Go For a Layup With This Exclusive First Look at The Avant-Guards #1

Back in September, Paste broke the news that Heavy Vinyl’s Carly Usdin and Wet Hot American Summer artist Noah Hayes were poised to hit the basketball courts with The Avant-Guards, a 12-issue maxi-series from BOOM! Studios launching in January. The story takes place at the Georgia O’Keeffe College of Arts and Subtle Dramatics, an historically all-female school more enthusiastic about the performing arts than its sports programs. Protagonist Olivia “Liv” Bates, budding actor and basketball player, doesn’t want to choose between theater and sports—and neither does new transfer student Charlie Bravo. Charlie was a star basketball player at her former school, and it quickly becomes Liv’s goal to recruit the new kid to Georgia O’Keefe’s ragtag basketball team and kickstart the first-ever basketball league for art colleges.

Now, with The Avant-Guards #1 just one month away, Paste is thrilled to offer an extended first look at the series, which BOOM! says is “all about finding the courage to shoot your shot.”

“Carly draws on her own love of playing ball to perfectly encapsulate the excitement and tension of bringing together the two worlds of art and sports on the basketball court while Noah’s dynamic designs have us falling in love with each of the misfit members of The avant-Guards,” BOOM! Studios Senior Editor Shannon Watters said in a statement. “We can’t wait for fans to discover the romance, rivalry and drama at the heart of this team of unlikely sports stars thrown together by friendship and a passion for the game.”

The Avant-Guards #1 ships with a main cover by Hayes and a variant cover by Slam! artist Veronica Fish. The series joins breakouts like Giant Days by John Allison, Lissa Treiman and Max Sarin; Lumberjanes by Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn Allen and Noelle Stevenson; and Goldie Vance by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams as part of BOOM! Studios’ BOOM! Box imprint. Check out Hayes’ interior art below, and be sure to snag The Avant-Guards #1 from your local comic shop or preferred digital retailer on January 23rd, 2019.