C.S. Pacat teases the finale of hit queer comic Fence
The past few years have seen a welcomed rise in LGBTQ+ representation in comics, with C. S. Pacat’s Fence becoming a true standout of this vital subgenre.
This story, which has been releasing regularly over the past ten years, focuses on Nicholas Cox and Seiji Katayama, rival teen fencers who are each striving for a national title (and the approval of various parental figures). For seven volumes readers have watched these young prodigies maneuver through one of the world’s most intense sports while fighting their growing love for one another.
It’s a tense, endlessly romantic narrative that has not only earned Fence a nomination from GLAAD for Outstanding Comic Book, but has made it one of BOOM! Studios’ most successful projects ever.
Fence’s author C.S. Pacat (who uses she/he pronouns) sat down with Gayming Mag to discuss the widespread love of her work, detailing how amazed she is at the community’s response and what it feels like to create such important representation when young queer folks need it most. And, with the eight and final volume of Fence coming out very soon, he teased what readers can expect from the culmination of this decade-long story — a finale that Pacat assures will end in the most intense, romantic way possible!
“Fence began at a time when mainstream imprints were still only rarely publishing LGBTQ+ comics,” explained C.S.
“I’ve always loved sports manga. But a lot of sports manga—from the very sports-focused Haikyu!! to the more romance-skewed Yuri on ICE—tease queerness to enlarge readership, yet never actually include openly queer characters. I wanted to create a true sports comic in the sense that it took fencing seriously as a sport, but I also wanted it to be openly and gloriously queer, allowing the queer subtext of the many sports manga that I had read to become text.”
It’s an unfortunate trend that LGBTQ+ readers have been forced to deal with; while many authors understand that ‘queerbaiting’ will earn them more sales, few are brave enough to actually incorporate queer identity into their stories. It’s what makes Fence such a standout in the genre, with the setting of Kings Row high school proving an open environment where readers can see students of all identities thrive.
The comic introduces readers to Nicholas Cox, a disenfranchised teen whose only dream is to rise the ranks of competitive fencing and finally earn the attention of his absentee father. His hard work eventually takes him to the steps Kings Row where he meets Seiji Katayama, a young prodigy whose years of traditional (and emotionally abusive) training makes him disregard Nicholas as a lost cause. The duo develop an instant, fiery hatred…which makes it all the more awkward when they’re forced to become roommates.
“I think they epitomise ‘opposites attract,’ but also ‘two halves make a whole,’” explained Pacat, on why he think thousands of readers have fallen in love with Seiji and Nicholas’ slow-burn romance. “I always wanted to show that the natural and the technician make an explosive but complementary combo, and can clash in exciting ways but also each learn a lot from each other.”
Each volume builds steadily on the pair’s relationship, with the hatred that once filled their interactions slowly transitioning into the clear romantic affection that fans can’t wait for the fencers to finally act on.
But along with this resonant love story, Fence has also earned acclaim for the genuine passion it has for the complex sport of fencing. It punctuates moments of lovelorn tension with digestible lessons about what it takes to be a good fencer, speaking not only on its logistics but the cutthroat strategy needed to succeed in this sport.
C.S. explained that this was as important to him as the romance, saying, “Fencing is an individual combat sport: fast, tactical, and highly competitive…to me, that makes it the perfect sport for a comic, which slows everything down, allowing a reader to experience the drama, tactics and passion of fencing for the first time.”
It’s a fiery intertwining of lethal athleticism with young love that has earned Fence recognition as one of the comic industry’s most dynamic queer stories. Pacat stressed how thankful she is to the many LGBTQ+ readers who have bought the comic and how her main goal is to offer them a narrative they can actually feel seen by.
“The purpose of the story is fun or escapism, [so] everyone deserves to escape equally, and I do not have to (or want to) import the dreary issues of prejudice into the story,” he stressed. “Rather than hoping my story teaches readers something in particular, I’d say instead that I hope it provides a place where they can enjoy the cut and thrust of the sport of fencing, in a gloriously fun, queer environment.”
Pacat was sad to report that the upcoming eighth volume of Fence will be this main story’s finale. That while there may be other spin-offs following Kings Row’s many other LGBTQ+ students, this will be the culmination of Nicholas and Cox’s story that she has worked on for the past ten years. He kept quiet regarding specific details about this highly-anticipated end. But, when considering how he think audiences will react, C.S. grew happy.
She refused to explain what makes her so sure that the fans will love this comic’s last few pages, but without giving anything away, she made one thing very clear: “All I can say is that as the boys reach the story climax and compete at the State Championships — all the issues of rivalry and of romance will come to a head.”
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