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Book: “Fence: Vol. 3” by C.S. Pacat & Johanna the Mad (Ill.)
Publishing Info: BOOM! Box, August 2019
Where Did I Get This Book: The library!
Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound
Book Description: Scrappy fencer Nicholas Cox comes to the end of his path to prove himself worthy of a father he never knew in the face of surly upperclassmen, nearly impossible odds, and the talent of his rival, sullen fencing prodigy, Seiji Katayama.
Sparks fly white-hot on the pitch as Nicholas and Seiji finally face off once again in the halls of King’s Row. It’s a match that will change King’s Row (and both of them!) forever, and set the stage as the team journeys to face their bitter rivals and prove themselves once and for all.
The third volume of the breakneck series from writer C.S. Pacat (The Captive Prince) and fan-favorite artist Johanna the Mad comes at you as fast as a parry and hits as hard as a strike.
Review: We have once again jumped back into the high stakes and fast paced world of high school fencing teams with “Fence: Volume 3”. As a former quasi-fencer (I say quasi because I was on the team but didn’t really do anything outside of going to practice) it’s pretty neat and fun to see the sport of fencing being used as a driving force in this series, though I must say that it wasn’t NEARLY this dramatic.
We are finally at the end of the fencing team tryouts, as our final contenders stand tall and have to depend not only on their skills, but sometimes on the mistakes of others to get to the top. I really liked that Pacat made that a bit of a plot point as opposed to just “Nicholas has to beat this this and this opponent”, as it made the stakes feel not only high, but also fairly realistic. I also enjoyed getting into the heads of other characters as their own dreams had the potential to come true or be deferred, whether it’s Nicholas, or Seiji, or even other more supporting characters like Eugene, who has tried out for the team for multiple years but has always JUST missed out. We get to see that all of the characters have their reasons for wanting to make the team, and that most of them have pretty damn good ones so them not making it will be bittersweet regardless. Because of these things it was suspenseful no matter how you slice it, and it felt like a true blue inspirational sports journey. And once we do have the final team of fencers, it sets up the rest of the story as Kings Row has to ready itself to face off against their rivals, with some fencers having more personal reasons than others.
I also continue to enjoy the building friendship between Nicholas and Seiji, who are both determined to be able to face off against Jesse Coste, son of elite fencer Robert Coste. Seiji wants to face him because he’s considered the best, while Nicholas wants to face him because he’s his secret half brother, and while Nicholas grew up in the shadows Jesse has had all the privileges of his father’s legacy. They have a common goal, but it’s one that they both kind of need to fight over, which makes them even MORE rivals than they already are by nature of being competitive fencers in their own right. It is getting a LITTLE redundant seeing them butting heads, but there seems to be a glimmer of them perhaps being able to start working together to build each other up in the face of a common enemy.
Finally, I still like the artwork by Johanna the Mad! The manga inspired design is a nice homage to sports mangas, and I really like the colors, the facial expressions, and the way she designs the actual fencing moments.
We have our team. They have their goal. We will have to see where their path takes them when facing off with other elite fencers. Next time I’ll take on “Volume 4”!
Rating 7: The tensions continue to be high as the tryouts start to wind down, and the suspense of the final line up makes for an entertaining volume that sets the stage for an interesting story path.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Fence: Vol. 3” is included on the Goodreads lists “Fencing Fiction”, and “Graphic Novels Featuring LGBTIQ Themes”.
Previously Reviewed:
The Library Ladies 
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