Eric Bittle has just started at Samwell University on a hockey scholarship. He’s excited to start his college career, especially someplace where he can be open about the fact that he’s gay. However, college hockey is quite different from what he’s been playing and Eric can’t take a check without collapsing on the ice. While most of the team is pretty welcoming, quickly bestowing then nickname Bitty on him, Eric’s captain is another story. Still, armed with freshly baked pie and a can do attitude, Bitty is ready to tackle college, hockey, and maybe even romance.
I love this graphic novel series so much. I first discovered the webcomic version in 2019 and ate it up. I was actually supposed to see Ngozi Ukazu at a con the week everything shut down in 2020. Whenever I need a warm and fuzzy boost, I pull this series out. Not that everything in it is sunshine and light, but it’s one of those stories where you know the angst will be worth it in the end. I just moved (okay I moved a month ago; I’m just bad at unpacking) and found my copies while attempting to unpack so of my books and immediately sat down and read them. No further unpacking got done.
The characters are one of the big draws to this series for me. I really love everyone, and even when they don’t necessarily have a lot of time on the page, you can’t help but get attached to them. I related a lot to Jack as a giant ball of anxiety myself, and I really loved the romance in this book, and how the characters balance that with the other things going on in their lives. Bitty’s sophomore and junior years are my favorite parts of the comic, but I don’t there’s really a bad part of the books. I also think that this comic can be a really great introduction to graphic novels for folks; I tend to recommend it to people a lot. I also really like that you don’t have to know anything about hockey to enjoy it. I really just can’t say enough nice things about these books. Five out of five stars.
CBR15 Bingo: Queer Lives – It feels like a lot of this comic is Bitty figuring out who he is and how to live his truth as well as his romance.