Sometimes I'm just minding my business and then I remember that Year 5 of Check Please is actively being worked on and is supposed to be coming this year and my day gets 10 times better
I USED TO PRAY FOR TIMES LIKE THESE
I'll say it louder for the people in the back, CHECK PLEASE IS COMING BACK
AND MY BOY DEX IS A MAIN MAIN THIS TIME, I WROTE AN ESSAY ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE HIM ON THIS BLOG
You are now officially missing out on the funniest and most fun m/m romcom with plot, stakes, and a happy ending.
READ JOHN RICH & THE BIG PICTURE
by Ngozi Ukazu
I am the New York Times bestselling author of check please
You will laugh. Guaranteed. No one has not laughed.
You like m/m romance. You like pining. You like complex, fun, three dimensional characters. You like knowing about things years before #BookTok.
Free website that's easy to use!
Just fun!
More about it under the cut:
John Rich & The Big Picture is a very funny story about a very anxious man hurtling towards his soulmate at 200 mph.
At 28, John Rich is the youngest cover artist in the illustrious history of The New York Review. This means, every week, he draws a portrait of some notable person and this portrait becomes the cover of this very prestigious magazine. But when John is tasked with drawing the supposedly vapid (and obviously gorgeous) action movie star, Tyler Hughes, he discovers that Tyler is the one person he cannot draw.
Idiot enemies to idiot best friends to idiot lovers
Grumpy (he's anxious and an arrogant bitch)/Sunshine (he's actually just a people pleaser and class clown)
PINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Slow burn with "fuck yeah" payoff moments 😭🙏❤️
PLOT & WORLDBUILDING. aka other STUFF HAPPENS!
They have to work together
The purest nerd/jock romance ever, like we squeezed thousands of nerd/jock fruit for single drop of nerd/jock essence
Not only will there be a new volume of CHECK, PLEASE! in the works...
But CHECK, PLEASE!: YEAR FIVE will be...
…THE YEAR OF THE FROG. 🐸 🏒 ✨
Below, find a summary of what the newest volume of CHECK, PLEASE! will have to offer… highs, lows, and a whole new SMH!!
Samwell mens hockey’s favorite baker—and championship-winning senior captain—has graduated! How will the team survive?
Problems abound as their new captain, Dex, learns that the effortless balance Bitty maintained on the team isn’t as easy as it looks. Then, ultra-aloof Nursey must finally drop his “chill” and get vulnerable in a senior poetry seminar. And to make matters worse, Chowder faces the dreaded ‘SSGS’ and is having the worst season of his college career.
But when change arrives at Samwell hockey, it not only threatens to rip the team apart, but could destroy Dex, Nursey, and Chowder’s friendship forever. Before they graduate, to save their team and themselves, the three seniors must come together and ask the question:
‘What does Samwell hockey mean to you?’
I can’t reveal any more spoilers, but I’ll leave you with that question—what does Samwell hockey mean to you? Look out for more Check, Please! news in the months to come!
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Follow me on patreon for more exclusive news and to see me draw this goddamn comic!!
One Check, Please headcanon I have that you will never be able to tear away from me is that there is at least one thing Bitty makes that Jack pretends to like but secretly hates. And he never says anything because Bitty is somehow under the impression that he loves it, and everything Bitty makes tastes good anyway, but there will come a day when they're at a bakery while on vacation and Bitty will say, "Oh, honey, you should get the blueberry muffin. You love blueberry muffins!" And Jack will finally have to admit that he's been pretending to like blueberry muffins for twenty years simply to keep the peace.
A delightfully scrappy booklet containing the first chapters of John Rich & The Big Picture—an exclusive con item available at ECCC 2026, booth #28002.
Read the m/m romcom John Rich & The Big Picture > here.
Ukazu says, a rising tide lifts all boats, including the S.S. Check, Please! She’s hopeful that the success of Heated Rivalry, as well as another queer romance graphic novel-turned-TV show Heartstopper, will make the dream of seeing her work onscreen into a reality: The book has been optioned for adaptation. — Vanity Fair
Check, Please! has been optioned for a film/television adaptation. A while ago, actually—and that’s lovely. Nevertheless, the vast majority of options do not become television because it takes a million things going right to get projects off the ground.
That being said.
Ahem.
Speaking of getting projects off the ground...
From when Bitty first stepped out into the rink at Faber, to when he kissed the ice at graduation, we've all been part of this fun, weird, magical world of Samwell hockey. But when I left the world of Samwell hockey, I left knowing Jack and Bitty's story was done. Bitty's journey as the first openly gay NCAA Division I hockey captain was done. We baked the last pie; we shut off the lights at the kegster; the story was complete.
…But as I looked around I realized, I had one more story to tell.
Which is why I'm thrilled to announce that a brand new volume of Check, Please! will be serialized in 2026. Dozens of new comics, exciting update drops, your favorite characters with brand new storylines, and characters you've yet to meet.
Hello, Internet Land—SMH is coming home.
This fifth year of Check, Please! will be filled with shenanigans, drama, hockey, pies, Haus parties, and a new message of acceptance that is near and dear to me. And it's been brewing over the last year and half! But with the latest boom in queer hockey stories, I figured, hey! ¯\(ツ)/¯ Here's another one to look forward to. :)
Marginalized athletes still face harmful bigotry, and for this reason, queer sports stories are more important than ever. I love Samwell hockey and how each of you has embraced this roster of athletes.
There's so much more to come.
Ngozi
🏒🥧❤️
=
MORE NEWS? SURE:
I’ll be at Emerald City Comic Con 2026, and yes, I will be dropping exclusive details about Check, Please! Year Fived during my spotlight panel: Ngozi Ukazu - From Check, Please! to DC and Back! (Be there!)
Follow me on Patreon for behind-the-scenes on the making of Check, Please!: Year Five. I'm gonna livestream...a lot.
If only there were an original mm romance that you could read right now while you wait for more Year Five updates! Good news—John Rich & The Big Picture is very cute and laugh-out-loud funny and you can read it now, for free.
My latest graphic novel FLIP has made the best-of lists for the New York Public Library, the A.V. Club, Kirkus Books, School & Library Journal—and more. Get it here.
i think one of the reasons that heated rivalry has been so successful is because everyone involved with it is so fucking proud of what they created. like there’s zero embarrassment or shame about how sexual it is or how queer it is and it’s just such a breath of fresh air
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