Why Heartstopper is Gen Z’s defining publishing phenomenon
To every generation a publishing phenomenon is born – and for Generation Z, it’s Heartstopper, which Oseman started writing aged 22 (she’s still just 29).
- To every generation a publishing phenomenon is born – and for Generation Z, it’s Heartstopper, which Oseman started writing aged 22 (she’s still just 29).
- The rise of Heartstopper reads like a history of the last ten years in publishing tools and platforms.
- Hachette Children’s Group picked up world rights for the series, publishing Volume One in 2019.
- Heartstopper follows the sweet friends-to-lovers arc of Charlie and Nick, whom we first meet in Year 10 and Year 11.
- It depicts the giddying highs and dizzying lows of being young, queer and in love.
Queer joy
Queer joy is defined by Oxfam as a positive feeling we get from encountering signs of progress in gender equality and gender diversity. In the Heartstopper series, the narrative engine runs on themes of love, identity, first times, self-discovery, friendship and allyship.
- He mentions past bullying and there are moments of homophobia, but largely Charlie is accepted at school.
- Charlie’s friend Elle has transitioned their gender and has been enrolled into the girls’ school across the road.
- The shadow side of the themes of love, connection and community includes mental ill-health, body dysmorphia, trauma, family conflict and bullying.
- Read more:
Heartstopper depicts queer joy - here's why that can bring about complicated feelings for those in the LGBTIQ community
‘Felt gaps’: the magic of comics
- In 1953, in his book Seduction of the Innocent, Frederic Wertham argued comics inhibit literacy, and called them “death on reading”.
- Comics and graphic novels are, for some kids at least, the gateway to a passion for books.
- Some of the magic of comics occurs in the gutter: the space between panels.
- Because comics can show and tell two things at once, they are particularly good at representing the way identities are formed in relation to society and culture.
- An examination of Google trends from 2004 to 2023 highlights a steep rise in queries about sexuality, with such searches surging over 1,300%.
Heartstopper Volume 5
By Heartstopper Volume 5, Nick is out to family and friends and Charlie is home and in therapy, but generally well. Charlie and Nick are in an established relationship, thinking about taking things to the next level.
- (We’ll have to read Volume 6 to find out if he’s successful!)
- Heartstopper Volume 5 focuses a lot on Nick who, as a final-year student, needs to make a decision about university.
- The conversations demonstrate nuances of active consent and communication, and stand in stark contrast to Ben’s entitlement and aggression in Volume 1.
Normalising queer love
- In Heartstopper, the representations of mental illness, trans identities and queer love are destigmatising and normalising.
- Charlie’s queer and quirky friendship group reminds me of the young people who trail in and out of my house on a regular basis.
- (My oldest daughter ran the queer club at her school, my middle child is non-binary.)
- Oseman uses the comic form to alleviate the intensity, avoiding details about self-harm and restrictive eating, and never showing anything graphic.
- For me, though, this is the queer joy of reading Heartstopper.
- In its focus on the love and community that surrounds Charlie and Nick, the Heartstopper graphic novels create a space for the reader, who becomes an intimate confidante – another member of Charlie and Nick’s tight-knit friendship group.
Penni Russon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.