This graphic novel is so wholesome and sweet and funny. As Bitty becomes part of the Samwell hockey team and discovers that beneath their bro-y exteriors lie the best friends he could ever want, the reader gets to experience the absolute joy that is this team's bond.

There's Shitty Knight, who's all for the realization of artistic visions and the support of the whole team; the stoic captain Jack Zimmerman, Bitty's crush, who is struggling with anxiety and his future but slowly reveals himself to be an absolute pile of mush; Ransom and Holster, best friends who aren't afraid to let anyone know it; Lardo, the team manager who can bestow the belch of honor; a theoretically also a goalie named Johnson. Plus some adorable younger players. Basically, it's full of characters who are layered and delightful and you can't know just how much you'll love them until it's over, because they're so good.

As far as the adaptation from webcomic to graphic novel goes — it's really great, but I think Ransom and Holster's little slide shows about hockey terms should have been kept slotted between chapters rather than bundled together at the end. After all, the original point of them was to explain hockey terminology as the reader goes along so people who aren't familiar with any of this can read without any confusion. Pushing them to the end kinda defeats the point. However, I do think enough is understandable as context that it's not an actual problem.

Join Bitty as he vlogs through his first two years at Samwell College. He may be the smallest hockey player the team has seen, but man, can he bake a pie! Through crushing checks (and crushed hearts), Bitty's candid commentary will make you squee!

I got through most of this as a webcomic before seeing the ARC; I like how the absence of the side stories (like Ransom and Holster's hockey sense) makes the story flow better, but I also didn't really like them all crammed together at the end, sort of as an afterthought. Also, the final section (Bitty's Tweets) didn't come through on the galley; hopefully this will be fixed in the printed final version. The story, however, is great and is hugely accurate to the rabid fandom of the hockey world. The highest praise I have for this comic is that it has caused MULTIPLE friends of mine to become hockey fans (I have been a rabid hockey fan my entire life, and I couldn't convince them!). Thank you, Ngozi!

Do you like any of the following things: nice people, good characters, pies, DAT HOCKEY BUTT, Beyonce, nicknames, alluring storylines, webcomics, French Canadians with crazy blue eyes and no obvious emotions, small Southerners who can do jumps and anxiety bake, girls who hold their own against the bros, bros being bros, bros being brothers, and hockey? Scratch that, you don't have to like any of those things to read this book but once you do, you will LOVE them. Honestly, Ngozi's work changed my life. I will recommend this book to all of my friends. It was an honor to be able to write a review.

A delightful comic, this served as my first real introduction to the world of ice hockey. I had watched the game before, but never really understood any of the rules. The characters quickly engaged my interest, particularly Bitty, and I found myself really routing for him to succeed. The ending was everything I could have hoped for, and I’m eager to see where this story goes next.

I adored this. I always appreciate having LGBT+ books to recommend and the characterization and flow of this was charming and creative.

Full disclosure, I’ve been following Check, Please! for years. I love Check, Please! Specifically, when updates were being publically released, I would often sneak away for ten minutes just to read them. I’ve met Ngozi before and she’s lovely. I even backed both of the Kickstarter’s and got some pretty “‘swawesome“ swag. When it was announced that Check, Please! was officially being published the levels of excitement and pride I felt…..fist pumping and hoots of joy ensued.

Bitty, our protag, is your not so stereotypical small, sweet, closeted country boy from small-town Georgia. Bitty is the son of the local high school football coach. Bitty’s a champion figure skater. Bitty has a baking vlog. And Bitty is on his way to his next big adventure – college hockey. One small problem though, Bitty struggles with physical contact and hockey is very much a contact sport.

Check, Please! is the story about Bitty coming to accept, and love, who he is. Book 1 follows Bitty through his freshman and sophomore year at Samwell University where Bitty stress bakes, learn’s the in and out of bro’dom with his teammates, befriends a bro named Shitty, and is determined not to let the opinion of team Captain, Jack Laurent Zimmermann, get in his way. Even if Jack is a ~tragic~ shut off hockey legacy who is wholly convinced that Bitty is going to ruin their season.

As a side note, perhaps one of the things I love most about Check, Please! is the obvious love this story is made with. This is a coming out story. But its also a story that takes the toxic heteronormative culture of sports and inverts it into this light, feel-good story. There is angst, sure, but it’s not the angst you typically read in LGBT sports fiction. There’s a guaranteed happy ending coming for all our boys. This is a feel-good story. You will smile. You will laugh. You will root for all these crazy hockey bros. And you’re going to watch Bitty, Shitty, and Jack grow into something you don’t really see a lot in this genre.

Book 1 covers Bitty’s freshman and sophomore year with additional bonus content at the end and a full log of all of Bitty’s Tweets.

Check, Please! is the story for you if you like: heartfelt coming of age/coming out stories, bro’s being bro’s, feel-good funny stories, stories about social media, realistic depictions of anxiety and healing, enemies to lovers stories, and rooting for the underdog.

What a fun book! Most webcomics are hard to read in book format, but this one was a grabber right from the start. The way the story focuses more on the interpersonal relationships of the characters while it uses hockey as a way of furthering relationships is great. I love Bitty and Jack is being revealed to us a bit more each installment.

Hi, I've been a arena brat most of my childhood, old enough to have witnessed the 76 to 80 Habs cups. My 16 years old bday gift was a Bossy jersey and I fell so hard for the great one, that I renounced the Habs to this day, except for the Roy years because crazy goalies are just ... all that. I'm a Pens die hard these days with a guilty thing for a certain abs boy down in Texas.

So this graphic novel is pushing all my buttons in a amazing way. It captures the spirit of hockey in a vivid and passionate way. This is what hockey can be. Team, friendship, hard work, so much hard work. The fact that Eric is gay and out is just that a fact and not a big deal. I liked the cliffhanger and I am looking forward to the next compilation. I adored the extra comics with the hockey slang.

This fun graphic novel follows Eric Bittles first 2 years at Samwell College. He is a former junior figure skating champ who is now playing hockey. How he rises to the challenge of playing with the the big guys -- all while baking pie and falling in love with a teammate-- makes a sweet story. I can't wait for volume 2!

I absolutely love this comic. I've been following it since it was published on the web, and I love that it's not available in book form. The art is fantastic, and I have fallen in love with the characters. This is a comic that I recommend again and again.

Being able to read an electronic version of a book which I have already read as a webcomic was beyond exciting! Ngozi Ukazu has created a rich and warm world for Samwell Hockey to exist in with characters you want to befriend. Of course, the pie baking, terrified of checking, southern boy Eric Bittle is by far my favourite. He comes in and turns the Samwell Hockey team on their heads in the best way possible.

I was enamored with this story as a webcomic and cannot wait for a physical copy to sit on my shelf. Ukazu has made a story both enchanting and realistic while keeping things light even as the characters deal with the heavy subjects of graduating university and becoming their best selves. Congrats Ngozi Ukazu!

Amazing! Will definitely request this book for purchase for our graphic novel collection.

This collection of Ukazu’s sweet, funny, and fabulous web comic covers Eric Bittle’s first two years at Samwell on a hockey scholarship. He is southern charming, an avid baker, terrified of getting checked, and soon to be head over heels in love with his team captain. This is a fabulous comic about friendship, family (in all its forms), and college life. I was introduced to it when it made Npr’s “Let's Get Graphic: 100 Favorite Comics And Graphic Novels.” It’s fabulous!

I've read most of this before as a webcomic. No new material, I think, but it's an interesting experience to read it straight through from beginning to the end of Bitty's second year. The story is for obvious reasons very episodic which makes for a slightly disjointed reading experience. I was curious to see how the "bonus" material would be handled (the comics where Ransom and Holster explain hockey terminology, Bitty's twitter, etc) and they were included separately at the end in their own appendices. I'm not sure if keeping everything together in chronological order might have helped with the flow of the narrative -- a lot of things happen in the twitter section especially that are not adequately shown in the comic itself (mainly the increasing intimacy of Bitty's friendship with Jack) -- but at any rate I'm glad they're in there. Verdict: if you've already read the webcomic you know what you're getting, and if (like me) you never bothered to read the twitter some aspects of the storyline will be clearer. If you haven't: it's a very gentle coming-of-age/romance story starring a gay college hockey player with a significant social media component and very charming, stylized art. The first volume ends on a fairly significant cliffhanger, though, so beware!

Charming tale full of optimism and acceptance.

It’s great that Check, Please! is a LGBT story that isn’t making a huge drama of being LGBT. Bitty is gay and the team is cool with that. The drama is focused on transitioning to college, making friends, making the playoffs, baking and the inscrutable Jack. Bitty is hopeful, vulnerable and relatable.

The story moves quickly though Bitty’s vlogs which are cute and a clever way of advancing the story quickly. Sometimes I wish we got to spend some more time on some events or see more before moving on.

This is the first of two books which is great news since there’s a lot more story to tell! This part also includes fun extras which is a nice primer for people who aren’t hockey fans (including me!).

This graphic novel is based on the popular webcomic of the same name, and the overarching storyline is about hockey, friendship, bros, pies, and the best four years (two years) of your life. Bitty’s story is told in somewhat chronological episodes. Illustrations are bold, charming, colorful, and Epic Moments are suitably striking. The dialogue is also incredibly well-crafted, and each character’s voice rings true. After devouring the graphic novel galley, I went online, found Bitty’s junior year, and was up until 1:30 in the morning reading it. The next day, I reread the majority of Bitty’s sophomore year. I will probably reread the digital galley at least three more times this week, I love it this much. Will someone please watch hockey with me now, please?

Also, I now have an epic crush on Shitty.

Charming LGBTQ-friendly graphic novel series that crosses sports narrative with fish-out-of-water themes.

I follow "Check Please!" religiously and love the webcomic so much; I was ecstatic to hear that it was being published as a graphic novel. It's so great to know that more people will be falling in love with this story and all the wonderful characters. There are some minor changes from the webcomic (mostly the placement of speech balloons) and it looks s'wawesome. Can't wait to to buy this!