THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2025! Writer Chad Bilyeu’s The Re-Up (illustrated by Juliette de Wit) has already proven itself to be some of the most uncompromising autobio comics you are ever likely to read. I reviewed the first four issues here at Broken Frontier a couple of years back describing the partnership of Bilyeu and de Wit as “a collaborative synergy that feels borderline symbiotic.”
The series is an examination of Bilyeu’s life in the 2000s when, for a period of a few years, he became a drug dealer at an American university. Typical of Bilyeu (whose Chad in Amsterdam anthology series is similarly brutally honest) The Re-Up pulls no punches and its writer is unafraid to portray himself in an unflattering light at times. As I have said in the past at BF it’s that brutal candour that adds such a distinctive edge to the practice of such a keenly observant storyteller.
By the time we reach issues #5 and #6 Bilyeu is still at university, also working there are an AV technician, and continuing his sideline in dealing. The fifth issue concentrates on how his involvement in the trade gets deeper and deeper, resulting in a need to broaden his operation and also in some near misses with the law. Issue #6 is something of a change of emphasis as we relive his childhood relationship with his grandmother as, in the present day, his family frantically scramble to get in contact with him so he can say a last goodbye to her in her final hours.
Issue #6 is also of note for its more sympathetic portrayal of its author/main character. Here we have a much more empathetic Chad; the guards are down and a noticeably vulnerable incarnation comes across on the page. Whether in the grander narrative this is a pivotal moment remains to be seen. But in the moment it is incredibly poignant and beautifully realised; de Wit once again saying as much with visual characterisation as Bilyeu does with words.
Also of note in these issues is the move away from a mix of comics and illustrated text. While this perhaps gives us less of a direct connection with Bilyeu’s retrospective analysis it does give de Wit greater opportunity to show her skills as a sequential artist and the nuance she brings to the page with that aforementioned depiction of body language and physical characterisation. The Re-Up has had significant attention since we last reviewed it two years ago and it deserves it. And you deserve to discover this series for yourself at Harrogate if you haven’t encountered it already.
Chad Bilyeu (W), Juliette de Wit (A) • Bistro Books, €8.00 each
Review by Andy Oliver
Chad Bilyeu will be at Table C4 in the 2000 AD Hall at Thought Bubble.
Thought Bubble 2025 runs from November 1oth-16th with the convention weekend taking place on the 15th-16th. More details on the Thought Bubble site here.
Read all our Thought Bubble 2025 coverage so far in one place here.
Poster by Ng Yin Shian
