The least toxically masculine thing you will ever read.

So if you go over to Goodreads and scroll down the first page of reviews, you’ll see that nearly every review starts along the lines of, “THIS WAS SO ADORABLE.” Or “THE CUTEST EVER I’M DYING.” And now that I have read this, I too, can sympathize. This was monstrously precious. I am compelled to say this because of how cute.

Check, Please! is a sweet little web comic that is finishing up later this year. It follows Eric “Bitty” Bittle, a former champion figure skater turned college hockey player, as he goes through his four years at Samwell University. Years One through Three are complete as of now, but this little volume collects only Year One and Year Two. You can catch up in full on the website, but I would recommend getting this trade instead because she fixed up and colored a lot of the art, and there is a huge section of cute extra content at the end, explaining hockey terms with little short stories involving the team, and a neverending stream of Bitty’s tweets (he is a chronic tweeter and his teammates are always making fun of him for it, or in hockey terms, “chirping”).

Nigerian-American Ukazu researched the shit out of hockey for a senior project when she was in school, and in the process fell in love with it, so she started this comic to express her love in a safe and happy place. Other people have felt similarly, First Second came calling, and now it’s a published book.

I really liked Bitty and Jack, of course, but I think my favorite character is Shitty, the mustachioed wonder. Yes, that is his name. Technically, it’s a hockey nickname, but nobody actually knows what his first name is, and it’s left delightfully mysterious as to how he was bestowed with the name “Shitty.” Bitty loves to bake, and he’s gay, but both of those are non-issues to his teammates, who are just the most lovable, disgusting boys (and one lady team manager). Everybody is friends and it’s so beautiful. And funny! Highly recommend.