BOOM! Box; $3.99

The pressure is on for the various fencers all vying for a spot on the team, as there’s only three spots up for grabs – and Nicholas in particular is feeling the heat, since his entire scholarship for the school depends on him getting one of those spots. His skills are not just put to the test, but his weaknesses are exposed for what they are by his coach, and it’s up to him to determine whether he’ll be able to fix those in time. The round-robin tournament between members of the fencing club also kicks off, and Seiji takes an unexpected interest in the outcome of Nicholas’ first match.

Fence is a pretty interesting comic book, especially in the context of the American market. There’s a lot of clear inspiration drawn from various sports-focused anime and manga series such as Yowamushi Pedal and Haikyuu! (the relationship between Nicholas and Seiji is, almost to a fault, an echo of Hinata and Kageyama’s rivalry from Haikyuu!), in regards to the story structure and even the art style. Much like those sports manga series, Fence manages to sneak in a lot of information about how fencing as a sport actually works, but the driving force in the story is the relationships occurring between the members of the cast. Fence explores a lot of LGBT+ relationships in a way that most other mainstream comic books have not, but it manages to do so in a way that feels natural and not token-ish.

Overall, so far, Fence is definitely one to keep an eye out for. There’s more than enough action to balance out the drama, and it results in storytelling that keeps you turning the pages.

-Carrie Wood