This graphic novel was beautiful to look at! The art style is stunning! I think I would gladly buy a poster or some decorative art in this style. As for the actual plot? I don't know, its fun but I did not find it particularly substantial. I don't know if I would necessarily pick up the next volume.

This collection of comics was unexpectedly right up my alley. The characters were well developed and the action was nonstop. Definitely looking forward to volume 2.

Really cool concept, amazing art that was very well suited to the narrative. I think the protagonist is unusual, but compelling to follow, and I like seeing what regrets people have that dragged them into this scenario. There were a LOT of characters but given how many of these folks get eliminated, I'm not too surprised... though it does sometimes feel like a lot to balance in one volume. I do wish there was a bit more lore to pull me into volume 2, but I'm definitely interested in picking up the next installment!

"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."

Taking the car race premise to a WHOLE. NEW. LEVEL!

“Like Death Race, but with time travel. ” -Me. That’s it. That’s the review. JK.

I didn’t get up to much after work yesterday. Was in bed a little after 8, but I did read this awesome trade collection of the first six issues of Backtrack, annnnnd imma need more. Like yesterday. It really is like Death Race but with dinosaurs, some cebturion like soldiers annnnnnd Soviet operatives.

Imagine if you had the opportunity to fix your biggest mistake. That’s the offer to all of these racers who have come to compete for the win. It’s just a 30 mile drive, how hard could it be? Turns out VERY hard. These characters will race through time, but only one will survive to fix their mistakes. People with nothing left to lose will do anything, and the game master knows that.

I love the concept. The art is dope, and I can’t wait to see where this series goes. This collection is out now if it sounds up your alley.

'Backtrack, Vol. 1' by Brian Jones and Doug Garbark with art by Jake Elphick is about a group of racers racing through time.

A group of racers with regrets are approached with an opportunity: Win the race and have a chance to fix a mistake of the past.  A woman receives the invite with a poignant reminder of her error and takes the challenge.  The first race finds racers in prehistoric times outrunning dinosaurs on the way to a waypoint.

It's an interesting premise as long as you don't look too deep.  Somehow muscle cars are able to run on any terrain.  Somehow people who desperately want to win are cooperating. It's still quite a bit of fun and the art is not bad, either.

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

My thanks to Oni Press for a digital edition via NetGalley of ‘Backtrack Vol 1’ by Brian Joines in exchange for an honest review. This fast paced graphic novel is illustrated by Jake Elphick. 

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

Alyson is a former criminal wheelman weighed down with guilt. Then Casper Quellex, an eccentric businessman, approaches her with the opportunity to take part in a massive cross-country car race. The winner will be granted an opportunity to correct a single mistake in their life. Sounds simple but there’s a catch - each leg of the race covers a different period in history. It’s deadly and only one can survive. Not great odds. 

I adored the cover art and thought the premise of a time travelling car race sounded brilliant. However, I just didn’t mesh with the story. I enjoyed some of it but often felt adrift and uncertain what was happening.

I expect that this will be of more interest to readers that enjoy the Fast and Furious franchise, are into cars and racing, and seek full on action sequences in their graphic novels.

As a result of it not being my thing, I won’t be seeking out Vol 2.

Backtrack was a rollercoaster! I enjoyed it, ALMOST completely!

This graphic novel has a lot of promise, at first doing something so rare and that’s bringing an original concept to a genre and medium it really belongs in.

This volume will appeal to fans of cars, Fast & Furious and anything time travel-y; it’s an interesting take to draw in readers and nerds  alike and I finished with delight, well delight in the sense of action!

However, I don’t think it fully latched on to me, I had fun and had these moments with it but I didn’t get quite the rush a story like this needs from you.

It’s worth a shot to see which way it drives you because it has the roots to be some people’s favourites - unfortunately for me it didn’t entirely get there!


Thank you to Netgalley & One Press for an arc of this volume in return for an honest review!

Do you like car racing movies like The Fast and The Furious? Would you like them more if they included time travel?!

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Thank you @onipress and @netgalley for the ARC of Backtrack vol.1 #1-5 byBrian Joines, Doug Garbark, and Jake Elphick. This action packed graphic novel comes out November 17th.

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Synopsis from the publisher: 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.

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This is a fast paced, action packed, and super violent graphic novel! The vivid and colorful illustrations have the storyline an extra punch that keeps the reader reading as fast as they can to see what happens next. I will definitely be looking forward to vol. 2 to find out how this epic race concludes.

The Concept for this really caught my eye. I'm a big fan of action movies and graphic novels and I really wanted a little fast paced action in between everything I've been reading. In this we meet Alyson Levy, a past driver who now spends her days drinking til she can't stand. It's obvious from the start that there's something weighing down Levy, of course, in comes a mysterious man who offers Levy a chance to right her wrong. There is just one condition, she needs to win a race, which sounds too good to be true.
 
 At first suspicious, she relents and qualifies, however, it's not just any race and she finds herself not only struggling to win but also survive. Since this is the first volume I gave it some leeway when it came to set up, but there's a lot of dialogue in this. The action is okay, but it doesn't pick up much until the end. WE also only get to see snippets of what happened with Levy that made her accept this deal. I was hopping I would get to see more than what was given but I understand the need to spread it out.
 
There also a large cast of characters, most of whom didn't matter or are very annoying, but there are a handful I do like . The artwork is good and does carry the action scenes well.

Overall, an interesting premise that has a lot of promise.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this Arc in exchange for a honest review.. 

Fast and Furious meets time travel, I really enjoyed this! I loved how we got to meet a female protagonist that seems like a badass. The idea of winning a race through time travel to take back things you've done in life and to have everything you want was fantastic! 

The art and style of this was amazing, the vivid colours and shading made it really stand out. I didn't like the fact that there was no English translation for the foreign languages, I felt like I was missing a part of the story. 

I loved the cliffhanger, it was a ride! Can't wait for Vol.2!

Thanks  to netgalley.com and One Press for the advance PDF copy for my honest review. The description about a cross history race, it's a mashup of historical and biographical, with science fiction but just never got into the story, didn't like any characters, lost interested in it and was not what I was expecting.

I received an ARC copy of #BacktrackVol1 from #NetGalley.

This was a very cool comic with a very original premis. Win a car race and you get the chance to change one even in your past. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, it's not. All the drivers are criminals of some sort and the course takes them to differnt time periods in the past. They start out trying to outrun dinosaurs and even up mowing down Romans. They even end up being taken prisoner in 1970s Germany.

I wasn't sure what to expect from one panel to the next. The artword is simply gorgeous and the storytelling is top notch. I'm eager to see what happens in the next chapters.

The art style was really good, and suited the story, making it feel more cohesive. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, but it was still overall a good read.

OMG This Graphic Novel was soooo good. I love the time travel race concept. This would be a really good concept for a movie. Really captivating story and amazing characters.  Honestly there was non-stop action that kept me going the entire time.  I NEED MORE.

THIS. GRAPHIC. NOVEL. IS. SO. GOOD. 

I loved it. That cliffhanger was intense. I want more. I want more RIGHT NOW. Backtrack has a FANTASTIC concept. It's fast paced, fascinating, etc. I could go on and on. The art style is gorgeous, I can't get over it. I want this in print, badly. I genuinely have no criticisms about Backtrack. I can't wait to read more from Joines and can't wait to see what happens next in Backtrack! 

Thank you to Brian Joines, Oni Press, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion!

a rip-roarin' beginning of a series that had me racing to the finish line!

a unique twist on both the high-stakes-car-race and time-travel genres, “backtrack vol. 1” is a fun ride. while i had trouble distinguishing some of the characters, i didn't care; i just wanted to know what was going to happen next! as a bonus, it provides a crash course on historical disasters and hardships, plus a smoothly integrated diverse set of racers. what’s more, characters who speak languages other than english are granted the dignity of speaking in their own language on the page, instead of being forced into an english translation for the comfort of the reader.

it is obvious that this book was created by men. the characters all have a certain machismo to them that, from my experience, is not often found in works created by non-men.  while characters with such hard-edges can easily be found lacking in tenderness, "backtrack vol. 1" surprised me with its emotional depth.

ultimately, “backtrack vol. 1” had me hooked and left me thirsting for more. the first installment hasn't officially been published yet and i’m already eagerly awaiting the second.

thank you to netgalley and oni press for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Basically, this is Sliders meets Fast and Furious. If that sounds like your jam, then this comic won't disappoint.  The artwork is sumptuous, thickly inked and richly coloured it rides the line between gaudy and gorgeous. It is a beautiful book to look at. Much like a Fast Universe movie, the cast of characters includes criminals and corrupt cops. However, the competitors also include a spoiled heiress and her driver, the son of a Nascar driver, and, other assorted misfits that almost veers into Wacky Racers territory.

The action, for the most part, is riveting and well-illustrated. Certain sequences don't work though, and I sort of think that this story would have been better served if it was either in live-action and animated. Securing the budget that would be needed to do justice to a time-travelling racing story that features dinosaurs might be why they decided to go the comic route. The characters are just well developed enough to where you are invested in their survival. Casper Quellex is a camp, devious, scenery-chewing villain that is a lot of fun to route against. 

On the whole, this book is entertaining.  I felt it lost steam towards the end, and the final chapters had me rolling my eyes with the silliness what was on-page.  It might say more about me that I had a bigger problem suspending my disbelief with the protagonists escaping from kidnappers than I did with them outrunning a T-Rex.  I also felt that the creators used most of their best ideas early on. Not sure if the concept has enough going for it to sustain an ongoing series. There are some great set-pieces and engaging character moments that are best enjoyed with your brain switched off. 

I am not a fan of Micahel Bay films or The Fast & Furious movies it is not normally a comic I would seek out but I had a nice enough while I was reading it.

One Sentence Summary: Alyson Levy gets the chance of a lifetime to compete in a race that lets the winner go back in time to fix one mistake from their past.

Backtrack was a really interesting concept and I loved the idea of people competing in a race through different time periods. Our main character is Aly, a young woman who drives getaway cars for hire; but life hasn't been kind and Aly is struggling to get over the death of someone on her last job. Overall, the story was interesting but these first chapters just felt like a lot of angry people driving around. They have no control over where they end up and they've only just started to work together. The time spend in each time period is so short for us as the reader that it almost doesn't matter what the setting is for the race. There are several characters that also keep dropping wise words about letting go and moving on to Aly but the messaging feels a little heavy handed for the story.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Backtrack is a racing adventure through that time that leaves you as confused but interested as your main characters. Alyson Levy is our main character and she has been offered the opportunity to erase any mistake from her life if she can win a car race. This is not just any car race, this one has stops throughout history and the roads may or may not exist.

I really enjoyed the flashbacks that gave us more information about the different characters. This was a quick read as you speed through the story trying to understand what is happening. I thought the art was really well done. I look forward to the next volumes as the characters learn more about the race they're a part of.