Since then, Check, Please! (and its amazing author, Ngozi Ukazu) have reached new heights, scoring a publishing deal on top of being one of the most (THE most?) successful comic kickstarters of all time. And now you can own the first two year of Eric Bittle’s college saga in print form! That’s right, Check, Please: #Hockey is in bookstores, sitting on the shelf next to graphic novels and YA new releases and being all adorable and exciting.
Happiest of book birthdays to #CheckPlease! #Hockey by @ngoziu!!! ???? If you love romance, LGBTQ+ rep, & boys who bake, BOY do we have a comic for you! In stores TODAY! pic.twitter.com/T6tPXvJK8B
— First Second (@01FirstSecond) September 18, 2018
I’ve been following sweet, baking hockey playing Eric Bittle for so long that I have all kinds of Check, Please! merch, and two different printed versions of the first two years of the comic from backing the kickstarter. But seeing #Hockey out in the wild, on the shelves, getting into the hands of readers of all stripes makes me inordinately happy – for Ngozi, for readers, for booksellers and for BITTY!
HAPPY CHECK PLEASE DAY FROM THE FLATIRON #OMGCP FANCLUB!!! ???? ty @ngoziu for all the feels ❤️ pic.twitter.com/TgCiYCt17A
— Fierce Reads (@FierceReads) September 18, 2018
Yes, I knew he’s fictional, but Bitty deserves all the love the wide world can throw at him, and he is headed into the hands of new readers, young readers like my daughters, LGBT readers, misfit readers, comic readers and more … that is good news for everyone. Bitty is pure, he is precious and he is PUBLISHED.
If you are still unsure whether or not you would like Check, Please! then here is a little bit about the story and the comic:
Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It is nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There’s checking (anything that hinders the player with possession of the puck, ranging from a stick check all the way to a physical sweep). And then, there is Jack―his very attractive but moody captain.
A collection of the first half, freshmen and sophomore year, of the mega-popular webcomic series of the same name, Check, Please!: #Hockey is the first book of a hilarious and stirring two-volume coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself during the best four years of your life. This book includes updated art and a hilarious, curated selection of Bitty’s beloved tweets.
It’s all about Bitty: his vlog, his first two years in college at Samwell U, his baking, his new hockey friends, and his burgeoning crush on his hockey-robot-legend-captain, Jack. Bitty’s first two years are hilarious but also drama-filled. And they end the way ALL good romantic comedies do – leaving you happy and wanting more (which thankfully, readers can get since Ngozi is still updating the webcomic on her site, and we are halfway into Bitty’s SENIOR year already)!
As for me, I’m out here just reading all the extras I can find, re-reading Year Three (which is my favorite), wearing my Samwell Hockey shirt and hoping to run into a fellow Wellie, and checking my notifications for the next Year Four update.
If you haven’t thought you could read a sports-themed web-comic, but think you might like Bitty’s story, now is the perfect time to try him out. I promise, you’ll get a sweet tooth from the pie and the story.
