Ngozi Ukazu | |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer |
Notable works | Check, Please! |
Awards | "Digital Book of the Year" Harvey Award (2019) "Outstanding Comic" Ignatz Award (2019) |
http://www.ngoziu.com |
Ngozi Ukazu is an American cartoonist and graphic novelist. In 2013, she created the webcomic Check, Please!, which later became a New York Times-bestselling graphic novel.
Ukazu grew up in Houston, Texas.[1][2] She attended Bellaire High School, where she contributed to the school’s newspaper, The Three Penny Press, as the comics editor.[2] She is the daughter of Nigerian parents.[2] She studied computer science, obtaining a degree in Computing and The Arts from Yale University in 2013[3] and earned a masters degree in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2015.[4]
Ukazu launched Check, Please! as a webcomic in 2013 after writing a screenplay about Eric "Bitty" Bittle, a gay college freshman and champion figure skater who joins a hockey team.[5][6]
Ukazu created a Kickstarter campaign in 2015 to print the first volume of the comic; the campaign resulted in the highest-funded comics project in Kickstarter's history.[7] In 2018, the first installment, Check, Please!: #Hockey, was published by First Second Books.[1] The sequel, Check, Please!: Sticks & Scones, was a New York Times bestseller in May 2020.[8]