated that her work doesn’t align with her true passion. Struggling to shake off writer’s block while also giving dating advice to her best friend, Maya’s routine is interrupted by an unusual visitor: Soma, an alien who crash-lands right in her living room. Soma brings an urgent warning—an impending invasion by his own species is on the horizon, and he needs Maya’s help to stop it!

I enjoyed the journey Soma took me in, from its incredible characters to the stunning art. This was a surprising gem, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a graphic novel with heart, humor, and unforgettable visuals! At first it seemed like it’d be a slice-of-life story centered around a cartoonist’s daily life, but it turned out to be so much more thrilling and immersive than I thought. I mean... aliens coming to end all human life?? Like whyyyy!?

From the first pages, it’s clear that this graphic novel is a unique blend of humor, adventure, and personality that draws you right in. The art is stunning, so colorful and unique, it really immerses you in the world and complements the story beautifully.

I wish these was also a novel so we can get more information about the aliens and the life of Maya and Juu. I feel like i can personally relate to both 😂.

“Soma” by Fernando Llor is a fun, little sci-fi adventure with gorgeous illustrations by Carles Dalmau.
The story follows Maya, a comic book artist experiencing a creative block. Her life takes a thrilling turn when she encounters Soma, an extraterrestrial in desperate need of her help to stop an impending invasion. Overall, “Soma” is an exploration of creativity, friendship, and facing fears.

The story is a bit dark but the graphic novel is really bright and vibrant.

I picked up Soma because I’ve been following Carles Dalmau’s art on Instagram, and honestly, the art style is just as cute and colourful as I expected. Every page is beautiful and I'm obsessed with the art style. The story is super cute, and engaging, with its sad moments. If you’re into beautiful art and a fun, quick read, definitely check Soma out.

In Soma, by Fernando Llor, I immersed myself in a fun and vibrant world on the brink of alien invasion. The comic book takes place while Maya is trying to get out of a creative slump while feeling disconnected. After helping a friend with dating problems, she returns to work and finds an alien, Soma, crash-landing in her living room. Soma warns her of an imminent invasion, and together, Maya and Soma must try to save her neighborhood/city, which is the alien invasion's first stop before the rest of the world.

I thought this comic was super fun and fast-paced. Due to its easy-to-follow nature, this would be an excellent story for young adults and beyond. As someone firmly in adulthood, I find this a fun read to pass the time. The story kept me on my toes, and I enjoyed the straightforward nature of all the characters. I think the colors of the art and style matched the story.

I didn't give it five stars because I felt that because the story valued straightforwardness, it sacrificed a bit of depth. The most fleshed-out characters seemed to be Maya's friend, but we are asked to care a lot about Maya and Soma when we don't know as much as I'd like to know about them. Maya is a struggling artist, and I understand why Soma cares about humans, but what else? Regardless, I will still read a sequel in the future, and I am now a fan of Fernando Llor.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing a copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Soma follows the story of Maya a struggling and burnt out comic book artist as her world is turned upside down when an alien crash lands through her window.

I loved how the art style changed and adapted for the different circumstances Maya finds herself in. Be it the flashbacks from Soma's perspective, the different comics she is illustrating or the one off snippets of something different and unique. The art style in general was beautiful and kept me engaged.

Soma is a character is cute and funny and his story brought a tear to my eye. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a good graphic novel to read!

I'm sad about this one, I had high hopes for it. The premise sounded potentially really cute, but unfortunately it just really did not work for me. The art is the main thing, if I flip through a graphic novel and don't like the art style I won't read it, but bc this is an ARC I didn't have the option to do that so I read as much as I could. I didn't like color scheme, it was a lot of different shades of pink and purple, I didn;t like the art style, it was super busy and cluttered and just wasn't easy to read, it wasn't enjoyable and the actual captions often got lost within the cluttered landscape. I'm rating this a 2 bc I can't help but think this isn't the worst of the worst, but for me the reading experience was a 2.

Firstly a big thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for this ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) of SOMA by Fernando Llor.

First Impressions:

The cover art is beautiful, with an esthetically pleasing colour pallette of neon pinks and blue accents. The following blurb is from the publishers description:

'Maya is a comic book artist in the middle of a creative crisis. She’s constantly stressed about deadlines and feels like she’s not doing the type of work she loves. In between trying to fight her writer’s block and doling out advice to her best friend on how to finally land a date, Maya receives an unexpected visitor: Soma, an extraterrestrial alien who crashlands in Maya’s living room. Soma delivers a message to Maya, warning her that an alien invasion from his own kind is fast approaching, and he needs her help to stop it!'

Impressions after reading it:

After reading this over two weeks, but in two lone sittings, one each week, I really wish I had time to pick it back up and reread it because I really enjoyed it and would enjoy it more if it had stayed fresher in my head.

Absolutely stunning art and the plot proper consumed me. Filled to the brim with violence and adventure.
Probably good for teenagers up, rather than anyone younger as the themes are darker and kids just soak that sort of thing up.

Either way, I really enjoyed this graphic novel and highly recommend it.

Soma is a fun read. I really enjoyed the art style of the illustrations and how well it fit with the characters in the story.

Soma is a cute graphic novel about a comic author named Maya, her friend Juu who is looking for love, and Soma, the alien who shows up on her planet (specifically in her living room). The story details how the three all deal with a full scale planetary invasion!

I loved the kids in the park playing D&D and the older friends playing their game as the world fell apart. Those felt like cute homages to how lifelong gaming can be. Loved the references to everyone buying out toilet paper during a crisis. The pigeons in scarves deserve their own story as well.

From a more technical standpoint, I enjoyed the art and liked that we got glimpses of other styles at times, including 8-bit. I loved at the end when the creators took some time to show the reader how a graphic novel comes to fruition. That being said, I felt like the intro was a little confusing and it took me a second to catch what was going on. I also felt like some of the transitions were jarring as well, particularly when we first see the kids playing D&D in the park.

Finally, for me personally, I struggle with any book that shows so much smoking. I appreciate that Maya was shown to struggle with the side effects of smoking, but it was still such a bummer to me. For others, it's likely a non-issue.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Oni Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own!

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it will come out in February. This comic was so good! It was funny and emotional and sad and just such a ride. Well done!!!

Soma is a graphic novel with incredible illustrations, definitely leaning into the "show it, don't say it" approach. The story is both outrageous and fun, centering on a comic book artist dealing with burnout and art block when an alien arrives via window to help with a planet-wide invasion started by his own people.

While the art is phenomenal and the story unique, the plot itself wasn't as well developed as the visuals. The pacing felt off at times, with entire pages filled almost entirely with (admittedly gorgeous) artwork and minimal text. The characters could have used more depth and development too. It feels like beyond very surface level details, we don't really get to know them. I liked it, but it didn't quite strike the right balance for me.

Overall, Soma is worth checking out for its stunning artwork and unique concept, but don't expect a deeply developed story. If you're a fan of light and visual narratives, this one might be up your alley.

✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.

I enjoyed this entire story from start to finish. The story is so wholesome and so captivating. I told myself I was going to read a couple of pages but then I ended up finishing it in one sitting. The illustrations and colours are so pretty which makes this book an overall great read.

I was attracted by the cover slash art style, turns out it's even cooler when you see every single panel throughout the book! The plot itself is about a comic artist, Maya, who's been in an art block and thought the comics she made were all bland and sounds the same—heroine vs alien. It was until the actual aliens showed up in her apartment and the alien invasion occured a minute after.

It's been a long time but we all kniw that heroic comic will always be the trend. Knowing the plot, i was kinda hoping Maya would be more excited about what she's drawn all this time is happening right in front of her eyes. Even so, i love Maya as character in terms of design (the pink hair and the cat-eared hat? Iconic) and personality. It portrayed how easily artist and any other people who works in creative industry in general having burn out and art block. I love Maya's interaction with Soma, i just can't get enough.

Aside from Maya, there's her best friend Juu who's looking for a potential gf through dating app until the invasion broke. We get to see his point of view on the same time line, so it's back to back from him to Maya's, and i think it's a great idea. The story itself was told in a witty and light tone made it even more fun to read!

I was hoping more for the ending, but overall it's a pleasing experience!

Thank you to NetGalley and oni press for this arc!💗

Wow! I didn’t expect this book to go in such a bizarre direction. We are following Maya who is falling out of love with her job as a comic artist. BOOM an alien crashed into her living room warning her of an impending alien invasion about to end the world and is requesting Maya’s help.
We also follow Maya’s friend - Juu who is panicking about a first date, the date turns out to be boring but okey until it gets cut short from THE ALIENS CAUSING ABSOLUTE CHAOS!

I have read other comics illustrated by the same artist who did this one and as always it was absolutely gorgeous, i loved that in certain scenes the art style would completely change.
There was multiple funny scenes but i found the action packed scenes a little too chaotic which lost me a bit.
The characters were pretty well fleshed out and lovable except Juu, he felt very bland and whiny.
My favorite part was the pigeons wearing scarfs on page 31/33!! THEY ARE SO CUTEEEE🥰
I really enjoyed that when the book ended we got to read about how it was created, the concept art and sketches were really cool to see <3

Thanks to NetGalley and OniPress for an ARC of this graphic novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline and the wild and wacky elements of the story. The main character is going through a creative breakdown when an alien creature appears to her, while her best friend is having a romantic struggle.

I loved the art style as it added to the story and made it visually appealing. I liked the weird twists and turns that appeared as it matches my sense of amusement.

This novel is a great read for the weird and wonderful folks who enjoy weird and wonderful stories. I can't wait to give this another read upon its release!

This was a fun read the art was good too. I just wanted a little bit more to the story. We bounced around between two friends so I missed connecting with the characters more. When I saw this book the alien invasion caught my attention and I really was drawn to the art style. I will probably checkout other books by this author in the future.

Soma was so unexpected. I'll admit I thought it was going to be a slice-of-life story about a cartoonist, but what I got was so much more exiting.
The characters incredibly real but remain fun, loveable and cartooney in the best way!
The art is out of this world, a fun mixe of manga and cartooning. The colors pop off the pages and explode all over the place.
I enjoyed the story, the people and the art, so so much! I'll be looking for more from Fernando Llor, that for certain.

Actual rating: 3.5
Soma follows a comic book artist, Maya. Maya is burnt out from work and wishes she was using her skills on something different. As she struggles to get her work done, she's also juggling other aspects of her life. Her best friend Juu is going on his first date with a girl he met on a dating app and he is nervous. Oh, and Maya's life starts to resemble the comics she works on when she finds an alien named Soma in her home. Soma communicates that his alien race is planning on attacking earth and it is up to Maya and Soma to stop it.

Soma is a funny sci-fi graphic novel about modern day burnout, relationships, and becoming the hero of your own story. The graphics in Soma are so bright and attention grabbing. I loved the meta aspect of the story being about an illustrator of alien stories who experiences an alien invasion. I enjoyed that as a reader, you got to see glimpses of Maya's work and what was happening in the stories she was working on.

This is a great modern sci-fi graphic novel that is fun and humorous while also being relatable in terms of reflecting burnout and relationships in the digital age

I love the art style and colouring of this but ultimately the story just didn't grab me. I'm quite picky with graphic novels in fairness and think this will probably suit most readers, it just wasn't for me.