This was one of my favorite graphic novels in recent months. I think it has wide teen appeal & it's already popular with at my library!

I liked the colourful artwork in this comic, the story was fun and mysterious and really kept me wanting to read more. Although there are some similarities to Lumberjanes, the story was unique in its own way and I will definitely be picking it up.

I hated the art but the concept has a lot of potential. The book was kind of boring until our main character actually went backstage 2/3rds of the way through the book.

So, I don't normally read comic books (which I would like to change but don't think it's a good idea for my wallet) but when I first saw this one on NetGalley for some reason it caught my eye right away so I requested it and I really liked it.

First of all, this comic is really short. It only has 25 pages so it's not long enough to know what's going to happen but it's good enough to get the gist of it and I really enjoyed it. I loved the art in this comic and it was what caught my attention. I just really, really liked the way it was done and it was so beautiful. While I don't read that many comics I know that one of the most important things is the illustrations and this one has it all.

Another thing I liked was the story itself. While it was super short it was still a good introduction to what will happen next and now I'm excited to read Vol. 2 because I need to know what other adventures will these guys get into next. I also have the feeling I'll fall in love with these characters throughout the different volumes because they seem to be great guys.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to read the next volume. Maybe this is what will make me read more comics in the future :P. Anyway, I totally recommend this one to everyone who loves comics and wants to start something new.

In a nutshell, The Backstagers is a comic about a group of friends who meet in a room that has the words 'STAGE DOOR' written on it. I read a snippet of the volume, and I was really intrigued by what I read. While I can't make a strong comment about the story behind the comic, since I read just a chunk, I can make the following argument on why this comic is good: the art is amazing.
I can't wait to read more of it.

This review will be super super short, because the book is only 25 pages long. Eheh

This is the first comic in a series, so it’s really just an introduction to the characters and the overall idea of the story. And first of all, I LOVED the illustrations! LOVED THEM! The graphics are so well done and colorful, and it just gives live to this comic, you know?

Then the story is mostly about a boy finding a place where he belongs, and that is with the Backstagers. The group of boys he finds is super diverse, and really supportive of one another, and I loved them instantly.

I would love to continue with this comic, because it’s just so adorable!!!

IF YOU LOVE COMICS AND DIVERSITY, GIVE THIS SERIES A CHANCE.

Lurid colouring, and a plot that makes zero sense. Rubbish. Mind, I did get given ISSUE ONE and not VOLUME ONE.

ENGLISH REVIEW:

The cover should make it obvious enough that "The Backstagers" is an incredibly cute series, but since you can't always trust a cover, let me reassure you: "The Backstagers" is an incredibly cute series. (Were the little monsters that look like spotlights at first not hint enough, though?)

In this first issue, we follow Jory, who ends up in an all-boys boarding school against his will, because his mum will have to work a lot and until late in the future. His plan: hide in the bushes and somehow get this over with it. But his mum insists on him joining a club, so he joins the school's drama club. And from there on, things get weird but great.

That's because backstage, the Backstagers are waiting for him. Apart from your normal props they have to deal with so much more: lower floors that are much bigger than the actual school, rooms that sometimes are there and sometimes are not, little monster rats … the first issue is more of a teaser but it is already promising us a wondrous world full of adventures.

And the characters! Of course we don't get to know too much about them yet, but this seems to be a funny and fortunately diverse bunch. There's Jory, obviously, the newcomer you can see at the top of the cover and who's potentially queer. Next, we meet Sasha, round and small, the blond white guy in the middle of the cover, who is also pretty much a kid. Aziz (lower middle) seems to be the exact opposite of him, but maybe it just seems that way because Sasha is almost always laughing or grinning, whereas Aziz is not. Hunter is the guy on the left and has a knack for handicraft – and flirting, which he immediately does with Jory, who blushes beautifully. Last but not least we meet Beckett, the lanky guy on the lower right and the geek of the group. At least he likes electrics. Like … a lot.
So we have (hopefully, at least) two queer characters out of five and apart from Sasha and Hunter, all protagonists seem to be characters of colour. Whether this is an #ownvoices story, I can't tell yet for sure. As far as I know, both the author and the artist are white, but James Tynion is also bisexual and Rian Sygh trans. Both can be part of the story in the future, but we'll have to see about that.

Also very important for comics: the visuals. The comic is much more cartoony than the cover suggests, but that doesn't stop the art from being adorable or being a perfect fit for the story. Rian Sygh obviously paid attention to the details. At first, the drama club actors are depicted with a lot of glamour but they seem almost dull after Jory met the Backstagers for the first time. What's for him downstairs can't be contained by single panels, that's something that's got to fill whole pages. Regular school and club life can't possibly compare to that, and you can see it.

One thing I read a lot about this series, is that it compares to the Lumberjanes – not because of the story but because of the feeling it gives you. Since I still haven't read Lumberjanes, I can't tell you how true this is but I really think the comparison is valid. So if you like Lumberjanes, give this one a go! And if you don't know either yet, never mind, just give both of them a try.


"The Backstagers #1" is an incredibly well-made introduction into this bubbly new series that promises adventure, excitement and fun – not least because of its instantly endearing characters. I fell in love with some of them with their first appearance. You absolutely have to read it!
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GERMAN REVIEW:

Mit dem Cover ist eigentlich klar, dass "The Backstagers" eine unglaublich niedliche Reihe sein wird, aber da Covern auch nicht immer zu trauen ist, würde ich das euch gerne noch einmal bestätigen: "The Backstagers" wird eine unglaublich niedliche Reihe. (Waren die kleinen Monster, die auf den ersten Blick wie Scheinwerfer wirken, aber wirklich nicht Hinweis genug?)

Wir folgen im ersten Heft Jory, der eher unfreiwillig in einem Internat für Jungen gelandet ist, weil seine Mutter in der nächsten Zeit viel und lange arbeiten muss. Sein Plan: Sich in den Büschen verstecken und die Zeit irgendwie hinter sich bringen. Auf Drängen seiner Mutter hin sucht er sich aber einen Club - und landet in der Theater-AG. Von da an wird's seltsam, aber schön.

Denn hinter den Kulissen warten die Backstagers auf ihn. Neben normalen Requisiten haben sie es dort mit noch ganz anderen Dingen zu tun: unterirdische Räume, die viel größer sind als die ganze Schule; Räume, die immer mal da sind oder eben auch nicht; kleine Monsterratten ... Das erste Heft teasert das Ganze natürlich erst einmal an, aber verspricht bereits jetzt eine wundersame Welt, die einige Abenteuer bereithält.

Gleiches gilt für die Charaktere! Wirklich viel wissen wir natürlich noch nicht über sie, aber das scheint ein lustiger und erfreulicherweise auch <em>diverser</em> Haufen zu sein. Da ist natürlich Jory, der Neuankömmling, ganz oben auf dem Cover und potentiell queer. Als nächstes treffen wir Sasha, rund und klein, der der blonde weiße Kerl in der Mitte und ein ziemliches Kind ist. Aziz (Mitte unten) scheint das Gegenteil zu sein, was aber auch daran liegen kann, dass Sasha fast nur lacht und Aziz so gut wie nie. Hunter ist der Typ links und hat wohl ein Händchen für's Handwerk - und für's Flirten. Was er auch prompt mit Jory tut, der dabei herrlich errötet. Last but not least treffen wir Beckett, seines Zeichens der schlaksige Kerl rechts unten und scheinbar Geek der Truppe. Zumindest hat er's mit der Elektrik. Ziemlich sehr sogar ...
Damit sind (hoffentlich, mindestens) zwei der fünf Hauptcharaktere queer und bis auf Sasha und Hunter scheinen die Protagonisten Charaktere of Colour zu sein. Ob es ein #ownvoices-Buch ist, weiß ich noch nicht sicher zu sagen. Soweit ich weiß, sind sowohl Autor als auch Künstler weiß, James Tynion aber ist bisexuell und Rian Sygh trans. Beides kann sich noch in der Story wiederfinden, aber das wird sich erst noch zeigen müssen.

Beim Comic auch sehr wichtig: Das Visuelle. Im Inneren erwartet uns ein Stil, der deutlich cartooniger ist als das Cover, aber das tut erstens der Niedlichkeit keinen Abbruch und zweitens passt es gut zur Geschichte. Rian Sygh hat hier auch eindeutig auf's Detail geachtet. Während die Stars der Theater-AG zu Beginn noch mit Glanz und Glamour gezeichnet werden, wirken sie geradezu bieder, nachdem Jory erst mal die Backstagers kennengelernt hat. Was ihn da unten erwartet, lässt sich nicht von einzelnen Panels einfangen, das füllt ganze Seiten aus. Damit kann das reguläre Schul- und Clubleben "oben" natürlich nicht mithalten und das ist der Gestaltung anzusehen.

Ich habe in Bezug auf diese Reihe oft Vergleiche zu den Lumberjanes gesehen – nicht etwa wegen der Story, sondern wegen des Gefühl, das die Comics vermitteln. Da ich Lumberjanes bis jetzt immer noch nicht gelesen habe, kann ich das nicht 100% beurteilen, aber ich glaube, der Vergleich ist schon ganz richtig so. Wenn ihr also die Lumberjanes mögt – hier ist die nächste Reihe für euch! Und wenn ihr sie noch nicht kennt: Macht nichts, probiert's einfach mit beiden Reihen.


"The Backstagers #1" ist ein unglaublich gelungener Einstieg in eine quirlige neue Reihe, die Abenteuer, Spannung und Humor verspricht – nicht zuletzt wegen der schlagartig einnehmenden Charaktere, von denen ich einige beim ersten Auftritt schon ins Herz geschlossen habe. Unbedingte Leseempfehlung!

A surprisingly adventurous story of the people working backstage! Musical theatre lovers like me will laugh and smile at references that are brought up.

It's refreshing to see such a diverse group of boys, and seeing them be allowed to be just who they are, even though they're all quite different.

Backstagers Vol. 1 is a weird little ditty about Jory who has recently moved to a new high school. Forced to look for an after-school club to attend whilst his mother works in the evenings, Jory stumbles his way towards the Drama Club and finds himself in the strange underground (or rather under-stage) world of The Backstagers.

This one was really disappointing for me for a handful of reasons.
Our main character Jory is a lot of capital letter things: New Kid, Classic Geek, Funny Guy etcetera and whilst some of these character traits work really well together, so many of them all crammed together read a little like they’ve been lifted from a Create A Character 101 list. Whilst Jory’s dialogue was pithy, well-placed, well-timed, and funny, just as I felt myself getting into the swing of it and thoroughly expecting everyone to be on the same level ala a Joss Whedon script, we are then introduced to two Extremely Effeminate Very-Heavily-Implied Gay Brothers (the main actors) who screech and bitch in the most stereotypical way possible, bursting any bubble.

Annnnnnd then they treat Jory, the only black character, as a porter and a fetch-and-carry boy from the second they set eyes on him. Which was pretty much where my tolerance ended. I was really, really uncomfortable with the representations in this one. As well as Jory being the only black character and the Gay Do You Hear Me GAY?! Brothers, there was one other character who may have been Asian (it was difficult to tell from the illustration) and so, OF COURSE, was their token technology geek and then one other kid who seemed to have mental health issues (specifically a lower mental age than everyone else) in a way that was exploited for comic effect.

On top of all of this, I feel like the main effort put into the art was skewed to exaggerating Key Features – also capital letters – for some of the things we’re meant to pay attention to as we’re being clued in. Jory’s afro is insane, the kid who has mental issues is miniscule compared to everyone else, the Gay Brothers have quaffed and stunning hair…

In short, despite the fact that this one is marketed on its LGBTQIA+ inclusiveness, I felt like Backstagers has a lot of work to do before it’s going to convince anyone of its intentions.

Sidenote: I'm aware that James Tynion identifies as bisexual and Rian Sygh is trans and that this does make this series Own Voices (as I believe it becomes more diverse as it goes on) but as I'm only reviewing a single issue here, I can't comment on how this may further influence the series except to say that I hope the representation improved and that I find it somewhat more problematic that things were handled so poorly in this first volume.

Act: One

I first heard about this series on Youtube and was thrilled when the publishers granted my request to read a digital copy of volume 1. I love theatre but have only ever interacted as an audience member, however that really isn't a problem with this particular series!

Jory is a nervous student who wishes to join the drama club at his new school and ends up helping and befriending the backstage crew, an eclectic group of students. As this was the first volume, most of the content is spent on backstory and introducing the cast of characters. Despite all the male characters, this featured an otherwise diverse cast of characters and I am sure that the series will continue in this vein.

I did not expect the magical element of the series, which along with the art style had a very similar feel to The Lumberjanes series. Due to needing to establish the characters and setting, this volume did not delve into what life in behind the curtain is really like - I do hope this is incorporated more as we learn more about the magic backstage.

Looking forward to seeing how this series develops. I have yet to see a copy in Australia, however, I shall keep looking!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing this title.

Mystery and magic abound in this graphic novel about a new school, new friends, and fitting-in. While some of the characters are stereotypical, this story is anything but - you never know what will happen next behind the curtains.

In a first for Magnolia Reviews, I am reviewing a graphic novel made available on Netgalley. Unfortunately, the Netgalley version of this title only offered the first twenty-five pages of the story. I was essentially given the first chapter and told to provide a full review. I was able to get a feel of the characters and the plot, but it honestly wasn't enough. I can say that I did enjoy what little I was given and that I absolutely would like to read more, but without the full story I can't give this book anything higher than three petals.

Jory is feeling upset and alone after his mother changes jobs and he has to start at a new school. His mother insists he join a club to make some friends, so Jory heads to the theater club hoping to become an actor. Then he meets the cliquish and rude actors and is sent to retrieve an item for them. He heads backstage where he is introduced to a strange world of magic.

I've been where Jory was, walking onto the stage for the school musical and being ignored by the snobby actors because I was a mere costume designer. The book over-emphasizes the level of snobbery to a slightly ridiculous amount, but I found myself empathizing with Jory regardless. I liked him as a character and found the rest of the people working backstage to be equally interesting.

The rest of the story I had issues with. The strange magic backstage is never explained, nor are the rest of the characters given full introductions. Without that needed information the story falls completely flat. The lack is most likely because most of that happens in chapter two and I was only provided chapter one.

Cute and zany. Good for readers who want something like Telgemeier's Drama but with elements of zany fantasy.

I loved the start to this graphic novel. It's colorful, clever, and the cast is fun. Jory has just started a new all boys' school, and is nervous about joining an after school club. He decides to go to Drama Club and gets sucked into the wacky world of the Backstagers.

What a fun read! I can't wait to see what happens next.

A big thank you to NetGalley for supplying me with this ARC!

This was only the first issue of 'Backstagers', but I really enjoyed it! The art was incredibly cute and fit the tone of this story perfectly! In the end, this was not 100% what I expected, but perhaps that's a good thing! It's on a much bigger scale than I assumed it would be, and I'm sure that opens up the world to many possibilities going forward. The characters are extremely diverse, which is also always nice to see in comics! I hope they are fleshed out more in future issues.

4/5 stars!

The only way to describe this is weird. This is supposed to be a story about what goes on to the people who do the props and such for the actors, those backstagers who don't get any of the glory for keeping all the props working, and things in running order so that the play can be performed without a hitch.

At least that is what the book description <em>says</em> it is about. And I suppose it is, but adventures in other realms is thrown in, with strange rats that only live backstage, and like the color red, and weird beasts the third door down. Much like LumberJanes, this series appears to go off the deep end.

Nothing wrong with going off the deep end, but don't write a description that says it is just about boys bonding backstage, because it is more than that.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

The Backstagers is a short and cute graphic novel about finding people to fit in with. It has a diverse cast of characters that includes a lot of POC’s, also an underrepresented body type, and it seems like there’s gonna be characters that belong to the LGBTQ+ community, which makes this graphic novel so important in terms of representation.

There is a bit of a mystery that’s introduced in this first issue about rooms and creatures and it seems like it’s gonna be expanding through all the issues of this graphic novel. The mystery and the fantastical elements are definitely what make this graphic novel interesting and intriguing.

Also, it’s worth-noting that this has a really cool art style that goes really well with the story and manages to convey this different sense of space that’s portrait in it. There’s room that shouldn’t be there and corridors that move and that sort of thing, but it’s never confusing because the art style is really clear and shows those elements really well.

Overall, the first issue of The Backstagers is definitely a strong one, it manages to intrigue the reader by introducing fantastical elements in a contemporary setting and it has an incredible art style. More important, it does a great job in terms of diversity by including different types of minorities.

I read a small preview of what I think will be a very quirky and entertaining story. It's not your ordinary high school drama club story. Sure, there are auditions and the popular kids who get all the main roles in plays and boss around the misfits. But these misfits are happy to be away from the spotlight and stay in the shadows. Right in the first volume we see these strange creatures that look like rats but seem to strangely be embraced by most of the group.

This is a story about high school kids, but you can expect to see a strange supernatural side to it too.

Holy hell was this ever adorable! If you like cute, sweet reads, diversity, and want to dip your toe into the big wide world of comics, then The Backstagers #1 is for you.

Jory is nervous and intimidated on his first day at St. Genesius, an all boys school; he’s living in a new city, he doesn’t know anyone at the school, and he doesn’t usually fit in with other guys. At his mom’s insistence, Jory tries to make a go of things at St. Genesius by joining the drama club in hopes of meeting some like-minded people…or at the very least, beefing up his college applications. But soon Jory finds that the real drama – and adventure, fun, and friendship – isn’t found on stage, but behind it.

THE BACKSTAGERS #1 is all about the guys behind the scenes of the school’s award-winning arts program: the stage hands, lighting designers, prop masters, and set builders. They’re all loveable misfits who immediately make Jory feel welcome, and I’m excited to learn more about each of them. In just 25 pages, Tynion IV and Sygh provide a very solid introduction to Jory and the rest of the backstagers (my favourite is Hunter, obviously) which is an impressive accomplishment.

The artwork also perfectly complements the text, and I especially loved the vibrant colours used to depict the shifting tunnels and magical doorways backstage. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention? Not only is backstage more fun and chill than on stage, but it’s also magical. Literally.

The Backstagers #1 introduces a diverse cast of dudes, hints at some super cute queer relationships, and celebrates the realities of being a misfit and finding your people. I’m eagerly awaiting the release of the first volume, and I highly recommend this all ages single issue. It’s perfect for fans of Lumberjanes, adults and young readers alike!