Eisner-winning cartoonist Faith Erin Hicks has announced her newest graphic novel from First Second via Twitter. “Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy” will be Hicks’s first graphic novel romance, and next for her at the Macmillan imprint after this August’s “Ride On.” “It’s a Young Adult romance!” she says of the project. “With hockey! And drama!” Hicks also confessed the title began as a joke, leaving some uncertainty as to whether it’ll stick until publication.
The title pair are Alix and Ezra, whom a Publishers Marketplace deal report respectively calls a “hot headed hockey player,” and a “cool, calm boy in drama club.” Hicks herself describes them as a “tall, awkward disaster human” and “sweet, queer cinnamon roll who’s got some dark stuff in his past.” The book will follow their attempts to figure out their romance. And there will be plenty of hockey.
“I spent a LOT of time on the hockey part of this book!” Hicks tweets. “I’d like to shout out my friend [‘Adventure Time’ artist Shelli Paroline] who gave me invaluable insight into being a young woman who plays hockey. It’s complicated!”
Hicks is a multi-time Eisner winner, winning the Best Publication for Kids award in 2014 and 2019 for “The Adventures of Superhero Girl” and “The Nameless City: The Divided Earth.” She has previously worked with First Second on her 2012 graphic novel “Friends with Boys.”
“Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy” is due out 2023. You can check out more artwork from Hicks in the meantime here.
