Review:
This is the explosive conclusion to Backtrack, the wonderfully imaginative time-travelling road race series by Brian Joines and rendered by Jake Elphick.
Joines contnues his taut pacing and scintillating drama. The racers who have survived dinosaurs, earthquakes and East German soldiers, get no rest. Blasting through the 7 Years War between Britain and France, a pirate-infused scavenger hunt, even a jump to the far future, the race settings remain as varied as ever, and the risks and dangers keep us on the edge of our seats, white-knuckled death-grip on the wheel.
Casper Quillex, the mastermind behind the race, keeps the dangerous curves coming. When the survivng racers form an alliance, standard fare in Reality TV but a cause of dismay of his bettors and far-future audience, Quillex gives them a new twist of a scavenger hunt that forces them to work together in ways not anticipated by their alliance. Yet even working togehter, one racer does not survive the time in the land of Pirates, and another makes a shocking decision.
Quillex is also not shy about manipulating his mole in the race, forcing him to help skew the results, sabotage another racer, and in general raise the stakes and the drama for his demanding viewers.
It all reaches maximum velocity in a final leg through Los Angeles and many of its time streams. Can Alyson Levy pull out the victory in the end? And if she does, what will she choose, given her journey of healing over the course of the race?
Joines hits his stride in sotry-telling and character development now that we are down to a core half-dozen racers. I love the brilliant flashbacks, the "Kind of .. Sort of" formula he leads with in each new chapter. These add depth to all the participants, avoiding any of them becoming simple, two-dimensional cardboard cutouts or stereotypes. And the twists come in every chapter.
The visuals also drive the story. Elphick's stylized postures and expressions can be tiresome, but the superb dynamismand creative spreads are engrosising, bursting with color and energy.
A pedal to the metal finish to a great story from concept to delivery.
Description:
Quellex is determined to make this his most entertaining race of all time and the drivers are in for more than a few curveballs. With each leg, the stakes accelerate, from pirate brawls, to colossal wars, to being transported to the far-future – they’ll have to move fast before they’re ancient history. But with their numbers seriously dwindled, hidden agendas bubble to the surface. In order to live through this, Alyson will have to cast that aside and put the pedal to the metal if she wants to win this race and change her past. Ready your engines, it’s down to the final racers. And it’s still anybody’s game.
Collects: #6-10
Authors: Brian Joines
Artists: Jake Elphick
Published By: Oni Press
Published When: April 13 2021
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN: 978-1620108420
Pages: 160 pages
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