Soma by Fernando Llor and Carles Dalmau. Rating: 4 stars.
Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to both the publishers over at Oni Press and NetGalley for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Soma follows a comic book artist, Maya, who is in a creative crisis and her friend Juu who has more typical problems--he's going on a first date with a girl from an app and is catastrophizing about it. But following their pep talk, Maya returns to her apartment to work when she hears a window break and discovers an alien in her living room. Who would have known first contact with aliens would happen in a comic book artist's living room? And, more importantly, who knew it would be so violent? Soma was originally published in Spanish in 2023 and will be available to read in English on February 25th.
This was your typical first contact with aliens story, but with a more gentle edge to it. Everything felt softer--despite aliens destroying the city and threatening it with nukes. It seems to be a combination of art style and the characters and their personalities. I really loved Maya and Soma. Juu is also great. Especially when he's actually on his date and the girl is just ~the worst~ and his reaction was perfect. Maya rolls with the punches and manages to find a will and a way despite her general fatigue and burnout. Soma feels like a sweet pet which is probably not what an alien race wants to be pictured as, but I couldn't help it.
As I always say with comics/graphic novels, I need more. I always do. But I can't help reading these beautiful works. There is just something about comics and graphic novels that can really draw me in. I just need more depth than what can be given in the amount of time we have with these stories. That's definitely a me thing. Yet, as of this moment in the month so far, the comics and graphic novels are the highest rated things I've read.
