Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey

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Two of my favorite things are comics and hockey, and this book combines both! I cannot think of many books that do both, save for Robert Ullman's Old-Timey Hockey Tales mini-comics, which are great by the way. Check, Please! began as a webcomic, and the first two of the four seasons are collected here. The premise is that we are following the life of Eric "Bitty" Bittle, an incoming freshman to the fictional Samwell University that is located in the real-life state of Massachusetts and plays in the real-life ECAC conference. Bitty is a former figure skater turned hockey player who comes from Georgia, loves to bake and vlogs about his life. He is also gay, and wonders when and how he should come out to his teammates. Over the course of the book, he shares about his struggles to adapt to college life, his quirky teammates, his culinary creations, and his adapting to the rules and rigors of college hockey.

For instance, dealing with contact is new to Bitty...

Over the two seasons in this book, we get glimpses into Bitty's freshman and sophomore years. He transitions from being a newbie to moving into the team house. There is some light hazing, intense feedback from the team captain, heavy partying, and typical college shenanigans. A slight spoiler: It is refreshing to see a bunch of macho athletes appreciate Bitty's baking and sexual orientation with not just tolerance but acceptance and joy. This book is fun to read for its sports intrigue, personal drama, charm, clever banter, and humor. I am very much looking forward to reading the next book that runs to Eric's junior and senior years.

Check, Please! was created by Ngozi Ukazu. She began making webcomics but has transitioned into making graphic novels, including Bunt!, which is about a college baseball player, Barda, which is a YA graphic novel from DC Comics featuring Jack Kirby's Fourth World characters, and the forthcoming Flip. Ukazu speaks more about Check, Please! in this interview.

This series has won a Reuben Award, a Harvey Award, and an Ignatz Award, and it's been very well reviewed. The starred entry from Kirkus Reviews concluded, "A fun and deeply satisfying read for teens." Thoroughly Modern Reviewer called it " a well-written, immensely enjoyable rom-com," and added that "it’s also a delightful exploration of male friendship, a really funny coming of age story, and an exciting look into the softer side of hockey culture." Nick Goodsell summed up, "It’s funny, its heartfelt, its deep, and it’s another great coming of age story for anyone to enjoy!"

Check, Please! Book 1 was published by First Second, and they offer a preview and more information about it here. This book features profanity and some adult situations, so it is recommended for readers mature enough to handle those things, probably more mature teens.

Giant Days, Volume 1

Here's another series I recently dove into from Comixology Unlimited. This book follows a trio of young women as they embark on their first year at university. Esther de Groot, Susan Ptolemy, and Daisy Wooton are freshmen in a typical situation, namely they are a motley bunch tossed together by the random decisions of university housing. Esther is an outgoing goth who attracts lots of trouble, Daisy a naive, home-schooled student with poofy hair, and Esther is the sarcastic, "sensible" one who thinks she knows best. As neighbors, they hang out, go to parties, navigate relationships, fight against male chauvinism, publish a zine, celebrate Daisy's 18th birthday, and get into dramatic situations. Typical college stuff.

 

 

Giant Days is a slice of life kind of story, with no superheroes, fantasy, sci-fi or other fictional affectations. The series works because the characters are interesting and complex, the artwork is clear, energetic, and fun, and the plots are relatable, funny, and compelling. Also, it is worth noting that the events here all happen in England at the University of Sheffield, so it has a very British sensibility and sense of humor. Still, I think the themes and situations here are fairly universal, helped along by the wit of the writing as well the clever drawings. I very much enjoyed reading this book, and I plan to dive into future volumes as soon as I can.

The comics in this collection, which cover the first four issues of the series, were written by John Allison, drawn by Lissa Treiman, and colored by Whitney Cogar. Allison is known for his webcomics Bad Machinery and Scary Go Round (both available here). Treiman is an artist and animator who has worked on movies like Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero 6. Cogar is an artist and colorist who has worked on Steven Universe comic books and a few films. Allison and Treiman speak about their work on this series in this interview.

The reviews I have read about this book have been largely positive. Johanna Draper Carlson wrote, "I quickly found myself caring about and rooting for the trio, even when they’re making silly (but age-appropriate) mistakes." Oliver Sava commented that the series creators have "used this slice-of-life concept to create one of the year’s most engaging, hilarious comics." Gregory Paul Silber was more lukewarm about this book, summing up that it "isn’t particularly ambitious or challenging (at least so far), but it’s an amusing read with appealing artwork."

Giant Days was published by Boom! Box, and they have more info about it here.

Batgirl Volume 1: Batgirl of Burnside

Honestly, I have checked in here and there with DC Comics over the past five years. There has not been much attractive about their books since they rebooted into the new 52, and I find most of their books too dreary and depressing to take much stock in, because they seem to have equated gratuitous violence with maturity. But I have heard a lot of good things about this Batgirl book, so I decided to give it a try.

Now, I know Batgirl has a long and convoluted history. This version of the character was created in conjunction with the 1960s Batman TV show, and Barbara Gordon has been a librarian, a congresswoman, and eventually a paraplegic computer genius over the decades. Here, she is re-imagined as a hip 20-something living in the trendy Burnside area of Gotham City. She is still a vigilante, but one who spends her days studying computer science as a university student. So, this book looks at Batgirl as much as a person with a bunch of new relationships and tech-savviness as it does as her playing the superheroine role. Just look at this sequence:

 

 

Overall, I found a lot to like about this book. It was fun, colorful, and it features some good character work as well suspenseful plots. I would not say it's the best superhero comics I have ever read, but it is certainly well crafted and enjoyable. And I did like that it was a very contemporary book. I do not know if it will age well, but in this moment this book is one of DC's top 3 publications (which is faint praise, at least coming from me, sorry). I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone who wants to read accomplished and entertaining superhero comics.

The creators behind this book are Cameron Stewart (plot and breakdowns), Brenden Fletcher (plot), Babs Tarr (finished art), and Maris Wicks (colors). Stewart is an Eisner and Shuster Award winning artist/writer who has worked on a number of different comic book series as well as his webcomic Sin Titulo. Fletcher is a veteran comic book writer, and Tarr is an illustrator who is relatively new to comics. Wicks has written and drawn a number of science themed graphic novels. These collaborators speak about their work on this series in this interview.

The reviews I have read about this book cover the full spectrum from praise to dislike. Matt Santori-Griffith wrote that this book "takes the mythos of Barbara Gordon and expands it even further, giving rise to a new chapter in her history," showing that that Batgirl stands alongside Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman as one of DC’s premier heroes." Etelka Lehoczky called it "pretty good"  on the whole, especially the artwork and the story's take on digital identities. Dustin Cabeal wrote that he found this book too trendy and wrote, "This Batgirl is written and created based on public opinion and that’s terrible because public opinion shifts all the time"

Batgirl of Burnside was published by DC Comics and they have more info about the series here.

Strong Female Protagonist, Book One

Strong Female Protagonist began as a webomic in 2012, and this volume collects the first four chapters of the story. I actually began reading this series online, and I bought the first two chapters in hard copy, so this tale was not new to me. But I enjoyed it all the same, because I feel that this take on superheroes is fresh, smart, and very compelling.

The plot follows Allison Green, a powerfully strong and invulnerable young woman who just wants to go to college and live a normal life. Unfortunately for her, she used to be the superheroine Mega Girl, and her past keeps cropping up and complicating her life.

 

What makes this comic smart for me is that Allison is a surprisingly complex and interesting character surrounding by what could be stock characters but turn out to be quite intriguing in their own rights. Additionally, there are fascinating twists on the dynamics of superheroes and supervillains and a deep, dark conspiracy to contend with. There is so much greatness to digest in this comic.

The artwork and writing fit together seemlessly. And I love how the illustrations both cling to and expand on superhero conventions but also retain the flavor of the online work. I especially appreciate the use of alt-text in the print version, where it is placed at the bottom of each page. That text comments on the story, is metacommentary on the craft, or tells jokes, and I appreciate that extra touch.

This comic is the product of writer Brennan Lee Mulligan and artist Molly Ostertag. Mulligan is an improviser, actor, and author who performs with the Upright Citizens Brigade. Ostertag also works on a number of other comics, including Journey to the Valley of Whispers and Bacchanalia. Both creators speak about their collaboration in this interview.

The webcomic collected here is well received and very positively reviewed. It was also the focus of a successful Kickstarter campaign, which funded this collection. Marykate Jasper called it "a fascinating superhero book." Nightwing17 wrote, "It’s wonderful to see a series exploring areas of the superhero genre that are usually resigned to subtext and throw-away sideplots." Chris Sims summed up, "It’s well worth reading, and if you’re not already, you’re missing out."

This collection of Strong Female Protagonist was published by Top Shelf, who has a preview and much more here. The story continues online, updated on Tuesdays and Fridays.

I read this book on my Kindle Fire using the Comixology app, and I have to say I really liked the experience.

Pete and Miriam

Pete and Miriam are twenty-somethings who are lifelong friends, and this book shows many episodes from throughout their lives. Flashing back and forth through time, we see them go to film school, date different people, go trick-or-treating, meet, pull pranks, drink, dabble in punk rock, and deal with high school. There is no single narrative thread, but we get several impressions about them and their lives that add up to give a fuller picture of these characters. I think that Pete comes off worse than Miriam, but what is palpable is the strong relationship between the two. Also, they really like movies.

Writer/artist Rich Tommaso has been creating comics for the better part of two decades. He won an Eisner Award for his work on the graphic novel Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, and he has a great variety of works available for preview at his official website. Currently he is also working on re-coloring reprints of classic Carl Barks stories for Fantagraphics. Tommaso speaks about his career at length in this interview at The Comics Reporter.

Reading this book, I enjoyed the idiosyncrasies of Pete and Miriam's relationship as well as Tommaso's expressive art. He has a great feel for the characters, and I appreciate how he shows them at different times in their young lives. I have found few reviews online about this book, and they have been mixed thus far. Matt Demers wrote about how the book was structured, "I was a bit perplexed after I read through it because... the stories jump around through different times." He added, "I really felt as if I had read a collection of stories with no connecting tissue between them." I would counter that there are connections between the stories, especially once you realize they are all about the same two people. The reviewer at the Stumptown Trade Review enjoyed the realism of the book and concluded, "Do yourself a favor and pick up Pete and Miriam today."

Pete and Miriam was originally published in France, and it was published in the US by Boom! Studios. Here is a sizable preview posted at the Graphic Novel Reporter.

On a side note, I met Tommaso at HeroesCon this summer and he signed my copy of this book and also provided a fun illustration. He is a great guy!