I loooooveddd this!! The characters are all very interesting and diverse and I love a good sport-orientated story. Can't wait to read more of this!

Thank you Netgalley and BOOM! Studios for providing me an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

This first volume of Avant-Guards is a great introduction to the story and characters. It's fun and shows a lot of potential for future issues.

I honestly only wanted to pick up "The Avant-Guards" because it reminded me a lot of Giant Days, a fun comic series also published by BOOM! Studios. They are both set in college, the characters are on their twenties, the vibes are similar, but the story is quite different, which is good.

"The Avant-Guards" is set in an arts college and tells the story of a group of students who want to make and participate on a female basketball league, but they need one more player. That's where the main character of the comic comes in, and they will do everything to recruit her.

I think this first volume was a lot of fun, but it's still clearly an introduction to the story and characters. Nonetheless, it shows a lot of potential for future issues and I believe it will end up being a great comic series. The art is also pretty beautiful, and I love the colors used throghout the book. I will definitely pick up the next volume in the series!

From the very first page of this graphic novel, I was hooked. I could relate to the main character on a personal level since I have also just started at a new University and having anxieties about clubs and societies and meeting new people. Charlie is a very relatable character and when she is approached by Liv, a hyperactive and overwhelmingly extravagant drama student.

I love the fact that Liv is trying to recruit Charlie to join their diverse basketball team. The fact that an arts university wants to advocate for a sports club subverts from the norm where universities are trying to integrate arts more fully into their societies.

I loved the romance budding in this graphic novel and would recommend this comic to people who enjoyed Fence, Pumpkinheads or Heartstopper.

REP: transgender character, non-binary character, panic attacks, queer characters, people of colour, they/them

Read the rest of the review on my blog at:
https://mousethatreads.com/the-avant-guards-vol-1-a-review/

This was delightful! I was so absorbed that it was shocking to get to the end and realize I had to wait to find out what happens next. The horror!

Love the diverse cast and LGBTQ rep, especially how it was so clearly just a fact of the world these characters live in. There's no angst around it, just normal people with normal lives and normal relationship drama.

The story had good pacing as we get to see Charlie adapting to her new school and joining Liv's basketball team. But I really wanted to get to know Charlie, Liv, and the rest of the team better. I also desperately wanted to attend their first game vs The Cuddly Retrievers. Why have I not been to sporting events with that many dogs??

*Thank you to NetGalley and Boom! Studios for providing a digital copy.*

I love graphic novels. The Avant-Gaurds is so good! This is the perfect storyline for high school on up. It’s so sweet and the art is phenomenal! The art flowed perfectly with each turn of the page. I highly recommend this.

The first volume of the The Avant-Guards is a solid start for the series. Charlie transfers from a state college to an arts college, and she is immediately recruited for the basketball team by the somewhat-overbearing Olivia, who also has a crush on her. All of the teammates are enthusiastic in getting Charlie to join, even though she tries her hardest to be a loner. The characters are all distinctive and realistic, but I hope more of their backstories will be revealed as the series continues.

I loved this so much. I read it in one sitting and could not put it down. The characters are delightfully dynamic and queer as heck. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

I definitely have a preference for a clean but cute art style in graphic novels, and this one delivered! motions were captured so well - one of the best graphic novels I've read, and the art played a huge part in this.

The story felt like Pitch Perfect with basketball and a more diverse cast of characters. I loved everyone in this rag tag group of friends (a favourite trope of mine), and enjoyed getting to know them. Although the storyline was fairly predictable, it was ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE and FUN!

Liv is fantastic. I loved the flip on chapter two seeing the same scenes from her point of view. IT gave a new perspective on those same moments and gave Liv for depth that the bubbly girl trying to form a basketball team

The cliffhanger ending left me wanting more, so hopefully Volume 2 will be released soon!

The Avant-Guards is such an amazing read and I cannot deny how the pages flew by becacuse of how much I loved it. First off, I have to commend how beautiful the artwork was. The coloring and the drawing was high-class, and though I am not an artist myself, a few glances at the art is something that I’m sure lots of people will appreciate. The art is modern, fresh, and the colors are all absolutely eye-catching.

If I could be honest, I am not someone who would pick out a book about basketball (of all things) because I am such a mess at anything athletic related and I am the worst at all sports. I am as clumsy as can be, but I have to say that this was still such an enjoyable read.

A graphic novel about queer (!!) women who play ball is something that I never knew I needed. Though basketball was a little too much on the sidelines, these first 4 issues did a great thing in diving into the characters, with their perspectives alternating from Charlie (the lead) to Olivia, who is the creator of the Avant-Guards.

The characters are all interesting and I am very much interested to learn more about them. The LGBT+ characters and the non-binary character adds to an overall fun vibe to the story. There is one particular scene that I was pissed at a minor character, but I do hope that it will be addressed later on in the story.

I will absolutely get the next issues of this as I can’t wait to read the rest!

A really cute graphic novel filled with fantastic representation and a fun quirky cast of characters. I really enjoyed this wholesome story.

(3.5 stars)
What's the book about?

This story is primarily about Charlie and Olivia. Charlie is a transfer student to the Georgia O'Keeffe College for Arts and Subtle Dramatics. She used to be a basketball player in her previous college but in this new college, she is trying to find herself and get a hold on herself. But unexpectedly, the college is trying to form a basketball team, more specifically Olivia. The team begins to form ways in order to convince Charlie to join the team and from there the story progresses.

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I'll say that this is my first 'successful' attempt to finish a graphic novel (I guess because I certainly don't remember the last one I read).

I sure did enjoy reading it. There's a variety of characters presented to us who are definitely interesting. The whole concept of sports and being a part of the team was quite good. And the graphics were super amazing!
I might be biased while giving it the rating I gave because honestly a) I am not that much of a fan of graphic novels considering that I have just started reading them; and b) Because for me, the story was not all that happening.

I seriously need to read more comics and graphic novels to get a hang of them.
But to be honest, I seriously looved the graphics! They were super amazing!



I have actually never read a graphic novel that’s about a sport, but I have read a ton of manga with that theme (it’s actually one of my favourite genres). I was very exited when I found out that I had been approved for The Avant-Guards!

This graphic novel features a very diverse cast of characters. There are characters with different sexualities, a non-binary character, characters with diverse body types and skin colours. There was also a great discussion about anxiety. The characters were definitely my favourite part of this first volume of The Avant-Guards. I loved learning about them and seeing them interact with each other.

The problems that I had with this first volume were mostly with the story. I found the story not to be that interesting. Not actually a lot happened in this volume, it was mostly setting up the characters and the general plot. I just found it to be lacking in this aspect. I hope to have a chance to read future volumes of this series, as I would love to know where the story will go and how the characters will develop. I definitely recommend checking out The Avant-Guards Vol. 1!

What a great and promising start to an adorable series! It's a story of friendship and making a fresh start which also includes an incredibly diverse cast. Not only are the members of the Avant-Guards basketball team feature a wide range of ethnicities, they also represent a wide chunk of the LGBTQ+ spectrum, which is rare to see.
Definitely going to appeal to a large audience, not just teen girls, but anyone who likes humor, basketball and beautiful artwork.

**copy so kindly provided for review by the publisher/netgalley**

There isn't much to say about this; it was cute with an adorable art style and there was a ton of diversity. The cliff-hanger definitely sets up for more drama off and on the court. I'd most certainly be interested in picking up the next volume!

I did enjoy this, however I felt it was too short. Did enjoy the rep in here, especially anxiety. I will be carrying on with the series.

This was an enjoyable read. The art is fantastic, the relationships adorable, and the basketball aspect a pleasant side bonus. I can't wait for the next volume.

More please ! I devoured this graphic novel. The art was amazing as was the storyline. And yay for queer characters !

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I loved this and it was super cute. Live is adorable and her insistence that Charlie join the team was great because it’s clear that Charlie fits in amongst the Avant Guards. Tons of diversity here: queer rep of varying degrees, amazing illustrations, POC characters, witchy things, defying stereotypes and amazing non macho cast? Loved it and I can’t wait to read more.

I really love Boom! with my whole entire heart. They're really publishing all the queer comics, written by queer people, and so much of it is sapphic.

This is such a feel-good time and it's a beautiful slice-of-life style story. Usdin (Heavy Vinyl) and Hayes (Goldie Vance) are able to effortlessly create such a diverse cast that are all unique. Most of the team are POC, the main relationship is sapphic, there's a very Esther-esk bi/pan side character, there's a character named Jay who uses they/them pronouns.

It's like a misfit, found-family basketball team of college students and I'm a little bit in love with it. Very excited to continue on with this series.

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!