It's Graphic Time: The Backstagers Vol. 1 Rebel Without Applause by James Tynion IV

It's Graphic Time is a feature where we review graphic novels and comic books.

Title: Rebel Without Applause

Author: James Tynion IV 
Illustrator: Rian Sygh

Publisher: Boom! Box 

Publishing Date: July 25th, 2017

Pages: 112
Genre: YA Graphic Novel

TW: N/A

Series: The Backstagers Vol. 1

Source: Book

 

All the world's a stage . . . but what happens behind the curtain is pure magic literally!

When Jory transfers to an all-boys private high school, he's taken in by the only ones who don't treat him like a new kid, the lowly stage crew known as the Backstagers. Not only does he gain great, lifetime friends, Jory is also introduced to an entire magical world that lives beyond the curtain. With the unpredictable twists and turns of the underground world, the Backstagers venture into the unknown, determined to put together the best play their high school has ever seen.

James Tynion IV (Detective Comics, The Woods) teams up with artist Rian Sygh (Munchkin, Stolen Forest) for an incredibly earnest story that explores what it means to find a place to fit in when you're kinda an outcast.
Collects the first four issues.

What made me pick this book up: 

It was under suggested related to another book I read that I loved. And the colors were adorable and I loved the cover. 

What did I like about the cover: 

It's so cute and bright and fun and the colors are amazing. 

What made me read this book: 

I really love those cute/weird/teeny bop contemporary type books. I don't know why but I love them.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
YES.




Just look at it! It's so swoon worthy! The colors are pretty together. Very pastel goth looking with just a bit of kawaii in there. Oh man it's 2 AM and I'm writing this review. Bear with me.

Anyway. I love the artwork, it's cute and just makes this graphic novel a thousand times better.

I love these characters! They're all so fun and have such huge personalities that I love them all.

My favorite being Sasha. I feel like the tiny cute one is always my favorite... Sasha... Ripley from Lumberjanes... Betty from Rat Queens. 
I don't have a second favorite. They all kind of line up together after that, except for the McQueen brothers. I kinda can't stand them. And they don't get any better as far as I can tell.

It's one of those constant BAM BAM BAM to where all the sudden... the book is done. And then I get sad. Because I just want to keep reading it. It doesn't slow down and it kind of fits the book. 

This is the first book in the series so it is just a building block for the rest of the series. It's kind of weird, because the backstagers, the ones who work backstage, have a room that takes them into a million different... rooms. It's definitely weird and at first I was like... Okaaaay. But now I totally love the idea and I can't wait to read more about all the different magical rooms!

Overall definitely a really great read. Highly suggest.

Prior to his first professional work, Tynion was a student of Scott Snyder's at Sarah Lawrence College. A few years later, he worked as for Vertigo as Fables editor Shelly Bond's intern. In late 2011, with DC deciding to give Batman (written by Snyder) a back up feature, Tynion was brought in by request of Snyder to script the back ups he had plotted. Tynion would later do the same with the Batman Annual #1, which was also co-plotted by Snyder. Beginning in September 2012, with DC's 0 issue month for the New 52, Tynion will be writing Talon, with art by Guillem March. In early 2013 it was announced that he'd take over writing duties for Red Hood and the Outlaws in April.

Tynion is also currently one of the writers in a rotating team in the weekly Batman Eternal series.

It's Graphic Time: Heavy Vinyl by Carly Usdin

It's Graphic Time is a feature where we review graphic novels and comic books.

Title: Heavy Vinyl

Author: Carly Usdin
Illustrator: Nina Vakueva

Publisher: BOOM! Box

Publishing Date: April 10th, 2018

Pages: 112
Genre: YA Contemporary Graphic Novel

TW: N/A

Series: Heavy Vinyl Vol. 1

Source: Book

 

When Chris joins the staff at her local record store, she’s surprised to find out that her co-workers share a secret: they’re all members of a secret fight club that take on the patriarchy and fight crime!
Starry-eyed Chris has just started the dream job every outcast kid in town wants: working at Vinyl Mayhem. It's as rad as she imagined; her boss is BOSS, her co-workers spend their time arguing over music, pushing against the patriarchy, and endlessly trying to form a band. When Rosie Riot, the staff's favorite singer, mysteriously vanishes the night before her band’s show, Chris discovers her co-workers are doing more than just sorting vinyl . . . Her local indie record store is also a front for a teen girl vigilante fight club!

Follow writer Carly Usdin (director of Suicide Kale) and artist Nina Vakueva (Lilith’s World) into the Hi-Fi Fight Club, where they deliver a rock and roll tale of intrigue and boundless friendship.

What made me pick this book up: 

I was looking for graphic novels and the cover caught my eye.

What did I like about the cover: 

I love the bright colors the most. 

What made me read this book: 

I love the idea of an all girl fight club. 

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
YES! There is no second one yet??? And I'm so upset by it. I NEED the second. Because at the end it says "The end... For now"

I'll probably check out her other one, the Avant-Guards.

I love the artwork for this! The colors are bright and happy. The girls are all drawn super cute. 

The characters are all sweet and adorable. I love each and every one of them and I can't wait to read more about them!

Chris and Maggie are my favorites.

Followed closely by Kennedy's boyfriend, who I didn't get a picture of. He cracked me up.

And the rest are kind of on the same level. I didn't dislike them, but they weren't my favorites.

Everything kinda happens pretty fast. This was actually a pretty short graphic novel. But it works for this. 

Again this was pretty short. It's really interesting that there's a fight club of teen girls. It's fun. I like the fact that they're not only a fight club, they're like a... they solve mysteries! Detective Fight Club. That's what I'm trying to say.

I absolutely loved this book! 

Carly Usdin is an award-winning filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Her first feature, Suicide Kale, won the Audience Award for Best First Feature at Outfest 2016. After playing over 30 festivals worldwide the film is now available on iTunes and Amazon Prime. In 2017 Carly served as showrunner and director for the scripted series Threads, produced by New Form for Verizon’s go90 platform. The 20-episode horror and comedy anthology series brought to life outrageous stories from internet forums like Reddit.
Carly is also the creator and writer of two comic book series for BOOM! Studios: Heavy Vinyl (in stores now) and The Avant-Guards (out in January 2019). Heavy Vinyl was nominated for a 2018 Prism award, honoring the best in LGBTQAI+ comics.
Carly has spent years making short-form narrative and branded content for clients like Funny or Die, CollegeHumor, Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, World of Wonder, CBS, Fullscreen, Astronauts Wanted, Portal A, TruTV, Viacom and YouTube. Most notably, she directed the third season of Awkwafina’s digital series Tawk. Her promo campaigns for RuPaul’s Drag Race have won One Show Awards and Promax BDA Awards.

Carly has recently completed post-production on her short film Misdirection, created as part of the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women, class of 2019. Currently she is developing several projects through her production company Scheme Machine Studios, which she owns with her wife, photographer and producer Robin Roemer