HEARTSTOPPER

“Hi” “Hi” “Why are we like this?”. When Charlie meets Nick for the first time their lives changed forever and that is the same for most readers. Heartstopper is a comic book series written by Alice Oseman, with four books in the series currently with one more in the works. These graphic novels were originally webcomics that started on Tapas and Tumbler in 2016.  The series was also picked up by Netflix with the help of SeeSaw Films a film company. The first season came out on April 22nd, 2022. The show was a big hit and introduced many people including myself to the amazing characters, and story throughout the show. The show has been cleared for 2 more seasons and they started filming in September and are set to release this year.

 Heartstopper has many many fans and has become quite popular especially when the first season of the TV show came out. This popularity has traveled to TikTok with many sounds being attributed to Heartstopper. One of the most popular sounds is from the book Nick and Charlie. Does the sound go like this “I have been going out with Nick Nelson for two years. He likes rugby, Formula 1, dogs, the Marvel universe, the sound felt-tips make on paper, rain, and drawing on shoes. He also likes me.” sound familiar?

This series follows Charlie Spring a sophomore at Truham Grammer School for Boys who becomes friends with a junior called Nick Nelson. Charlie and Nick are placed in the same form (advisory) on the first day of the second term. They become friends and then Nick asks Charlie to join the school’s rugby team with him. They grow closer and closer, and Nick starts to question his sexuality. After figuring out his feelings, they start to date and the dynamic grows from there. Boy meets boy, Boys become friends, Boys fall in love. 

The boys also have many close friends that audiences love. There is Tao Xu who is Charlies best friend and goes to the same school as him. Then there is Elle Argent who is transgender and used to go to the same school as Charlie and Tao but has transitioned into Higgs Grammar School. Tao and Elle have their own romance that we follow throughout the series. They all share a mutual friend Issac Henderson. At Elles, she made friends with Tara Jones and Darcy Olsson a lesbian couple whom they form a group with. 

Volume one of Heartstopper takes place in the UK and mainly is set at Nick and Charlie’s school and their houses, which is the same for Volume two as well. In volume three the group takes a school trip to Paris, and in Volume four they go through some struggles and Charlie goes to the mental hospital. We do not know the plot for the last Volume in the series. 

But very recently Nick and Charlie and the novella (love story)  that Alice Oseman produced in Spanish, just got translated into English. The book was released on January 3rd and many Heartstopper fans immediately jumped on it and have already read it. Nick and Charlie is a book as opposed to a graphic novel which all the Heartsoppr books are. The book takes place in the summer after Charlie’s junior year, and Nick is getting ready to go to university. The couple faces challenges and the big question is if they are going to stay together. I won’ spoil it here for you now but it is a great end. 

Sophomore and Charlie Spring lookalike James Bohnenkamp gives his book review. “ I really enjoyed it, it was so cool to see how their relationship had evolved over the years, and the conflict that arose because of Nick leaving for college. To be honest I was a bit worried about the ending because I was afraid they really were going to break up.” 

We have many Heartstopper fans throughout the Waukee school district. Students at Waukee say that they love how the characters are so complex but relatable at the same time, they also enjoy the wholesome vibe of the series. Sophomore Katelyn Retzlaff shares her love for Heartstopper. “ I love the inclusivity that Alice Oseman puts in all of her books. The characters feel so real and we get to see the struggle they go through, but not of it feels cliche or stereotypical.”

 Students love how different the characters are from one another, they each bring different things to the table. Heartstopper has paved the way for how gay characters especially teenagers are portrayed in media. The journey that teens go through to figure out who they are and their sexuality and gender is portrayed very accurately in this show. 

Sophomore James Bohnenkamp explains why Heartstopper is important for LGBTQ+ people around the country. “ It sets such a good example for the media because it represents gay characters so well, it shows some of the struggles that come with gay relationships, but it also makes the relationship and the characters relatable for other sexualities as well.

Nick and Charlie are the pinnacle of true love and the definition of soulmates for students at Waukee High School. Their relationship gives hope to people who think that teen relationships won’t work. Sophomore Avery Gulliford shares how much she loves the couple. “I love that they listen to each other and how caring they are with each other. But they’re just overall adorable!”

 Other students say they love how comfortable they are with each other. Although their relationship may seem perfect it might not always be the most realistic representation. Sophomore Katelyn Retzlaff shares insight. “Heartstopper portrays teen romance very very well. Obviously, everything moves a little fast since they have to fit so much content in so little time, but the story is so well written and really touches on a lot of the struggles teens go through.”

 Heartstopper is important to many people for many different reasons because there are a lot of issues that teens go through in the series. Sophomores and Heartsopper’s biggest fans Katelyn Retzlaff and Avery Gulliford share why it is important to them specifically an the world. “Heartstopper is important to me because it was really the first lgbtq+ story I’d ever seen and it opened my eyes to tons of creations and stories surrounding the lgbtq+ community that I enjoy,” said Avery Gulliford. “

Heartstopper is important to me because it was one of the first LGBTQ stories I got to read, and actually hear the author talk about it. Heartstopper is important to the world because it shows us problems and stories that are happening in our everyday life that we don’t always get to see. It shows us struggles and hard times, but also what it’s like to be at the best part of your life and provides a little bit of joy into everyone’s life.” said Katelun Retzlaff 

Sophomore Averey Gulliford sums up everything great about Heartstopper in one quote. “I think that since Heartstopper was one of the first lgbtq+ supporting books to become popular all over, lots of other creators have felt more encouraged to use their voice and publish stories for the public, most of them using aspects from the Heartstopper story to build their world and characters around.” 

Heartstopper is clearly a graphic novel/TV show that should be talked about because students love how relatable the characters are and how comfortable they are with each other. The series has been going great and Heartstopper fans at Waukee are so pumped for where this series is going to end and what season 2 is going to look like! But we will just have to wait and see and share our love for Nick and Charlie on the way.