Created by Ngozi Ukazu, Check, Please! is the story of Eric “Bitty” Bittle, former figure skater and baking enthusiast, as he navigates through his college years on a varsity male hockey team full of big, supportive, and emotional jocks.
How are the characterizations of the newest hockey players so strong in just a single chapter?
The newest members of the Samwell men’s hockey team - Hops, Bully, and Louis - had been slowly introduced in previous chapters as side and background characters. It isn’t until “Haze by Hazewest” that they are given names and a proper introduction as the story focuses on their hazing. In 2018, I had the pleasure of personally asking creator Ngozi Ukazu about her characterizations, specifically how she managed to make them so strong in such a small amount of time. At the time, “Haze by Hazewest” was one of the latest chapters published, and I felt that the these new characters, the waffles, seemed incredibly fully-fledged. Ngozi answered by saying it essentially came down to details, making sure that every opportunity is taken to develop a character by the way they speak, what they do, and how they react.
Credit: Ngozi Ukazu
A three-part panel.
First panel: Bitty is peeking out a window to talk to the waffles.
Bitty: For gossiping about your captain and his boyfriend. Pie’s almost done!
Second panel: Hops is shocked Bitty could hear what he said about him and Jack and annoyed that he was fined for it. Louis is complaining at Hops, pulling his haze blanket over his own head in frustration. Bully is in the foreground, calmly looking over his shoulder at the window where Bitty had just been.
Louis: Hops!!! Seriously???
Hops: I wasn’t gossiping!!! I was hypothesiz — How did he even hear me out here??
Bully: Bitty hears what the Haus hears.
Third panel: A jump cut to Saturday. Louis turning around in his seat, talking to someone.
Louis: It’s new-fi, low-fi! Super popular back in Sweden underground! Nursey’s letting me DJ the next keister and it’s gonna be all N-F-L-F. Pure vibrations.
Off-panel character: Uh… fine.
Credit: Ngozi Ukazu
A six-part panel.
First panel: A text box reading “Sunday” is in the bottom left. Am upper body close-up of someone riding a motorcycle.
Second panel: A shot of the motorcyclist from below. The only things visible are the lower half of the bike and the rider’s leg and foot as he parks.
Third panel: Bully is taking off his helmet. The wind makes his hair flow majestically in the autumn air. A few onlookers stare at him in awe.
Off-panel character: Wow. Fine.
Fourth panel: Bully is standing beside his bike, helmet in both hands. He’s looking at Nursey with annoyed look.
Bully: Wait, seriously?
Nursey: Yeah, bro, you’re kinda encroaching on my territory. No offense. The bad boy role is kinda my thing on SMH?
Panel five: Nursey is lying on his side on top of a pile of leaves, right hand propping his head up, as he talks to Bully. Bully’s face is seen along the left margin, annoyed.
Nursey: Max fine.
Panel Six: Bully walks off. Nursey suddenly sinks into the leaf pile.
Nully: >sigh< Whatever. I was just going to the library.
Nursey: LOL.
Panel 5 gives good initial insight into all three of them. While discussing their week tasked with carrying the blankets Bitty gave them, Bitty overhears Hops wondering out loud about his hazing methods. After being fined by Bitty, Hops claims he was “hypothesizing,” which is a very particular choice of words. He didn’t say “thinking,” “wondering,” or a similar verb. This sets Hops up as a bit of an intellectual, or at least methodical in his thinking. Louis’s reaction to the group fine and his excitement at talking about his music sets him up as having a big, boisterous personality; he’s basically the team’s new Holster. Bully seems to be the polar opposite of Louis: quiet, collected, and as seen in panel 7, effortlessly cool. Even after being fined by Nursey, he easily brushes it off. This juxtaposition sets Bully up as the anti-Nursey, an actually chill and cool person, everything Nursey claims to be.
Ngozi’s characterization style in Check, Please! not only works well because of the richness in detail, but also because of the wide ensamble the comic has at this point in the story. It allows for comparisons and contrasts to be drawn (pun possibly intended) as the different characters interact with each other. This playfulness in character creation and dynamics is one of the reasons this comic is a joy to read.