Johanna the Mad

Fence – the sports comic of my dreams.

I love all these idiots, who are obsessed with an incredibly niche sport who the majority of people, including me, know nothing about. But it doesn’t matter! Sports stories are meant to make you feel pumped up, and boy does Fence make you incredibly invested in petty school rivalries, feverishly turning pages just to know if our favorite underdogs will beat their rivals.

Also can I love Seiji any more? My son is an intense weirdo who deserves only show more the best. And by “best” I mean finally getting into Nicholas’s pants, and then having a crisis when he finds out who Nicholas’s brother is. God, this is so delicious I want the whole story right now.

I really appreciate there’s nary a straight character in sight, it’s phenomenal.

Incredible work from Pacat and LaFuente, as always. show less

boom studios is one of my favorite publishers, and this title is doing a great job so far of demonstrating exactly why with its brilliant art, character-driven narrative, lovely paneling, and queer characters as far as the eye can see.

there's even a he/him femme in this, which omg, thank you. someday maybe i'll be femme enough to be comfy using he/him pronouns lmao

I've never read a sports themed manga/graphic novel before, and wasn't sure I'd like this book. Once I was a third of the way through, I couldn't put it down. I loved it. It was great to see such a wide array of racially diverse characters participating in a sport that I've normally only seen being depicted as being a sport of white people. It was also great to see how easily and casually they portrayed the sexualities of the characters. I enjoyed the gender switch whereas the coach of the show more team was a woman of color and no one made a big deal about it. I most like the character of Bobby. Bobby's gender isn't very clear and I think that is awesome, and the fact that NO ONE brings up that fact is refreshing. I can't wait to see where the story takes me in volume 2, and if Nicholas fulfills his fencing dreams. show less

One sentence theme: The fight to belong and make your mark in the world is a challenging pursuit, but doesn’t have to be a solitary one.

Plot summary: Nicholas Cox is a scrappy, but talented fencer hoping to make it in the cutthroat world of competitive fencing. Nicholas wants to prove that he’s worthy of his fencing champion father’s admiration, even though he’s never been a part of Nicholas’ life. He’s got his work cut out for him, as he works to earn a scholarship into a show more boarding school that will give him the opportunity to test his mettle against the top fencers in the country, including a prodigy and his half brother. It won’t be easy to fit into this posh new school, but he’s got the drive to succeed. As the students work to make the team, they will find that working together is just as important.

Personal response: I love the huge focus on inclusive gender identity roles without it being “a thing”. C.S. Pacat promised “something that’s very joyously and unabashedly queer.” These characters are just living their lives, albeit in a high intensity boarding school with elite athletic endeavors to boot. The idea of basing a story around fencing, at first, seems just as silly as basing it around something like curling or knitting, but this is a regal and historied sport that deserves a little modern love.

Curricular connections: This would make a great social studies lesson that could be used as a jumping off point to encourage students to explore an obscure sport. Students could prepare a presentation that explains the sport, its rules, top athletes in the field today, past stars, and the history of the sport. Another avenue would be to compare and contrast life for students in a public school setting vs. those who attend a boarding school. This could be supported with some research into what it was actually like to live in a boarding school, along with possibly connecting via Skype with a boarding school class to work together to discuss the similarities and differences. show less