Ngozi 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. 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]
Career
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]
For
DC Comics she created the graphic novel Barda in 2024, both writing and illustrating.[9]