Had to DNF - too many instances of multiple monologues overlapping, too many full-page spreads that are impossible to read on netgalley files, and more importantly, nothing much of interest in the wishy-washy drama.

I usually love graphic novels but this one just did not do anything for me at all. I honestly thought it was going to be good and it took me ages to download a copy. I just wish it had been worth it.


Ok now you probably think I hated it but you couldn't be further from the truth. I didn't hate it, I was disap[pointed in it. There was no real explanation so it got a bit confusing. Had the author explained things better maybe I would have enjoyed it more.


Also another complaint was the second half the graphics changed some what and the story didn't flow as well. I was guessing which bit to read next. I got the feeling I was guessing wrong.

To say I was disappointed is an understatement because I was really looking forward to it as I liked the description. Hell who wouldn't like a story of two lesbian assassins.


I didn't hate it nor did I love it. I gave it 2 stars purely because the whole thing was confusing although the idea was a good one.


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27276091-welcome-back-vol-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R18C2Z8RV7HDVB/ref=pe_1572281_66412651_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

2 1/2 Stars. I'm not a big graphic novel person, but I do like to read them on occasion. If I could find more in the F/F category, I would read more of them. When I saw Welcome Back, was about 2 lesbian assassins, I thought yes, this is right up my alley. Unfortunately, this was really just so so in my opinion.

This volume one, includes the first 4 parts of the series. I liked the first issue, but as the series went on, things became more convoluted to me. The story is about people who keep being reborn, to kill each other, then start all over again. One of the issues in this series, is lack of explanation. We don't really know why they keep being reborn, and why they have to kill each other. Some reason about balance was giving, but that was it. I must admit, half the time I really didn't even get what was going on, and what role the people in the background played. We are thrown into a world, were we don't really get what is going on or why.

I mentioned I liked the first issue, but as I read on, I noticed the art, seemed to have changed. I'm guessing a new artist? Which was disappointing as the art in the beginning was much better than at the end. Even the main characters suddenly looked different. I also had a big problem with reading some of the dialogue. The boxes would move all over, and the reading order would change. Too many times I was just guessing what order to read things, and I was wrong plenty of times. I really get frustrated when I don't know what I should be reading next in a graphic novel.

While I liked the theme of lesbian assassins, this just didn't come together for me. This is not a bad graphic novel, I just have too many complaints, to want to read the rest of the series.

An ARC was given to me from Netgalley, for a honest review.

Lover everything about it. I want more!!! Surpassed all expectations. It's beautiful to look at. Part of me wishes I had a physical copy to really examine some of the panels.

It's been a long time since I've read a graphic novel, but this one was so damn kick-ass. It isn't the first time I've seen this concept of reincarnation and two people fated to find/kill each other (Kannazuki no Miko comes to mind pretty strong especially since that also had LGBT elements), but I did enjoy this gritter style.

I have always been intrigued by the idea of reincarnation in general, but the idea of retaining your memories across these different lives, and how all of the different cultures you've been a part of, is so freaking interesting to think about. How would someone act if they've lived countless lives? Could you still make the same mistakes over and over again, or will you be like perfect and never mess up beyond accounting for real surprises? I'm hungry for more information about this story's universe.

The art style is what really prompted me to request it, but I did seem to notice some change about halfway through, where I couldn't tell if it was the same artist. Otherwise, not much to complain about in this, it was fun and has a lot of elements that pull me in.

Very interesting concept, and well fleshed out as the story progressed throughout this first collection! I'm not usually a fan of this kind of comic art style, but it works very well with the scenes - there's A LOT of violence in this, and the kind of classic American comic style goes hand in hand with it in my opinion.

Refreshing to see two female leads, and even more refreshing to see a complicated romance between them! I'm definitely going to keep on top of this series now, and can't wait to see what direction it's going to go in. I'm not completely sold on the "we MUST fight / caught in a never-ending cycle" concept, but as the story seems well thought out I can only imagine that we're going to delve more deeply into the history of this universe as the series progresses, and tackle the hard questions!

Overall, Welcome Back has a lot of good things going for it. The concept is good - reincarnated assassins that have been fighting the same war for hundreds of lifetimes. I like the art, in general (more on that later). And it kept me interested.

That being said, I had some issues with this graphic novel as well. The illustrator changed rather suddenly and with it so did the main characters', Mali & Tessa, appearances. The dialogue can be abrupt and hard to follow at times. And the characters seem to change opinion or purpose without any real motive or explanation.

The final issue I have had so far is a lack of answers. Tessa was woken up early, while Mali woke up late; why? What is the purpose of the war? Why do soldiers have one target, but the grunts can take out whoever and move up the chain? Where did the romance come in?

As a result between the changes made and the abruptness, Welcome Back has a rather disjointed feel. However, Vol. 1 only encompasses the first four issues of the series. There are four more to go. I am hopeful that maybe by the end, everything is explained.

This has been on my "to read" list for quite some time, and it disappoint. Assassins who fight, kill, and love each other again and again throughout lives and time. Great premise. The characters are imagined and diverse, and the art is great! I look forward to reading more volumes.

This was really good! I'm invested in the main characters and want to read the second volume as soon as possible. I'm hoping some of why this war is being fought, why these people are being reincarnated and "fated" to kill their targets will be answered in the next volume. I really liked the art in the second half of the book but didn't care for it in the first half; Mali is apparently 26, but the art made her look like a teenager. I really liked that the characters that reincarnate are not the same gender, race, etc. every time they come back.

In a nutshell:
What great fun! I really enjoyed reading this and am totally looking forward to where this story can and will go from here.

Story:
Mali and Tessa are two soldiers, bound in an endless war, being born and killed in an endless spiral of hatred and futility. We meet them in 2015 on their colliding trajectories of fate. There really is not much more to say about this premise except that I found it kickass and thought it worked really well for this story. I hope future issues will delve more into this war and what it means and where it can go from here.
The best part of this volume, for me, were hands down the characters. I loved Tessa and Mali and everybody they interacted with. The relationships made sense and worked really well for the story told.

Artwork:
I loved the artwork, especially in the beginning. I think the character look particularly badass in a stylized, over-the-top but still grounded in reality way and I absolutely adored that choice. Even after the chance in artwork, it still looked perfectly fine for me - but it lost a bit of the kick it had in the beginning, particularly when it comes to Mali. My absolute favourite part though was the clever use of colour. The pink and the green used worked brilliantly to make the art pop and to tell the story in a subtle way as well.

____
I recieved an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and BOOM! Studios in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!

I'm a sucker for a good cover. I know you aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover, but come on, bad cover design means the book will get passed up when it's on the shelf. (8 years as a bookseller, I would know)

The cover delivers and so does the content. I was worried that the "immortals being reincarnated" trope would fall flat here. As much as I love Wicked + Divine, I don't want to read a copy cat. Thankfully, there is nothing copy cat about this title.

The story is compelling enough for the reader to keep turning pages. There is enough exposition and action to keep even the picky reader happy. The art is great and adds to the narrative instead of taking away from it.

My only complaint? The star-crossed lovers thing was a bit too obvious and kinda annoying. (Gay men to lesbian? really? is this fan service?) But hey, I'm all for queer representation in graphic novels. There isn't enough of it. And thankfully it wasn't a big deal. It was just accepted.

People who like Wicked + Divine, Saga, and Capitan Marvel would enjoy this.

I really enjoyed this one - it's not perfect, so let's talk about the negatives first - 1) the art style changes mid-issue, and it can be confusing to figure out at first who everyone is after the change. 2) it can get confusing with a lot of internal monologues.

Now, onto the positives - it's a unique story, the writing is actually really good, and the characters are awesome. There are a lot of interesting details that help with the world building, and it raises a lot of cool questions.

I really liked this one and will definitely continue reading the series.

An interesting premise and great art but I'm still don't 100% understand the concept, the war, the sequels all needs a bit more explaining which I presume will come in future volumes. I am intrigued and would like to see more but only if my confusion is settled quickly!

I really loved this story! I loved the drawings and the plot itself. It's been a long time since I haven't read a graphic novel and I wasn't disappointed with this one!
There's also a lot of diversity and I'm not going to complain about that haha.
I was lost at some parts but otherwise I'm really interested in what's going to happen next.

I loved the artwork and it started strong, unfortunately, it went downhill from there. After a while I was just really bored. This is a very different type of comic than what I've read from Boom in the past. Hopefully it'll improve in the second volume, because the MC was very like-able.

The synopsis of this story sounded more interesting than the actual story. The graphics were nice but a bit too busy at some points. It was a very confusing story and very unnecessarily convoluting.

'Welcome Back, Vol 1: Help, I'm Alive' by Christopher Sebela with art by Jonathan Brandon Sawyer is a trippy graphic novel about past lives, past enemies and moving forward when things seem stuck in the same cycle.

Mali lives an ok life. She's got a roommate, a place to live, a dog, and a boyfriend. She's also got a serial killer for a dad and has to live with that in her past. That's not the only thing in her past. She also finds out she has been living over and over and fighting the same enemy in all of her previous lives. In each life, one prevails in combat, and then commits suicide so that the cycle can start all over again. Mali is just waking up to this fact, but will it be in time?

The story also follows her rival Tessa, and does so in what I thought was a pretty easy way to follow both stories.

It's the kind of in your face story that you just have to read and not ask too many questions, like how can Mali be so good at combat when she doesn't seem to have ever trained? Reincarnated warriors who want things to stop doesn't seem totally new, but I like the way things were handled in this medium. The art is pretty good in this graphic novel. I liked it.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from BOOM! Studios and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.