Dragon Hoops is due out March 18, 2020. — **Dragon Hoops** is due out March 18, 2020.

By Zack Quaintance — I am, as the very nature of this piece implies, hyped for Dragon Hoops, the new original graphic novel from writer/artist Gene Luen Yang. Due out March 18 from publisher First Second, the book is a memoir, tackling the common tension between sports and comics through the lens of Yang’s life.

If I take a hard look at my hype for this book (which is what this series is all about) there are three dominating sections to it. The first is that I am, in fact, a fan of Yang’s work, specifically work that allows him to take a more personal approach. My first exposure to him was through American Born Chinese, another book about of his published by First Second. That story, first published in 2006, is about three distinct and well-developed characters, all of which feel like very personal creations. In addition, I thought the best DC Comics publication last year was Superman Smashes the Klan, which was written by Yang, who elaborates in the backmatter about the ways the story was shaped by some of his own experiences.

This book is about Yang’s fraught relationship with sports, long preferring as he has to lose himself in comics rather than athletic competition. This changes when the basketball team at the school where he is teaching is having a successful year, and he gains a new appreciation for the excitement of the game. That’s a personal story if I’ve ever heard one.

The next reason for my hype is that unlike Yang, I am in fact a lifelong basketball fan, a firm believer in the value of this game since I was weaned on it growing up in Chicago by the Michael Jordan Bulls. Basketball is the only sport I follow obsessively. I go to NBA games whenever time, proximity and money allows, I listen to basketball podcasts, I read basketball books, and I play at my local gym twice a week on Tuesday and Thursdays. I love it. It’s a key part of my own identity, an uncomplicated (yet absurdly intricate and rewarding) hobby that I turn to whenever life, career or creative pursuits become too much. I eat up all basketball content and this book is definitely that.

Finally, my third reason for hype here is that First Second is (in my humble opinion) one of the premier purveyors of rich graphic stories. They, in fact, were the only publisher with two entries on last year’s Best Graphic Novels list for this very site — an august honor, indeed. So, get hyped, please.

Oh yeah, and I have an advanced review copy of the book and the outside feels like a basketball. Very cool. Please enjoy a preview of Dragon Hoops now that I uh borrowed from Entertainment Weekly.

Dragon Hoops
Writer/Artist: Gene Luen Yang
Publisher: First Second
Release Date: March 18, 2020
Price: $19.99

CLICK HERE to read about other things we are/were very hyped about.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.