Overwatch: Tracer--London Calling

by Mariko Tamaki, Babs Tarr (Illustrator), Rachael Cohen (Illustrator)

Overwatch may be disbanded, but Tracer's time in "retirement" is up . . .

After a punk-rock omnic named Iggy shows Tracer the dire living conditions forced upon London's omnics, Tracer vows to help. But things might not be so easy, especially with larger forces sowing conflict between humans and omnics in London. Acclaimed Eisner and Harvey award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki ( This One Summer , Wonder Woman ) and kinetic artist Babs Tarr ( Batgirl , Motor Crush ) are joined by exquisite colorist Rachael Cohen ( Snotgirl ) and letterer extraordinaire Deron Bennett ( Tale of Sand ). Working in close collaboration, Blizzard Entertainment and Dark Horse Comics present Overwatch fans with an exciting new addition to Overwatch 's unique universe!

Collects Tracer--London Calling #1-#5.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Video Games, Graphic Novels Comics

120 pages, Hardcover

Published October 5, 2021

About the author

Mariko Tamaki is a Toronto writer, playwright, activist and performer. She works and performs with fat activists Pretty Porky and Pissed Off and the theatre troupe TOA, whose recent play, A vs. B, was staged at the 2004 Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Her well-received novel, Cover Me (McGilligan Books) was followed by a short fiction collection, True Lies: The Book of Bad Advice (Women's Press). Mariko's third book, FAKE ID, is due out in spring 2005.

Mariko Tamaki has performed her work across Canada and through the States, recently appearing at the Calgary Folkfest 2004, Vancouver Writer's Festival 2003, Spatial III, and the Perpetual Motion/Girls Bite Back Tour, which circled though Ottawa, Montreal, Brooklyn and Chicago. She has appeared widely on radio and television including First Person Singular on CBC radio and Imprint on TVO. Mariko Tamaki is currently attending York University working a master's degree in women's studies.

[MacMIllan Books]

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tracer befriends an omnic over music. She sees the omnics' plight when visiting her friend and vows to help. Then relations between omnics and humans begin to spiral out of control as some bad things happen to the omnics. Solid story. Babs Tarr's art is kinetic and frenetic, sometimes making it hard to follow the action.

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one I liked.

Tracer gets on with her life after Overwatch missing the good old days, when he stumbles on some Omnic and then they hit it off and become friends. But not all omnics are good, so then the human vs robot war begins and we get a really nice solid story with some wonderful artwork. You have to read this just for the art alone.

[Alan Castree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little tie-in to the Tracer / Widow Maker short “Alive.” You get a taste of what the Omnics live is like, but overall just a bit too much of a tease. I’d say start with the free online comics if you’re just getting started out in this setting.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

With London Calling, we learn more about the events covered in the Cinematic ALIVE (Widow vs Tracer) and are introduced to a new upcoming villain teased at the end of the Storm Rising event and likely to be active in Overwatch II. So this is an interesting origin story for him as well.

Story: Tracer is trying to fill the downtime after Overwatch was disbanded due to the Petras act. But as with Russia, Omnic tensions are at an all time high and neither humans nor Omnics trust each other. The Omnics have been driven underground and are barely surviving - needing parts to keep their systems going but humans won't sell the the pieces. When Tracer runs into a young Omnic who has stolen a part just to survive, she becomes embroiled in the Omnics plight. The Omnics are divided into two camps: militaristic revolutionaries led by Kace and peaceful pacifists led by Mondatta. With Tracer experiencing problems with her chronal accelerator, she's going to find that helping both sides to remain rational is going to be very difficult.

This comic fills in nicely the events leading up to the Cinematic ALIVE, where Widowmaker assassinates Mondatta. In once sense, it is kind of sad that it has taken five years (since the release of the cinematic) for this kind of lore to finally be revealed and several years since we first saw what is likely the Omnic Kace talking with Doomfist in Cairo at the end of the Storm Rising event. That said, it was a nice confirmation of who hired Talon/Widowmaker for the assassination and why. For that reason, there is a lot of really good Overwatch lore in here that is setting the groundwork for Overwatch 2's storylines.

Despite Overwatch's large cast, we really only see two heroes here. That was a bit disappointing but also understandable considering the time period in which the story is set (when agents are scattered around the globe or in hiding). Tracer's girlfriend Emily is in several panels but, as drawn, spends most of the comic hyperventilating or overemoting (it was kind of odd). There wasn't a lot of insight into Tracer's personal life, to be honest.

The illustration work is fine - Tracer looks like an even more cartoony version of herself and isincredibly hyper and 'genki'. That is not problematic though and doesn't distract too much. Admittedly, it felt like every seen with a human was over emotive. The coloring is vivid and it feels like an Overwatch comic. The story is one I'd expect from Overwatch and nothing feels out of place to the world.

In all, I think this is worth it to get the backstory on new villain, the Omnic Kace. We likely will be seeing a lot more of him in the future, once Overwatch 2 finally comes out. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Eyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did I add half a star just because Emily was in this? Yes. Yes I did.
This comic delves into the events of the cinematic ALIVE and surrounding plots, tying together some of the timeline and setting up some good lore for Overwatch 2 (which, once again I must emphasize, I am dying for).
Specifically, this comic dives into the relations between Omnics and humans in the times of Mondatta's death, the state of the world after Overwatch is disbanded and what Lena has been up to. The plot was somewhat simple but I enjoyed it well enough, definitely worth reading if you're a fan of Overwatch and it's lore, especially if you're like me and are really impatiently waiting for the second game.
The art style was really suited to the genre, I thought, as it was rather stylized in a cartoonish form which made for some fun action scenes. It could also be sketchy in some panels but I really love when the sketch is clear under the finished panel. That said, I do think that the style wasn't as suited to the darker themes in the story, it certainly conveyed the emotions but it still felt lighter than some scenes probably should have been.
My favourite aspect of the comic is really just my taste and personal to me, but I can't not mention it. I'm a lesbian, so naturally, every scene with the sapphics makes me incredibly happy and I wasn't sure if Emily was going to make an appearance in this one. She well and truly did!! I can confirm, Tracer and Emily do not feel like the cheap representation I genuinely thought it would be when I heard about it. I do think that we only saw little of Tracer's life before the comic jumped into the plot, I was kind of looking forward to seeing her on a normal day. Then again, we got enough to make me quite happy so I can easily say I really recommend this for Overwatch fans!!

[Eli Wooldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

more than anything, this book just made me really sad for what could have been with overwatch lore. this was the last time the universe had like anything that wasn't promoting a new character. it sucks. I hate Bobby kotick so much. hell is too good for him. I hope when he dies his soul just evaporates. Bobby kotick if you ever read this, 1v1 me on rust.

[Isaias McAllus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia protagonizada por Tracer que en el fondo habla del racismo y la intolerancia.
Entretenida y que se mantiene dentro del trasfondo presentado por los cortometrajes.

Deseando el pve que nos contará más historias en 2023 (y si mantienen este nivel ojalá más mini series de cómics)

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Very well-written and stunning art by Babs.

[Caitlin]

The story... not exactly subtle. But the art was great.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

too much tracer tbh /j