Backtrack Vol. 1

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Pub Date 17 Nov 2020 | Archive Date 28 Oct 2020

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Description

"Brilliant idea for a series, can’t wait to see where this one goes!" - Patton Oswalt

A former criminal driver is given the chance at redemption by entering a car race but there's just one catch: each leg covers a different period in history. 

If you had a chance to fix a mistake from your past, would you take it? Alyson Levy would.

Guilt weighs heavy on former criminal "wheelman," Alyson, who led an illicit life that left hers shattered. Enter Casper Quellex, an eccentric businessman who offers her the break of a lifetime: a massive cross-country car race that grants the winner an opportunity to correct a single mistake in their life. But here’s the catch -- each leg covers a different period in history. As if keeping the cars on the often-questionable (sometimes nonexistent) roads and staying ahead of competition wasn’t enough, the drivers will now have to contend with medieval warriors, dinosaurs, and natural disasters…it's all a possibility. Only the one who survives it all will be proven the winner, and like that, Alyson and the rest of the drivers find themselves in a gut-wrenching race through time and quickly learn that they must band together to form any chance for survival. But for an opportunity to turn back time, Alyson will drive from the Big Bang to the death knell of the universe.
"Brilliant idea for a series, can’t wait to see where this one goes!" - Patton Oswalt

A former criminal driver is given the chance at redemption by entering a car race but there's just one...

Advance Praise

"Brilliant idea for a series, can’t wait to see where this one goes!" - Patton Oswalt

"Brilliant idea for a series, can’t wait to see where this one goes!" - Patton Oswalt


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781620107867
PRICE US$19.99 (USD)
PAGES 144

Available on NetGalley

Download (PDF)

Average rating from 61 members


Featured Reviews

Backtrack has some of the best comic covers I've seen in awhile, between the layout and design, to the art, inking and coloring. Marco D'Alfonso did an amazing job on them and I keep getting distracted by all of the details in them. I started off like that because it's the main reason I decided to read this trade, along with liking the premise of a time travelling race.

Backtrack Vol. 1 follows Levy, a ex-getaway driver whose life has fallen apart after her last job. When she's offered the chance to go back in time and fix her mistake she doesn't believe it's real - but decides to try to do it anyway. That's how she ends up in a race through <i> literal </i> time, along with 14 other drivers, all willing to do whatever it takes to win.

The premise of Backtrack is such a good one, it's got time travel, dinosaurs (!) and is lowkey reminiscent of Mad Max and Fast and the Furious series. It's a fun balance of cheesy and dark, with some emotional elements to help balance out the action. It's also got those supervillain run fight arena vibes that show up in Marvel and DC, which is a niche trope, but one that I adore. My only complaint is that I wish we had gotten to know the characters a bit more before the story really kicked off. I barely knew who Levy was before I was supposed to root for her in the race, and some of the characters barely got any screen time before being unceremoniously offed ala Slipknot in the Suicide Squad movie. 

Joines isn't the only one who worked on this though. Backtrack has gorgeous interior art by Jake Elphick, the characters all have a pretty distinct design from one another (with the exception of all of the moustaches lol), and I appreciated how much effort went into consistently giving each character a unique face and body type. The art was topped off by beautiful, vibrant colors by Doug Garbark, that keep things interesting without being too overwhelming. A lot of times I feel like the balance between using bright and dark colors tends to lean very heavily to one side or the other, and I loved having an in-between, especially when it was used to show dark moments in the characters' lives.

Overall I enjoyed my introduction Backtrack, and am looking forward to seeing where things go next for Levy, Moirai and everyone else.

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This was definitely a great read for me!
Gorgeous artwork, an interesting story and a great collection of characters. The comic throws you straight into the action and then (heh) backtracks to provide your with the reasoning.
I will say the pacing is a little fast at times to get used to who is called what at first but you pick it up easily and don’t waste time with characters you don’t need to know about.

Great story telling and a comic to keep at eye on!

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I loved this so much!!!
This is such a unique, fun comic! It's got a totally original premise and a pulpy vibe that I just adored.
It manages to really balance the excitement of the adventure with a more serious tone when things go south.
Every issue brought new twists and surprises. I just couldn't get enough.
I will definitely be reading the rest of this series as it come out!

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Fast cars! Female protagonist! Time travel!

One of the above would have probably been enough to grab my attention but all three guaranteed I was going to pick this up.

Alyson Levy is invited to take part in a race, point A to point B, for which the winner gets the chance to go back in time and correct a mistake they’ve made. The problem is that there are checkpoints between point A and point B, and the segment of the race between each is in a different point in time.

The action kicks off from the get go, there’s no filler or waiting around for something to happen. Levy’s backstory and her motivation for taking part are told in snippets through flashback so the current storyline is never far from the page. The art is great and the covers are amazing! I love the fact that the artist and creator included a playlist for volume 1, a great little extra.

The only minor complaint is that I sometimes found it difficult to differentiate between some of the characters and it could be confusing in the race scenes to follow who was in which car and therefore who was where.

This is an entertaining collection of a comic with striking art and a fun premise. I’ll be looking out for the next volume.

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The fast/furious mix with mad max was really cool! I found myself enjoying the book and beginning to understand the characters. The idea of time travel was a bit confusing and I would like to see this more fleshed out in future volumes, but it definitely caught my eye and my interest!

Thanks to Netgalley for this book!

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I saw this comic compared to Mad Max and the Fast and the Furious and I totally agree I love the fast-paced action and not knowing what was coming next in the stories. The characters were unique and fun to learn more about I am looking forward to future comics to see them develop and learn more about their backstories. I loved the concept of time travel in it but I wished the mechanics of it were discussed more, this may be elaborated on in further volumes though. The art style took a little while to grow on me but by the end of the volume, I was loving all the detail and the colours.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this comic and am so excited for further volumes to see the story progress!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to enjoy this comic early!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3569709333

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So I started this thinking that I’d read this for a few minutes before switching to something else, but I couldn’t stop once I started. This was really exciting and I was seriously into the plot of racing to erase a mistake you made in the past. These characters are desperate and crazy and so interesting.

Reading this was literally like watching a car accident unfold in front of me and I couldn’t look away. The cover art is phenomenal, which is why I think I was a little disappointed with the art in the comic itself. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but the cover looks sooooo great that I was expecting a little more as I was reading it.

But that didn’t stop me from absolutely inhaling this one. The action is nonstop and Levy is a great main character. I couldn’t wait to see where they ended up next. And I cannot wait to continue the story! I hope it won’t be long before Volume 2 is released!!! This one is easy to recommend, but watch out, it’s serious, violent, and any humor is shrouded in darkness. Which I personally loved!!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Oni Press for allowing me to read this for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Amazon review pending publication.

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