iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 15/09/2026

Now it's time to rec my books to your friends—hello! Do you like gay hockey, or body swapping, or a screwball comedy about art kids, or DC Comic superheroes? www.ngoziu.com/books 📚

The covers of the graphic novels Check, Please! books 1 & 2, FLIP, Bunt!, Barda and Orion.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 06/09/2026

Me: (checking the check please wiki) wow dex and nursey are both 6'2". interesting. Me: how tall is chowder again? Me: HE'S FIVE-ELEVEN???? omgcheckplease.fandom.com/wiki/Check_P...

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 19/08/2026

See Orion! His rage here dulled by a more gripping emotion—shame!! For only he knows the outer reaches of his destruction... ...and what it feels to be of DARKSEID!!! 🔥 #orion #orion2026

Orion looks down at a Mother Box-created vision of himself as a baby held by his mother.

Orion attacks the vision, dispelling the image.

Orion falls to his knees and covers his face.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 19/08/2026

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION ✨ If you're reading this, you can probably vote for FLIP to win a Harvey Award! Fellow comics creators, retailers, educators, librarians, and members of the press are all eligible. You can sign up to get a ballot below! 🗳️ conventions.leapevent.tech/f/3c27f9d1-8...

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 30/07/2026

Yeah! We open on a flashback! Orion's first act on New Genesis! The moment that defined him forever. Someone analyzed Orion's Dropping of The Knife scene in a post on Tumblr—that site of great depravity and yet also great wisdom—it is the most important scene in understanding Orion/the New Gods.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 30/07/2026

epic poems are popular these days—the first word(s) of ORION is "rage" because of the illiad and how it opens on rage in some translations. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ so that's fun! bonus: when i pitched this book I suggested orion & lightray had a relationship like achilles and patroclus. (jim was like "ok cool")

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 28/07/2026

Okay one last tidbit since the Lightray/Orion stuff was popular. IT WAS SO FUN WRITING ABOUT THEM AS BOYS. building mother boxes! stealing shit! just fucking hanging out. Lightray absolute woke Orion up like "I FOUND A DEAD BODY RED EYES LET'S GO POKE IT"

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 28/07/2026

Another Darkseid thing, playing on the phrase "Darkseid is" — Darkseid later says "I am who I am" which is a direct reference to the Bible. In Hebrew, yahweh/יהוה translates to "I am who I am". The to be verb doing a lot of work there. Very convenient. (I hope Kirby would like the Exodus pull.)

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 28/07/2026

O'Deadly Darkseid...where do I even begin? Darkseid is fun to write because he...simply believes that he's entitled to enslave the universe. No frivolous sob story. It's his job to rule over all of life and he's gonna do it. Out of all the New Gods...he ACTS like a god. Gotta love it!

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 28/07/2026

Oh yeah! Orion's festival clothing/lounging clothing??? Listen, I'm not the most adept character designer. In a later scene, I decided that the sun symbol means "Orion"......but Orion has a sun on his tunic? So is he walking around in a tunic that says his name? Loser behavior.

The caption "Orion" followed by a simple design of a sun on a white background.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 28/07/2026

I'm back with more ORION tidbits. A little dialogue quirk that's not totally Kirby-esque: Orion's use of epithets! He mostly does this when referring/speaking to Lightray. He calls him "Gentle Lightray" to underscore Lightray's nature. Tender Lightray, sweet Lightray...

from ORION, Lightray stands and Orion sits on a ledge and holds his wrist.

from ORION, Orion sits on the ground of an apartment while Lightray lounges on a couch

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 22/07/2026

Where did the astro-harness come from??? How did Orion get it? Did he build it??? Find it? These are questions a True Dork like me pondered for months.

Two panels from ORION (2026) which show Orion discovering the astro harness in a deep dark cave.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 16/07/2026

The Galaxy Museum + Theotorium (& technically the Hall of the Source?) are the only "new" New Genesis locations introduced in this graphic novel. I love hinting at the location of a story's showdown in act I. Fun bookending!

A wideshot of The Galaxy Museum with Lightray flying into it. It's a large blue dome.

A wideshot of the Theotorium is a large outdoor auditorium/amphitheater thing? Stone stairs, a rough stone stage. Orion descends the stairs while Lightray floats above the stage.

A wideshot + downshot on the Hall of the Source with the Source Wall. Orion opens two big doors to walk toward the glowing yellow-white slab of energy.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 16/07/2026

More random tidbits—in considering transport to another planet, Orion ventures to The Galaxy Museum and picks up a not-so-silver surfboard, referencing Kirby's Silver Surfer. I was tempted to color it silver, but I did NOT want trouble from my editor! (I don't think anyone noticed/cared lmao)

Orion holds a golden surfboard as Lightray pleads with him in the background.

Orion from the back, holding the surfboard from the side.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 15/07/2026

My @Patreon is *mostly* me talking about my m/m romcom novel and CHECK, PLEASE! but I did a brief overview of how I wrote/drew ORION! ☀️ www.patreon.com/ngoziu/posts/panel-…

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 15/07/2026

ORION (2026) has been out for a week! This is a book for Fourth World fans, Jack Kirby fans, and superhero fans alike! If you've been curious about the Fourth World and have no clue where to start, this YA graphic novel is your key to the Source! From @dc.com #orion ☀

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 13/07/2026

- we never get to see new genesis at night in the original kirby comics? which makes sense—Supertown can float wherever. But night is so festive! Dusk palettes are exciting to play with. - @charmgardens.com colored many of the city-scenes! Below is an example of their coloring and mine.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 13/07/2026

Also, huge shout out to @charmgardens.com who seriously pinch hit and colored several pages in ORION! You absolutely rocked it. (They also worked on BUNT by me and @madrupert.bsky.social!)

Two comic pages colored by K Czap with vibrant colors. This one has lots of purples and fuschias and glowing oranges—the last panel especially has fun and vibrant lighting.

This next page features Kalibak battling Orion over the fire pits and has deep red-oranges but also bright yellow-whites as the flames overtake Orion and Kalibak fires his glowing Beta Club at him.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 13/07/2026

One cool thing to start off with is the rage dialogue. idk how it actually sounds like, but pretty early on we wanted it to be a fun feature that Orion's monologue has. Also in contrast to Barda's "we do not speak of love on apokolips" Orion's opening is saying rage not once...but TWICE.

screencap of the script of ORION. It says "The first page of this graphic novel is a single panel with beveled edges, a panel border style which we'll use for flashbacks. We see a boy's hand holding a knife. The lighting here is red, under lit, like a fire is off-panel. Panels with this lighting should be indicated with this red font in the script. Orion: (voice over) Rage. Rage.
Then page two says before it gets cut off "The reader may not know it yet, and that's okay, but"

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 13/07/2026

The depth in my writing *just* comes from regular ol' research. With Check, Please! it's why folks think I'm Canadian. 😅 Nope, I just talked to hockey players. These Kirby quotes were GIFTS!!! You just had to take them and turn them into character-specific dialogue!!! Straight from the "Source"!

A photo I just took from OLD GODS & NEW by John Morrow. The important quote here is "Orion is a fearful god because he wasn't born on New Genesis."

A screencap from ORION (2026) showing an intensely lit and fierce looking Orion shouting "I feared I would become like you!" against a purple background. He clenches his fist for emphasis.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 13/07/2026

Starting off with the craziest find and absolute cheat code—someone at Austin Books and Comics handed this to me years ago: OLD GODS & NEW: A COMPANION TO JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD. It helped to read Kirby interviews where he just...straight-up explained the goddamn characters??? Like, thank you!

The cover of OLD GODS & NEW by John Morrow

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 13/07/2026

ORION (2026) is my latest comic and book #2 in @dc.com's Fourth World series for young readers! I'm starting a casual thread to talk about my ideas/the process that went into writing and drawing this project. 🌞

Three books laid out on a rug. They overlap each other. The first is an omnibus of New Gods by Jack Kirby with Orion on the cover in the heat of battle, the second is Old Gods & New by John Morrow which has a CMYK color palette and features a heroic figure stretching their arms, and third ORION by Ngozi Ukazu, a YA graphic novel which shows Orion walking toward the viewer taking off his helmet.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 08/07/2026

FLIP has been nominated for a Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity! ✨ For the full list of nominees: shorturl.at/Vmzyn

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 08/07/2026

FLIP was nominated for a freaking HARVEY AWARD!!!!!! ✨😭 If you're a: - fellow comics creator - publishing professional - retailer - educator/librarian - member of the press You can sign up to get a ballot here! 🗳️ conventions.leapevent.tech/f/3c27f9d1-8...

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 07/07/2026

I HAVE HEARD THE WORD... ORION, my second graphic novel with DC Comics, is out in bookshops & comic book stores EVERYWHERE! ☀️

The cover of the graphic novel ORION, which is the sequel to BARDA, by New York Times bestselling creator of Check, Please! Ngozi Ukazu. It's a yellow cover and white cover and in the center, wearing a red jacket, is ORION the titular character. He walks toward the viewer while putting on a silver helmet and has an intense focused expression. The title ORION is hand-written across his torso, and colored with a blue-teal gradient. Yellow and white Kirby dots appear around the edge of the cover and flow toward Orion.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 30/06/2026

ONE WEEK 'til ORION hits shelves! 💥 Coloring is my favorite part of making comics. With the help of @charmgardens.com I had the best time pushing palettes to psychedelic places. 🪐✨ Signed copies of ORION from @BlueWillowBooks! with a custom bookmark from DC Comics here > buff.ly/QwJhk21

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 24/06/2026

If you loved BARDA, you're going to love ORION. It's been the treat of my career to continue reinterpreting Jack Kirby's Fourth World! He's a sneak peek at my process. Preorder in the replies! 🪐✨

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 18/06/2026

The Austin Chronicle readers have spoken: very happy to be a BEST OF AUSTIN 2026 winner — GRAPHIC NOVELIST OR COMIC CREATOR! ✨🤠🎉 @austinchronicle.bsky.social calendar.austinchronicle.com/best-of/2026...

A screencap from the Austin Chronicle website showing that Ngozi won best Graphic Novelist or Comic Creator in the Best of Austin® 2026 Readers poll. A photo of Ngozi Ukazu by Zig Metzler
Finalists: Drew Edwards, Kat Fajardo, Ashley Robin Franklin, Austin Hambrick, Evan Narcisse
A quote from a reader includes:
“Ngozi does a great job telling heartfelt stories with humor, sincerity, and gorgeous art.” – Criswell Lavery

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 12/06/2026

hi, so this webnovel is finishing up and if you haven't been following along now is the time because 1- i'm going to take it down soon 2 - there's (finally) gay sex, m/m spice, emotionally satisfying smut Chapter 19 - John's | okjohnrich.site

Two hands holding together two pieces of a broken Garfield bowl.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 09/05/2026

In this exclusive interview with @popversesays.bsky.social, I reveal one canon scene from ORION that changes everything you know about the character! ORION, the sequl to Barda, is out 7/7/26. ✨️

The cover of ORION a graphic novel by Ngozi Ukazu which depicts the eponymous hero removing his silver helmet while walking through yellow and white Kirby dots.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 22/04/2026

The #1 question I’ve gotten for the last five months? “What are your thoughts on Heated Rivalry?” 😅 (I made a gay hockey comic for 7yrs—it comes with the territory.) Now, thanks to BookCon, I can say I not only have thoughts on Heated Rivalry, but on the state of hockey romance as a whole.

An IG story showing both a close-up of Ngozi Ukazu and another image of Ngozi Ukazu sitting next to Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 16/04/2026

Hi, I'll be at BookCon 2026 this weekend! The hockey romance panel with me, Kate Cochrane, Emily Rath, Stephanie Archer, and Rachel Reid is going to be SO FUN! 🏒

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 13/04/2026

what if Whiskey got absolutely feral in check, please!: year five. like just a little kooky. like something (someone?) kinda flips a switch in him. what if he started having problems

A panel from Check, Please!: Year Four, "Dibs". A close-up on Connor Whisk as he looks off-panel at Bitty, while holding a hockey puck. He is shrouded in shadow and says "I can't be like you."

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 05/04/2026

do I alert people with each chapter update, or do I only tell people when the garfield-obsessed cartoonist starts to have bad-decision sex. (he's a MESS) JOHN RICH & THE BIG PICTURE www.okjohnrich.site/chapter-15-n...

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 28/03/2026

holy hell I can't believe my plan to turn Orion into a bishounen is now complete.

The cover of the DC Comics Young Reader graphic novel BARDA, the first in a Fourth World series. It shows the superhero Big Barda walking toward the camera while a background depicts fire, motherbox lines and kirby krackle. She holds the mega rod and looks determined.

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 27/03/2026

I am so so excited for you guys to see my take on ✨️ORION✨️ Fourth world fans RISE UP! 🌞

A close up on Orion's eye as he peers out from his silver helmet. Crackling omega rays shoot out...

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 22/03/2026

Excited to announce that I will be a guest at Copenhagen Comics in Copenhagen, Denmark this year!! I LOVE Denmark and can't wait to chat comics on my favorite European peninsula! (controversial statement I know...!!!) more info here >>> copenhagencomics.dk/en/

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 22/03/2026

Hello! Not only will I be at ECCC (talking hockey romance) I will be at - Teen Lit Con in MN & - Copenhagen Comics in Denmark. A busy spring! 🌼 www.ngoziu.com/events

A graphic describing my schedule at BookCon—check out the BookCon link on my website for a non-image, readable version!

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 18/03/2026

I will be at #BookCon 2026 with your favorite hockey romance authors! Stephanie Archer (The Vancouver Storm series) Kate Cochrane (Wake up, Nat & Darcy) Emily Rath (Pucking Around) Rachel Reid (#HeatedRivalry) Ngozi Ukazu (#omgcp!)

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 12/03/2026

Check, Please!: Year Five announcement... Y5 will follow DEX, NURSEY, AND CHOWDER THROUGH THEIR SENIOR YEARS! ✨ Sign up for the newsletter to never miss an update! www.ngoziu.com/omgcpnewsletter

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 03/03/2026

AO3 is down, you're looking for a cozy (and ultimately spicy) mm romcom to read — might I interest you in John Rich & The Big Picture? (Updates this Friday!) read it here: okjohnrich.site ✏️✨

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 01/03/2026

did a re-read of #omgcp year one on discord...jack zimmermann you were completely wild my guy

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 01/03/2026

Additional signing times and merch all available at booth #28002!

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 01/03/2026

My full ECCC 2026 schedule! ✨ booth #28002 ✨ #eccc2026 #hockeyromance - boxsets of CHECK, PLEASE!, a YA hockey romance - new sample zines of an mm romcom - lots and lots of panels!

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 25/02/2026

Ngozi Ukazu: From Check, Please! to DC & Back! www.emeraldcitycomiccon.com/en-us/experi...

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 25/02/2026

Heading to ECCC 2026? Get EXCLUSIVE behind-the-scenes previews of ORION, the newest graphic novel from @dc.com, out this summer! Also get a free postcard print at my signing!☀️ Check out my spotlight panel on Friday, March 6th!

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 18/02/2026

Going to ECCC 2026? You'll be able to grab copies of CHECK, PLEASE! from Third Place Books at Emerald City Comic Con @01firstsecond.bsky.social

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 14/02/2026

Book Summary: what if Carrie Bradshaw was a gay man with a Garfield obsession ✏️ okjohnrich.site

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ngoziu @ngoziu.com · 06/02/2026

Hi, hello—I'll be at ECCC talking about new CHECK PLEASE and with a brand new adorable little zine about a gay cartoonist. YOU KNOW THE GARFIELD GUY??? Booth #28002

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