The Avant-Guards Vol. 1 (The Avant-Guards)

by Carly Usdin

Noah Hayes (Illustrator)

As a transfer student to the Georgia O’Keeffe College for Arts and Subtle Dramatics, former sports star Charlie is struggling to find her classes, her dorm, and her place amongst a student body full of artists who seem to know exactly where they’re going. When the school’s barely-a-basketball-team unexpectedly attempts to recruit her, Charlie’s adamant that she’s left that life behind…until she’s won over by the charming team captain, Liv, and the ragtag crew she’s managed to assemble. And while Charlie may have left cut-throat competition in in the dust, sinking these hoops may be exactly what she needs to see the person she truly wants to be.

From Carly Usdin, the writer behind the hit series Heavy Vinyl, and artist Noah Hayes (Wet Hot American Summer) comes an ensemble comedy series that understands that it’s the person you are off the court that matters most.

• ISBN10: 1684153670
• ISBN13: 9781684153671
• Publish Date: 3 September 2019 (first published 3 October 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Boom! Studios
• Imprint: BOOM! Box
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 112
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of The Avant-Guards Vol. 1 through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Avant-Guards is a new series to come from Boom! Studios, and it’s a fun and relaxing series full of character-driven plots. Oh, and there’s a decent amount of sports as well, so there’s that!
The Avant-Guards Vol. 1 introduces us to the Georgia O’Keeffe College of Arts and Subtle Dramatics (say that ten times fast) as well as the sports team (basketball, of course) and the characters drawn to it.
Charlie just transferred to this art school, and at first, she’s not so sure how she’s going to fit in. That is until she finds the group of misfits that is the school’s basketball team. They may not be the best out there (read: they’re not) but they sure do have a lot of fun on the court.

The Avant-Guards Vol. 1 was a really unique and fun read! It took no time at all to get invested in the characters, and even less time to start laughing and enjoying all of their antics and drama. This series is already proving to be the perfect escape for readers.
What I really love about The Avant-Guards is that it isn’t your typical comic book. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and instead is focused on capturing the lives of one very quirky basketball team. It’s fun and charming and is just a delight to read.
Carly Usdin (author) and Noah Hayes (artist) have done an excellent job of creating this world for us to enjoy. The characters are unique from one another, while easily falling into the realm of ‘real people’ status. So it’s easy to care about them and their adventures.
The artwork is brilliant, and is perhaps my favorite thing about the series (which is saying something). I love the colors used, as well as a lot of the throwback textural effects that were applied. It gives The Avant-Guards as cool and unique look about it.
I’m so happy that I found The Avant-Guards, as this is absolutely going to be a series I stick with. Though I might opt to read it by volume, instead of by issue. That just feels right in this case. But we’ll see how I feel as time goes by.

For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Risa Nichols]

I received an advanced/review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content and honesty of my review.

I kept passing on this book because I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but finally, I decided to give it a chance.

The storyline, albeit obviously geared toward younger readers, was enjoyable and there were some super cute and funny lines that had me chuckling. I absolutely love the illustrations and the inclusion of so many diverse characters. All the drawings and colors are beautiful, which was a huge draw to the book for me. I love the setting and the main storyline and the huge theme of camaraderie throughout the book. Each character is unique and they don't really fit in any one social group, which is part of why the Avant-Guards is such a special team.

The romance seemed a bit rushed to me. It went from a budding friendship to one of the girls being sad about seeing her ex-girlfriend with someone else to boom, the other girl is making a move. Charlie even seemed kind of annoyed by Liv for the majority of the story, so to see them kind of go from "you annoy me" to "hey, I actually like you, maybe we should see if there's a relationship to develop here" seemed like a huge jump. I just felt like it was rushed and there wasn't a whole lot of build-up. But I'm a sucker for slow burn, so maybe it was just me. Also, I'm not a fan of the whole "I'm sad about my ex, so I'm going to take comfort in you" kind of arc. Again, could just be a preference thing for me.

As this is volume one in a series of graphic novels, it went by quick and there wasn't a whole lot of resolution to any of the story. This is to be expected for the first book in a series, especially with it being a graphic novel, so don't expect a finished story here.

In any event, I enjoyed this book. The illustration was definitely my favorite part and I would recommend it solely based on how stunning the images are. In the end, I'm happy I gave this book a shot and I think it's a great addition to the graphic novel world :)

Happy reading!

Original review: Alated Bibliophile's review of The Avant-Guards, Vol. 1