By Keigen Rea — Welcome to Rereads: end of the year edition, week of Christmas edition! I love doing end of year lists, so I’m using this space to do that, but I didn’t want it to just be my end of year list, because that didn’t quite fit what I want Rereads to be, so there’s a small twist. The books featured won’t necessarily be my favorite books of the year, they’ll be books that I wasn’t totally sure the first time around, or they'll be books I want to revisit before I make my final favorites of the year list. Naturally, that means all of these books won’t actually be on my list, and I might even dislike some of them! As always, though, I hope I come away liking these books more than I did before. 

We’re onto the final stretch of my list, and as such, everything left is an absolute banger. This week we’ve got

Fence, Volume 4: Rivals, by C.S. Pacat, Johanna the Mad, Joana LaFuente, Jim Campbell, and Taylor Esposito, with technical consultant Pieter Leeuwenburgh, school logo designs by Fawn Lau, designers Jillian Crab & Chelasea Roberts, associate editor Sophie Phillips-Roberts, and editor Shannon Watters. 

And Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen by Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Nathan Fairbairn, and Clayton Cowles, with editors Alex Antone, Bixie Mathieu, Jesica Chen & Brian Cunningham. 

Why Fence, Volume 4?

Fence is a series that absolutely snuck up on me a couple of years ago, when my wife and I were visiting my in-laws and we were up late. I just happened upon whatever issues were free on ComiXology Unlimited, and next thing I knew, I had bought every issue that was available. So, why Fence? Because I love it and for whatever reason haven’t found a chance to write about it. The real question I think is, will this end up on my actual end of year list? I’ll find out! 

Pre-Reread Thoughts

I’m actually not sure that I’ve reread any of Fence at all, so I guess I’ll see how it holds up on one! 

Fence 

I am simply consistently and continuously delighted by this series. It’s as close to a sports manga that an American comic can get, it’s all the charm and drama therein. 

As I was reading this time, it struck me how much of this volume/graphic novel is spent explaining fencing, and on one hand it’s fine, because it leads to great character moments, but at the same time, when they only publish 80 pages of story in a year, it feels like that space could be used elsewhere. 

Ultimately, that’s a small complaint, though, because, again, I am delighted. 

Boom! may own this image, but the image owns my heart

These boys are dramatic and good at fencing and I love them. I don’t really have much else! I just have a great time with this comic!

Why Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen?

Jimmy Olsen absolutely has a fairly high place on my end of year list. It is twelve issues of pure bliss and I’m excited to return to it for the first time since it ended. 

Pre-Reread Thoughts

Reading this in one go is gonna be weird, especially with the way each issue is divided up. Hopefully weird in a good way, and hopefully it makes for a different experience!

Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen

Dear reader, I have much to say about this series, and one day I will maybe put ten percent of it in writing, and maybe fifty percent of that will be published, but today, I would like to remark on the glory and might of Steve Lieber. 

I have said this before, and I say it right now, Steve Lieber is the best artist in comics. He’s ridiculous. He spent years as a crime artist, putting out incredible, work month after month, and then one day decided he wanted to do the funniest art in comics, and it’s all because his storytelling is so on point and perfectly timed. 

I mean, humor is so hard to do in comics! There are really only a couple of artists that can consistently nail it independent of a writer, and Lieber is at the top of that list. It’s true that he also works with deeply funny writers, but! what I love the most is that his comedy isn’t just funny, it’s what points out his incredible skill. 

Starting here, because, look at it. Pure hilarity, which, to be fair, I’d give a good amount of credit to the script alone, so there is that. But Superman’s face in the second and fifth panels are spectacular. 

I think this page is a better example of his mastery, though, because it’s cruising right at the altitude of very funny while still being dramatic and melancholy. The way the tone is so controlled and how it basically goes from humor to pure drama after the third panel makes this a front runner for my favorite page of the series. 

Now, there are more of this kind of example, many, many more examples, but I had to stop myself from screenshotting because I would have ended up with the whole comic in my image gallery. So instead, I’ll talk about the other ways Lieber makes my brain and heart smile. 

I tend to think of Lieber’s art as not being very aesthetically pleasing, especially when some of my favorite artists working today (McKelvie, Anka, Dauterman) draw beautiful humans, but the Li’l Olsens segments of the series feel like they point to Lieber’s aesthetic being much more of a choice than I tend to think, which in turn highlights the man’s genius. 

Beyond that though, the man can just draw, and he is immensely creative. I love Fraction, he’s likely my favorite writer full stop, but I have no idea how he could possibly even call these specific shots. This tier looks so good, and flows so well. Amazingly well done, interesting, and creative visual storytelling, that is unmatched in the industry, in my opinion. 

But the thing is, holy hell, everyone tries to match that energy, and basically succeeds. The series is one where four of the very best creators united to make the very best comic they could imagine, and they did it. Look at the wildly different pallets across the examples, or the unique and weird lettering choices, or the dialogue and captions. This comic is four creators that could arguably be the best in their field doing the best work they’ve ever done. Of course it’s incredible, but it still deserves praise! Dammit, maybe it’ll derail my list! 

This week’s rereads is dedicated to the Amber Davis memorial relief fund. Amber passed after complications from a kidney transplant, and you can learn more and help out here (https://www.gofundme.com/f/amber-davis-memorial-relief-fund) if it’s possible. 

That’ll be it for this week’s rereads, one of the most fun I’ve had so far, even if my opinion didn’t really change at all! C'est la vie, that’s how it goes. Thank you for reading, and join me next week, for the finale of this version of the column and of the year, where I reread Far Sector and Immortal Hulk! Stay safe, and see you then!