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A review by capesandcovers
Backtrack Vol. 1, Volume 1 by Brian Joines
4.0
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 literal 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. Honestly, I enjoyed it enough that I'd love to see it as a TV series, I think it would transfer over pretty well, and there's definitely enough room to work with adding more details in to make full seasons.
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 literal 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. Honestly, I enjoyed it enough that I'd love to see it as a TV series, I think it would transfer over pretty well, and there's definitely enough room to work with adding more details in to make full seasons.