This just wasn't for me. I'm not sure why. It felt a little odd reading a comic about a comic writer who's struggling to find motivation - like a little too on the nose. I just didn't really enjoy.

Thank you for the ARC!

Maya is burned out and overwhelmed by her freelance comic book career, hoping for a spark or project that will reignite her passion. Instead, what lands in her apartment is an extraterrestrial being with a grim warning about an approaching invasion.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK
The colours are breathtaking—one of the book’s standout features.

WHAT I DISLIKE
Although the plot shows promise, it falls short in building stakes and tension, leaving the story feeling more like a light-hearted comedy than true sci-fi or fantasy.

WHO IS THIS FOR?
Fans of YA fantasy.

Maya is doing what she thought she wanted - she is a professional comic book artist. But it turns out, its very hard work - it's lonely, repetitive, and leaves no time for her own art. She is overwhelmed and exhausted when an alien literally crashes through her window. She barely remembers to eat, how is she supposed to help this creature. Well, she better figure it out fast, cause if she doesn't, the world just might end.

Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for the Arc!

Very cute story about a burnt out comic book artist and her encounter with an alien. I liked the way Mayas comic book art was interwoven into the story.

The art in this is beautiful, the colors are vibrant and the action scenes are so fun. The story is a bit too simple and needed a bit more detail to make more of an emotional impact for me. I overall enjoyed it but it’s not super memorable.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for granting me access in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the illustrations and the colors are so vibrant and engaging to looked at. The story was honestly so confusing to me and got a bit boring towards the middle and end. However, I could foresee this being enjoyed by readers who likes Scifi.

Soma is a captivating sci-fi graphic novel that follows Maya who is a comic writer herself and apparently has a role in the sudden alien invasion. Struggling with her talent, Maya is shocked to find a crashed alien in her house. And from there her life completes turn upside down. It was an absolute rollercoaster ride of emotions, I laughed, shed a few tears and rejoiced with Maya. The art work is fantastic and the storyline is fast-paced and gripping. I was immediately immersed in the story and into the lives of Maya and Soma.

It's a must read and high priority recommendation from me.

[English is not my first language, sorry for the mistakes]
Soma is about a young comic artist trying to write a good story that would be hers. She is struggling until she find a small and kinda cute alien with tentacles, and at the same moment, the potential end of the Earth because of an alien invasion, which is a problem because she has a comic to finish. With the help of the cute alien, she'll try to stop the aliens from destroying her world.
To begin with, the drawings and colors are beautiful, the composition is greatly dynamic and still easy to follow. The story is greatly balanced between the different characters, the main plot and the flashbacks, the action, emotional and funny parts. Great work and a very enjoyable read!

The art is beautiful in this graphic novel. But unfortunately, the storyline fell flat for me. I was a bit frustrated with the main character of this story and didn’t connect with the MC, so I think it impacted my reading experience of the book. I might have also read it at the wrong time though, so I might give this another try in the future.

Maya is a comic book artist who doesn’t really have time for anything else but attempting to meet her deadlines. Until a jellyfish shaped alien smashes through her living room in what looks like a fish bowl. Then her deadlines don’t really seem to matter anymore.
I enjoyed the art style so much and liked seeing the story from her friend’s point of view as well

Comic book artist Maya is stressing about her job when an alien blob crashes into her room. Together Maya and the alien have to try to stop the incoming alien invasion.

This was a fun story with endearing characters (especially Maya's friend Juu) and a zany, action-packed plot. I loved the art style and the meta-ness of seeing Maya's current project / drawings for her job.

While this was fun and action-packed with a ton of fight scenes, it didn't have a real emotional arc to keep me invested. The art/drawings were excellent, but the story lacked a little in heart and detail.

I'd recommend this to a younger audience - maybe young adult or middle grade. It was action-heavy in a way that I think a younger reader would appreciate.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

The art style was incredible, but that's about it. The story had pacing issues that could've been resolved not making the whole plot take place in an afternoon. Stretching it for a week could've made it feel less like a fever dream. The relationships were developing way too fast, and the alien invasion wasn't happening in one page and then had bombed the entire city in the next page. Literally.

The setup for the story was weird, too. I don't see how Juu is anything but unnecessary, given that his story was pretty self-contained and didn't bring anything to the main plot. Also the fact that at the beginning we're told "alien stories with big fights are shit" and then in 20 pages the plot becomes an alien story with big fights is a choice. Why are you even telling me that, do you want me to like your story or not??? Or was this a cry for help??

It was such a fun and colourful read. Such a fun graphic novel, it made me giggle and laugh whilst reading. I loved Juu he was hilarious, very relatable, Maya kind of reminded me of my partner 😂

I was sufficiently weirded out and enthralled at the same time, but in the best way.

Maya is a comic book artist. Currently she is having a creative block. She loves art but she's overly stressed out about deadlines and making art that is what others want, not what speaks to her. Maya has a best friend who is having a date today and he is needing her help. In the middle of her creative crisis and her friends romance crisis she get a visit from an alien warning her of an oncoming invasion.

This is chaos and I love it.

The story itself is pretty fast paced, you don't have a big lull or any slow build up.

Maya is relatable and you'll be cheering for her from the moment she steps in to save the world mode.

The art style it self was really cool. The character and world design were unique and honestly just really cool. The color pallet was really fitting as well, it wasn't super in your face but it was a pallet that was pleasant to look at but grabbed your attention where needed.

#Soma #NetGalley
Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press

thank you to NetGalley for my copy. all opinions are my own :)

i enjoyed the MC, Maya, and watching her save Soma but i also enjoyed watching Juu help Hanna and her sister survive. in a lot of graphics the artist tends to focus on the characters more than the backdrops and scenery but not Dalmau! i loved the details in the scenery and it really sucked you into another world. the color palette was so calming too. this book was a nice escape from reality and i hope they make more.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

I throughly enjoyed this comic. The art style was great and so were the aliens/creatures in it. The egg raptors were so cute!!! I was curious to how the title came up because, even towards the end, the word hadn't been mentioned. I almost cried when it finally was. Maya was such a funny character and I enjoyed how she was a reluctant hero of sorts. Juju's part of the story was interesting too. I didn't expect him to be running around the city and helping to save people. As for our little alien, they were fantastic. I loved how they were able to communicate with Maya better the longer they bonded. It felt very logical. I was kind of hoping there would be more than one comic for this but I guess not since the story wrapped up really neatly.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for the opportunity to read this advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own. No alien pointed a laser gun at my head to write this review.

Fernando Llor's Soma isn't just another alien invasion story - it's also a heartfelt exploration of the comic book creation process, tackling themes of writer's block and the real-life struggles of an up-and-coming artist. Much like Maus by Art Spiegelman or Daytripper by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá, to name a few, Soma dives into the personal challenges and triumphs of creativity while balancing an engaging story - in this case, an alien invasion.

The artwork is absolutely stunning, with a dynamic style that shifts depending on the scene - there's even a delightful pixel art sequence that feels like it jumped straight out of an old-school video game. This visual variety keeps the story fresh and exciting. And let's not forget the protagonist’s footwear choice - rocking Crocs during an alien invasion? Bold move. Whether it's a survival tactic or just an artistic statement, it definitely adds to the quirky charm of the comic book.

Despite its bittersweet ending, Soma remains a lighthearted, uplifting read that offers something valuable for both teens and adults. The occasional gag comic strips throughout the story add a great comedic touch, breaking up the tension with laugh-out-loud moments, such as the scene where an old man steals all the donation money from the cult leader.

One standout feature in Soma is the use of differently colored speech bubbles for each character—something more comic book creators should seriously consider adopting. Not only does it enhance accessibility for readers with visual processing challenges, but in my opinion makes the overal reading experience more enjoyable. I certainly loved that artistic decision.

That said, while Soma offers a page count of nearly 300 (more than your average comic), there are moments where the pacing feels a bit rushed. Some scenes could have benefited from a little more breathing room to fully develop the emotional stakes, but the story's heart and humor manage to shine through nonetheless.

Overall, Soma is a delightful blend of humor, heart, and creativity that fans of sci-fi and the occasional slice-of-life storytelling will thoroughly enjoy.

This was such an interesting read and of course pretty cool! I really enjoyed how the protagonist's character developed throughout the story, especially in their dynamic with the other main character :( Though I wish you-know-what had happened... had not happened (well, you don’t actually know because no spoilers here!). Anyway, it still kept me hooked. All in all, I really liked it a lot!

Big thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for access to the E-ARC of this book! The review provided is my own personal opinion!

This graphic novel hit all the right notes for me, from the art, to the characters, to the dialogue; I had a fantastic time reading this book.

Favourites:

- Colour and art style: I love Carles Dalmaus art and have for a while now so this was a given.
The bright colours and fun style that their art features compliments the fast and electric feel of the story which I LOVED.
The story also has a few absolutely gorgeous shots that I would KILL to see animated in a studio trigger style of animation.

- Characters: I love unserious characters guys, both Maya and Juu filled that girl-failure shaped hole in my heart and I love them both dearly.

Neutral comments:

- Dialogue: Sometimes stories that try to have "relatable" or sarcastic humour in their dialogue fall super flat but Soma did not suffer from this at all. This is one of the few books where I haven't minded the use of this kind of dialogue and actually enjoyed it at times.

What wasn't working for me:

- Pacing: Unfortunately "awkward graphic novel pacing" has taken another victim with this one, though I will say its not as distracting as it is in most graphic novels because of the humour and generally fast vibe of the story but there is a noticeable shift in speed and lore dropping part way through the story that gave me a little bit of whiplash!

Soma by Fernando Llor has an intriguing premise and moments of real creativity, but it didn’t fully meet my expectations. The world-building showed promise, and the story had its engaging moments, but some parts felt underdeveloped, leaving me wanting more depth and connection to the characters. While it didn’t completely pull me in, it’s still an interesting read for fans of speculative fiction who enjoy exploring fresh ideas.