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Deadly Class #1-3
Deadly Class, Book One: Noise Noise Noise
Collecting the first three arcs of REMENDER and CRAIG’s twistedly humorous story of a group of damaged teens enrolled in a secret high school, training to become the world’s greatest assassins. Presented in oversized hardcover format!
Collects DEADLY CLASS #1-16
Collects DEADLY CLASS #1-16
440 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2016
About the author
Rick Remender
1,173 books1,346 followersRick Remender is an American comic book writer and artist who resides in Los Angeles, California. He is the writer/co-creator of many independent comic books like Black Science, Deadly Class, LOW, Fear Agent and Seven to Eternity. Previously, he wrote The Punisher, Uncanny X-Force, Captain America and Uncanny Avengers for Marvel Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
March 14, 2021
(A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: It bleeds tension from the clash of making heartless killers from adolescents, who are driven by id and feel too much.
Notes: It bleeds tension from the clash of making heartless killers from adolescents, who are driven by id and feel too much.
February 8, 2019
High school for assassins.
Sounds cool, right?
And it is. Kinda.
I just wish it has a bit less emo whining and a bit more assassin-ing.
So, this kid wants to kill Ronald Regan because his government cutbacks in mental health meant that a suicidal woman jumped off a building and landed on both of his parents making him an orphan.
PS -You're really going to have to roll with strange premises if you want to read this one.
To make matters worse, he landed in an orphanage that doubled as a sweatshop, where he was systematically abused and bullied by his caretakers and some of the other kids.
Spoilery stuff happens and he gets recruited to live with this eclectic group of kids in this stabby version of Hogwarts. Sex, love, friendship, betrayal, teenage depression, drugs, and bitchy girls.
Except for the murder, this was your basic high school drama.
And I did enjoy it, but I kept waiting for the actual school to be something cool. So far, nada. It was just these kids acting like little psychos. Towards the end, it seemed like there was a bit of a mystery thing going on with the school that I really would like to read more about. And I will because I've already borrowed the next book.
But overall, I'd like to hear a lot less about Marcus' inner turmoil and a lot more about whatever nefarious thing might be going on in the Assassination Classroom.
Sounds cool, right?
And it is. Kinda.
I just wish it has a bit less emo whining and a bit more assassin-ing.
So, this kid wants to kill Ronald Regan because his government cutbacks in mental health meant that a suicidal woman jumped off a building and landed on both of his parents making him an orphan.
PS -You're really going to have to roll with strange premises if you want to read this one.
To make matters worse, he landed in an orphanage that doubled as a sweatshop, where he was systematically abused and bullied by his caretakers and some of the other kids.
Spoilery stuff happens and he gets recruited to live with this eclectic group of kids in this stabby version of Hogwarts. Sex, love, friendship, betrayal, teenage depression, drugs, and bitchy girls.
Except for the murder, this was your basic high school drama.
And I did enjoy it, but I kept waiting for the actual school to be something cool. So far, nada. It was just these kids acting like little psychos. Towards the end, it seemed like there was a bit of a mystery thing going on with the school that I really would like to read more about. And I will because I've already borrowed the next book.
But overall, I'd like to hear a lot less about Marcus' inner turmoil and a lot more about whatever nefarious thing might be going on in the Assassination Classroom.
March 25, 2018
Rick Remender is a dark dude. His books are filled with psychology and sometimes therapy lingo. The introduction tells us the violence in this book may be read partly as a metaphor for mental and emotional states experienced in high school, and that this book may be read partly as memoir. Read: Remender in high school? So no, not your average bubbly drama.
Having experienced many dark mental and emotional states myself, in high school and beyond, I appreciate Remender's honesty. Marcus says, "It's hard to express honest emotions and to be fearless about sadness...it's braver to be honest than to pretend." And I admire that. Because many people, even adults, maybe especially adults, struggle with daily life. So I admire Remender for essentially making this existential, philosophical, and confessional dynamic the focus of the book. Because assassin school is merely the stage upon which our players play.
But wait, it's not just a morose self-indulgent scrawled notebook of high school horrors. It's 1987: music and pop culture in its heyday, Reagan, the Cold War. What an interesting time to be alive. Wes Craig's fluid, somewhat Frank Miller-inspired illustrations leap from the page. But it's Lee Loughridge's old school colors that bring the mood to this fascinating world: dark, pensive, or blindingly hallucinogenic.
Marcus Lopez Arguello, a homeless San Francisco teen, shares his birthday with the man he wants to kill, Ronald Reagan. Because Reagan inadvertently killed his parents. (Long story.) Marcus is down and out and, I don't know if I'd call him unlucky, but he's a cynic and bad things happen to him often. But he doesn't give up, even to a bloody fault, dragging himself along and coping with escapism. And I admire that. It's human. He gets through it all, and the all is a great deal.
I find it hilarious that people say Volume 3 is slow or has no action. The first two issues are literally non-stop action with car chases and tons of murder. How much more action do you want? And sure the issues afterward slow down, to allow Marcus to get crazy introspective. His friends died and his relations are all fucked up and he's terribly alone, again. I think this is Remender commenting that your life can suck even when you think it's great, that people fail you, you fail yourself, and that the hole goes even deeper.
I dunno if I was just tired, or that I like bathroom humor, but that the scene in the comic bookstore had me crying. I haven't laughed that hard since The Goon. And I needed it in this book.
Wes Craig and Lee Loughridge's incredible artwork absolutely shines on thick glossy paper. If you like and have read Deadly Class, this oversized Deluxe Edition is brilliant for the price and a must have.
February 3, 2022
Absolutely loved this! Super dark, very on point with teen (and hell, grownup) angst about belonging, speaking one's truth, trust, owning one's actions... with nods to people who were young in the 80's. Even better! There are moments of pretty hardcore violence and heaps of drug use and sex, so not for the faint of heart. But very intense, gritty and absorbing. Far better than the show too.
April 11, 2024
This was amazing!
I have seen several people pitch this as Harry Potter but set in a school for assassins. I think that pretty much hits it on the head, except this is NOT a PG story like Harry Potter, this is very much adult content and I loved it all! The setting is 1980's southern California. Our main character 15-year-old Marcus has escaped an abusive orphanage and has been living on the streets. One day he has a run in with the police but gets unexpected help from a group of other kids and once they are clear of the police he is offered a spot in the boarding school called King's Dominion Atelier of the Deadly Arts. With no other place to go Marcus decides to join.
Ok so let's talk about the writing first. Remender just throws you in so it probably took me about a chapter and a half to get myself grounded in the story. I know, I probably sound like a cry baby but I really prefer when I can start reading a comic with no confusion. Thankfully once I was grounded in Remender's writing I didn't need to keep stopping and re-reading panels like it can be with other authors but I am happier if a series has continuity right away. Another thing on the writing on this series, there are many pages with exposition on the sides and art panels running through the middle. I am a prose reader first and foremost so, I always say this, a wordier comic doesn't bother me, I actually like when I don't feel like I'm just flipping through the pages like crazy myself. For people who read comics as their first love, the amount of words in this comic might be annoying.
There are a good amount of characters in this series. Marcus is our main character with 4-5 other students as supporting main characters but despite this I think that Remender did a great job of creating a vast amount of character depth with all of or main characters, not just Marcus whose story is told entirely in his POV (so far anyway). Sometimes in comics it can be hard to get the kind of character development that you get in a prose novel but we got it here. And this deluxe edition first book is only the first 1/4 of the total story so I anticipate even more growth and attachment to the characters before it's all said and done.
The plot in this bind up of these first 3 volumes was WILD! Yea so what if it's completely outlandish? This kind of wild ride is what I love about comics that often times prose novels can't do as effectively. There is also this perfect balance of humanity throughout the chaotic times that the students are going through. Like, yes, they are teenagers in a school for assassins so of course they are killing people and tons of high drama things are happening around them all the time but also there is so much beauty and nuance in the way that Remender didn't forget to remind us over and over that we are also dealing with high schoolers. There were cliques and romance and social drama with our main group of kids too and I loved that so much. We never forgot that we are still dealing with a group of teenagers as our main protagonists.
Deadly Class is yet another comic series I am kicking myself for not getting to sooner. If you have been thinking about starting this one I hope this can be your push to do so!
I have seen several people pitch this as Harry Potter but set in a school for assassins. I think that pretty much hits it on the head, except this is NOT a PG story like Harry Potter, this is very much adult content and I loved it all! The setting is 1980's southern California. Our main character 15-year-old Marcus has escaped an abusive orphanage and has been living on the streets. One day he has a run in with the police but gets unexpected help from a group of other kids and once they are clear of the police he is offered a spot in the boarding school called King's Dominion Atelier of the Deadly Arts. With no other place to go Marcus decides to join.
Ok so let's talk about the writing first. Remender just throws you in so it probably took me about a chapter and a half to get myself grounded in the story. I know, I probably sound like a cry baby but I really prefer when I can start reading a comic with no confusion. Thankfully once I was grounded in Remender's writing I didn't need to keep stopping and re-reading panels like it can be with other authors but I am happier if a series has continuity right away. Another thing on the writing on this series, there are many pages with exposition on the sides and art panels running through the middle. I am a prose reader first and foremost so, I always say this, a wordier comic doesn't bother me, I actually like when I don't feel like I'm just flipping through the pages like crazy myself. For people who read comics as their first love, the amount of words in this comic might be annoying.
There are a good amount of characters in this series. Marcus is our main character with 4-5 other students as supporting main characters but despite this I think that Remender did a great job of creating a vast amount of character depth with all of or main characters, not just Marcus whose story is told entirely in his POV (so far anyway). Sometimes in comics it can be hard to get the kind of character development that you get in a prose novel but we got it here. And this deluxe edition first book is only the first 1/4 of the total story so I anticipate even more growth and attachment to the characters before it's all said and done.
The plot in this bind up of these first 3 volumes was WILD! Yea so what if it's completely outlandish? This kind of wild ride is what I love about comics that often times prose novels can't do as effectively. There is also this perfect balance of humanity throughout the chaotic times that the students are going through. Like, yes, they are teenagers in a school for assassins so of course they are killing people and tons of high drama things are happening around them all the time but also there is so much beauty and nuance in the way that Remender didn't forget to remind us over and over that we are also dealing with high schoolers. There were cliques and romance and social drama with our main group of kids too and I loved that so much. We never forgot that we are still dealing with a group of teenagers as our main protagonists.
Deadly Class is yet another comic series I am kicking myself for not getting to sooner. If you have been thinking about starting this one I hope this can be your push to do so!
July 4, 2019
Read the first volume - really liked it! Watched the TV show (RIP) - enjoyed it! Got this gorgeous book - absolutely loved it!
How I was able to avoid this book for such a long time is beyond me... Deadly Class is one of the rare books that have everything - humor, feels, violence, sex, relatable characters, unexpected twists, great "soundtrack"... yeah, everything.
The second book just instantly jumped to the very top of my "to-buy" list.
How I was able to avoid this book for such a long time is beyond me... Deadly Class is one of the rare books that have everything - humor, feels, violence, sex, relatable characters, unexpected twists, great "soundtrack"... yeah, everything.
The second book just instantly jumped to the very top of my "to-buy" list.
October 29, 2023
*** 2023 Review ***
I did a quick reread of this volume since I'll be doing a straight run. It's as dark and violent as I remember (something which appeals to me), and deals with depression in personalities that were altered by early childhood trauma, which lead to bad decisions and more trauma. You can almost feel Remender working through his issues as he writes this.
Looking forward to continuing the series and upgrading this to 4 stars.
*** Original Review ***
3.5 stars
I actually thought this was going to be different: more of a "90210" and about school, but it's all about loneliness and striving for acceptance. All of the kids were brought up amidst violence and some with personal tragedy. Couple that with the normal teenage angst, puberty, and insecurity and you have an extremely heavy and introspective story. I'll say it again, that this is very dark, morose, sometimes depraved and violent with ample sex, drugs, killing, cuss words, etc. Some of it I found to be uncomfortable, some of it funny, and some of it seemed unnecessary.
There's actually very little about the school of assassins, yet. This volume leaves you on a pretty serious cliffhanger about the future of the main characters and just exactly what the school is about. For the most part, this first foray into Deadly Class has been about establishing the main core of kids. With the usual Remender flair, you really get into the heads of the characters, learning what events in their backgrounds drove them to make certain decisions and act the way they do.
The art is fantastic. Craig has an incredible ability to show action and movement as well as specific feelings within the frame such as rage or disorientation while taking drugs. The limited color palette seems to enhance his art as well, allowing you to focus on what he's drawing but still set the tone and mood of the panels.
This turned out to be much better and more "adult" than I was expecting and there are enough twists that I'm not ever really sure what is going to happen next which is something I look for in a good book. Hopefully Book Two won't be too far behind this one.
I did a quick reread of this volume since I'll be doing a straight run. It's as dark and violent as I remember (something which appeals to me), and deals with depression in personalities that were altered by early childhood trauma, which lead to bad decisions and more trauma. You can almost feel Remender working through his issues as he writes this.
Looking forward to continuing the series and upgrading this to 4 stars.
*** Original Review ***
3.5 stars
I actually thought this was going to be different: more of a "90210" and about school, but it's all about loneliness and striving for acceptance. All of the kids were brought up amidst violence and some with personal tragedy. Couple that with the normal teenage angst, puberty, and insecurity and you have an extremely heavy and introspective story. I'll say it again, that this is very dark, morose, sometimes depraved and violent with ample sex, drugs, killing, cuss words, etc. Some of it I found to be uncomfortable, some of it funny, and some of it seemed unnecessary.
There's actually very little about the school of assassins, yet. This volume leaves you on a pretty serious cliffhanger about the future of the main characters and just exactly what the school is about. For the most part, this first foray into Deadly Class has been about establishing the main core of kids. With the usual Remender flair, you really get into the heads of the characters, learning what events in their backgrounds drove them to make certain decisions and act the way they do.
The art is fantastic. Craig has an incredible ability to show action and movement as well as specific feelings within the frame such as rage or disorientation while taking drugs. The limited color palette seems to enhance his art as well, allowing you to focus on what he's drawing but still set the tone and mood of the panels.
This turned out to be much better and more "adult" than I was expecting and there are enough twists that I'm not ever really sure what is going to happen next which is something I look for in a good book. Hopefully Book Two won't be too far behind this one.
January 15, 2018
This is the shit. Read it. Love it. Cherish it. And wait for more.
July 13, 2016
I read this in basically one sitting. It's very dark, having read many of Remender's books (Black Science, Fear Agent, X-Force, Uncanny Avengers, Secret Avengers, the Punisher, Crawlspace, LOW, and Tokyo Ghost) it's probably the darkest writing of a character and their mental space yet. Which is quite a feat after Fear Agent. :)
The story idea is solid and interesting as the main character accepts an invitation to join a high school teaching young people to become assassins with multiple factions representing the different cliques in a normal high school. The setting is the 80s with plenty of drugs, sex, rock'n roll and teen angst.
I was hoping I would love this and I do really like some of Remender's work (obviously I keep giving him my money and buying his stuff). However, there is a streak of anger at America and religion that didn't resonate with me. The main character's parents were given asylum in America fleeing the war torn nation of Nicaragua. Life is good until they are killed by an obese American woman committing suicide by jumping off a bridge and landing on both his parents. Our hero ends up sent to an orphanage that is secretly a sweat shop run by a "Christian" child torturer where his roommate, who is on staff somehow (I think) rapes him regularly. Any time we see anyone religious it's "Christian" and they are clearly evil people. Perhaps that is in line with the author's experience. My experience is that most shelters and food kitchens helping the homeless are run by religious people just trying to help make the world a better place by doing good deeds and telling people about their religion. The main character becomes homeless and joins the assassin school after an invitation where he shares his dream of getting revenge for being homeless and for other homeless people by killing Ronald Reagan because the main character thinks that Ronald Reagan is to blame for people being thrown out of mental hospitals onto the street (this is one of those social fairy tales that gets repeated but simply is not true, see: http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ul... )
Ideally, after all this hell that the main character goes through, we get to see lots of action and interesting story twists (we see some in this book) at the end of the day he has a better understanding of how America is actually the land of opportunity and Christians, while there are some horrible people that are religious, are typically pretty decent people. Whether the hero's perception changes will be up to the author and what he is trying to say about his perception of America at the end of the day. My grandmother immigrated to America. One of my co-workers parents were granted asylum in America fleeing persecution. America has been good to my family and we still lead the world year after year in accepting immigrants. There is a reason so many people want to come here.
It will be at least a year and a half (probably two) before we see the next volume. This book contains 16 issues and covers some back story and the characters freshman year of high school. Not sure if we will see a similar amount of issues for each year or how this will shake out. I'll probably buy the next volume but for now this one isn't in my top three from Remender.
"Faggot" gets used in it's pejorative sense (is there a non-pejorative sense in the USA?) a lot in this book. It's a word I very rarely hear and usually don't appear in books I read. Because it's so rare it was jarring to see it used on what felt like every other page.
The story idea is solid and interesting as the main character accepts an invitation to join a high school teaching young people to become assassins with multiple factions representing the different cliques in a normal high school. The setting is the 80s with plenty of drugs, sex, rock'n roll and teen angst.
I was hoping I would love this and I do really like some of Remender's work (obviously I keep giving him my money and buying his stuff). However, there is a streak of anger at America and religion that didn't resonate with me. The main character's parents were given asylum in America fleeing the war torn nation of Nicaragua. Life is good until they are killed by an obese American woman committing suicide by jumping off a bridge and landing on both his parents. Our hero ends up sent to an orphanage that is secretly a sweat shop run by a "Christian" child torturer where his roommate, who is on staff somehow (I think) rapes him regularly. Any time we see anyone religious it's "Christian" and they are clearly evil people. Perhaps that is in line with the author's experience. My experience is that most shelters and food kitchens helping the homeless are run by religious people just trying to help make the world a better place by doing good deeds and telling people about their religion. The main character becomes homeless and joins the assassin school after an invitation where he shares his dream of getting revenge for being homeless and for other homeless people by killing Ronald Reagan because the main character thinks that Ronald Reagan is to blame for people being thrown out of mental hospitals onto the street (this is one of those social fairy tales that gets repeated but simply is not true, see: http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ul... )
Ideally, after all this hell that the main character goes through, we get to see lots of action and interesting story twists (we see some in this book) at the end of the day he has a better understanding of how America is actually the land of opportunity and Christians, while there are some horrible people that are religious, are typically pretty decent people. Whether the hero's perception changes will be up to the author and what he is trying to say about his perception of America at the end of the day. My grandmother immigrated to America. One of my co-workers parents were granted asylum in America fleeing persecution. America has been good to my family and we still lead the world year after year in accepting immigrants. There is a reason so many people want to come here.
It will be at least a year and a half (probably two) before we see the next volume. This book contains 16 issues and covers some back story and the characters freshman year of high school. Not sure if we will see a similar amount of issues for each year or how this will shake out. I'll probably buy the next volume but for now this one isn't in my top three from Remender.
"Faggot" gets used in it's pejorative sense (is there a non-pejorative sense in the USA?) a lot in this book. It's a word I very rarely hear and usually don't appear in books I read. Because it's so rare it was jarring to see it used on what felt like every other page.
July 26, 2019
Soooo GOOD!
October 18, 2022
(Zero spoiler review) 4.75/5
Good gravy was that some good comic books right there. I'd been squirrelling this one away for the better part of two years, after ordering it early christmas morning 2020 off ebay, and paying an arm and a leg for it, as well as volume 2. All to be rewarded with a reprint not so long ago. I kind of guessed this one was going to be a bit special, and it delivered in spades and then some. I have pretty much every Remender indie book sitting on the shelf, but all the ones I'd read so far were just missing that little something. Some were Ok, some were good. There were some that even threatened to be great, but always came up just that little bit short. All that has changed now that I've started on Deadly Class. Magnum Opus? I think so.
As excellent as Remender has done here, true greatness comes when a creative team works in tandem to create something truly superb. Something that perfectly encapsulates the comics medium, to the point where were it to be told in any other format, it just wouldn't be the same. Though I would love an artistically and narratively accurate mature animation of this. I know there is a live action tv show and I won't be deigning to give that the slightest bit of my attention. Anyway, as I was saying, as good as Remender is here, and he is really, really good. Wes Craig's extraordinary art and Roughridge, and later Boyd's colours propel this to even greater heights. I can think of few times when colouring is such a fundamental part of a book, but it certainly is here. The moody, washed out flat colours are mana from heaven. Craig's art didn't need any additional help being outstanding, but hey, it got some. And Remender's words over the top... chef's kiss.
I love the world, I love the characters, I love the consequences, I love the drama. The descent into slice of life at times. Even if it is a twisted, demented kind of life. This is a Harry Potter of sorts for a very different kind of person. That fantastical, whimsical part of us that is always imagining something a bit special, mixed with the mundane. Well, Deadly Class is that, with a hefty dose of depravity and violence. I can't even recall how many times I opened my eyes wide when you get a massively unexpected reveal, sometimes slapping the chair next to me or audibly gasping. Few, and I do mean few books make me do this. Deadly Class did it every few issues. If this stays the course and remains this good until the end, we will be looking at one of the GOATS. The Question omnibus a couple of weeks ago and now this. I must have done something pretty special to deserve this. 4.75/5
OmniBen.
Good gravy was that some good comic books right there. I'd been squirrelling this one away for the better part of two years, after ordering it early christmas morning 2020 off ebay, and paying an arm and a leg for it, as well as volume 2. All to be rewarded with a reprint not so long ago. I kind of guessed this one was going to be a bit special, and it delivered in spades and then some. I have pretty much every Remender indie book sitting on the shelf, but all the ones I'd read so far were just missing that little something. Some were Ok, some were good. There were some that even threatened to be great, but always came up just that little bit short. All that has changed now that I've started on Deadly Class. Magnum Opus? I think so.
As excellent as Remender has done here, true greatness comes when a creative team works in tandem to create something truly superb. Something that perfectly encapsulates the comics medium, to the point where were it to be told in any other format, it just wouldn't be the same. Though I would love an artistically and narratively accurate mature animation of this. I know there is a live action tv show and I won't be deigning to give that the slightest bit of my attention. Anyway, as I was saying, as good as Remender is here, and he is really, really good. Wes Craig's extraordinary art and Roughridge, and later Boyd's colours propel this to even greater heights. I can think of few times when colouring is such a fundamental part of a book, but it certainly is here. The moody, washed out flat colours are mana from heaven. Craig's art didn't need any additional help being outstanding, but hey, it got some. And Remender's words over the top... chef's kiss.
I love the world, I love the characters, I love the consequences, I love the drama. The descent into slice of life at times. Even if it is a twisted, demented kind of life. This is a Harry Potter of sorts for a very different kind of person. That fantastical, whimsical part of us that is always imagining something a bit special, mixed with the mundane. Well, Deadly Class is that, with a hefty dose of depravity and violence. I can't even recall how many times I opened my eyes wide when you get a massively unexpected reveal, sometimes slapping the chair next to me or audibly gasping. Few, and I do mean few books make me do this. Deadly Class did it every few issues. If this stays the course and remains this good until the end, we will be looking at one of the GOATS. The Question omnibus a couple of weeks ago and now this. I must have done something pretty special to deserve this. 4.75/5
OmniBen.
July 27, 2018
"Kill the rats" ..
Daaaamn, this was a very thrilling ride!!
Loved it from the start: great character- and story building.. Fast-paced, lots of action and emotions.. Just what the doctor prescribes for me :p
I'll be immediately diving into the next one..
I can only say one thing: "must read!"
Cheers!
Daaaamn, this was a very thrilling ride!!
Loved it from the start: great character- and story building.. Fast-paced, lots of action and emotions.. Just what the doctor prescribes for me :p
I'll be immediately diving into the next one..
I can only say one thing: "must read!"
Cheers!
December 6, 2023
Personally I am straigth edge and have problems with people using. But here the story is just intriguing enough for me to lock past that. And follow our main antagonist as he is accepted into a school of underground assassins.
March 25, 2017
Not for everyone but a 4.5 star read for me!And definitely one of Remenders darker titles, which is saying something....
December 2, 2018
Batman famously became a crime fighter because his parents were killed by a criminal when he was young. The main character here sees a fat person committing suicide jump off a bridge landing on and killing his parents. What kind of super-hero would that produce? Who knows. That isn't really the full origin story here. It is almost a throw-away opening.
There is a cool premise here: what if in addition to the usual horrors of adolescence and high school, you were being forced to attend a school for assassins? But the over-the-top violence just isn't my thing.
I am officially over Rick Remender. I'm sick of the ultra-violence and revenge fantasies.
There is a cool premise here: what if in addition to the usual horrors of adolescence and high school, you were being forced to attend a school for assassins? But the over-the-top violence just isn't my thing.
I am officially over Rick Remender. I'm sick of the ultra-violence and revenge fantasies.
May 10, 2022
Very violent lol but really good! Loved that it was set in the 80s- need the next one!
October 5, 2023
Manic, brutal, angsty, and wild.
And I have mixed feelings about it.
I had to push myself to finish it but the ending has me hooked and I'll definitely check the next book (even more so since I bought the whole series.)
And I have mixed feelings about it.
I had to push myself to finish it but the ending has me hooked and I'll definitely check the next book (even more so since I bought the whole series.)
February 20, 2019
That was one hell of a roller-coaster ride Mr. Remender put us through. I'll be back with a real review in the future.
March 9, 2019
Deadly Class (Vol.1-3) depicts Marcus and fellow outcast teenagers trying to survive the deadly world of assasination... and high school. It's created by industry legend writer Rick Remender (Uncanny X-Force, Fear Agent, Black Science, etc.) and Wes Craig, whose name I sadly haven't heard of till now - which is waste to say the least.
Writing: Story takes shape starting with homeless and orphan Marcus finding refuge at the secret (high) school of assassins. Just like every high-schooler Marcus struggles with being the new kid and searches for his clique. It is safe to assume Remender pulls from his personal experiences as well as deeply rooted norms (and clichés) of being a young adult. At no point did I feel like the dialogues of teenagers and internal monologues of Marcus and others were written from an adult perspective. Regular clichés about high school accompanied by angry teenagers, coming from various crime related families and tragic backgrounds, with a curriculum comprised of the deadly art of assasination feels fresh under the pen of Remender.
Plot itself is thrilling and forces you to slow down so you can savor it. Villians are sometimes foreseeable types, sometimes mysterious and intimidating, and sometimes they are downright terrifying. It was somewhat of a let down that day-to-day school life (lessons in particular) aren't depicted as much as I'd hope - at first. But the main plot regarding Marcus's past haunting his present and his somewhat of a fractured personality mixed with anxiety of high school life shaping his future is more than enough to fill the hole. Wanting to feel belonging and love, avoiding prejudice while succumbing to your own is more than a relatable sight.
Art: Lesser known (for me) of the creators, Wes Craig made this book as much of his as it's Remender's. It's slick, while looking like it was done without a layout - and without fear of failure. Noir-manga style mixed with punk rock and depression, Wes Craig accomplished to create a visual language of his own while complimenting Remender's writing. It's pure expression on a leash. It's systemathic chaos. Lee Loughridge's restricted but firm color palet compliments Craig's work spot on.
In conclusion, Remender and Craig (and Loughridge) perfected graphic story telling with Deadly Class and this version of the book is certainly a treat as it's a beatiful "absolute size" hardcover with quality paper and oversize pages.
Writing: Story takes shape starting with homeless and orphan Marcus finding refuge at the secret (high) school of assassins. Just like every high-schooler Marcus struggles with being the new kid and searches for his clique. It is safe to assume Remender pulls from his personal experiences as well as deeply rooted norms (and clichés) of being a young adult. At no point did I feel like the dialogues of teenagers and internal monologues of Marcus and others were written from an adult perspective. Regular clichés about high school accompanied by angry teenagers, coming from various crime related families and tragic backgrounds, with a curriculum comprised of the deadly art of assasination feels fresh under the pen of Remender.
Plot itself is thrilling and forces you to slow down so you can savor it. Villians are sometimes foreseeable types, sometimes mysterious and intimidating, and sometimes they are downright terrifying. It was somewhat of a let down that day-to-day school life (lessons in particular) aren't depicted as much as I'd hope - at first. But the main plot regarding Marcus's past haunting his present and his somewhat of a fractured personality mixed with anxiety of high school life shaping his future is more than enough to fill the hole. Wanting to feel belonging and love, avoiding prejudice while succumbing to your own is more than a relatable sight.
Art: Lesser known (for me) of the creators, Wes Craig made this book as much of his as it's Remender's. It's slick, while looking like it was done without a layout - and without fear of failure. Noir-manga style mixed with punk rock and depression, Wes Craig accomplished to create a visual language of his own while complimenting Remender's writing. It's pure expression on a leash. It's systemathic chaos. Lee Loughridge's restricted but firm color palet compliments Craig's work spot on.
In conclusion, Remender and Craig (and Loughridge) perfected graphic story telling with Deadly Class and this version of the book is certainly a treat as it's a beatiful "absolute size" hardcover with quality paper and oversize pages.
June 4, 2018
CONTENT: Deadly Class is somewhat unique in that it takes what we all know are the myths of high school and dating and teenage friendships and blows them apart - in the context of a school that teaches kids how to murder people. The actual stories (back- and otherwise) are deeply engaged, detailed, and full of comic goodness. Remender is a dark, twisted soul, and his writing damn near qualifies as a cry for help. I wish there was more of the actual school in here - it's like, "Right, they're in school," and the conspiracy theory, when it comes, is so earth-shattering that the issue and a half (?) lead-up seems desultory and not nearly sufficient. Good characters, awesome action, solid story; pacing could use work, but then: I'm like as not the target audience here.
THIS EDITION: A giant codex Bible of comics can only be a good thing, right? 16 issues, printed in a gigantor format plus a lot of sketches and scripts and alternate covers? DO NOT BUY THIS. It's impractically large, and cannot be read comfortably without a table. Does not fit anywhere. Cannot be transported while reading. It's gorgeous, and it's going to look great on the shelf now that I'm done, but given a do-over, I'd just get the smaller collections. Also: Pink?
THIS EDITION: A giant codex Bible of comics can only be a good thing, right? 16 issues, printed in a gigantor format plus a lot of sketches and scripts and alternate covers? DO NOT BUY THIS. It's impractically large, and cannot be read comfortably without a table. Does not fit anywhere. Cannot be transported while reading. It's gorgeous, and it's going to look great on the shelf now that I'm done, but given a do-over, I'd just get the smaller collections. Also: Pink?
July 22, 2023
i’ve never read a comic so it was a bit weird. i only read it cause i kept thinking about the show and how good it was (lana condor was in it like seriously) so i wanted to know what happened after season 1 and i still remember everything even though i watched it five years ago 😭😭. one thing the show did rly weird was it hid the fact that all of these people are fucking crazy psychopathic assholes which was the BEST part, i love messy characters. like in the show they were yknow murderers but they didn’t seem as lunatic as they were in the comic. it was so insane and so much bullshit i was having a blast. fuck the show the show is boring to me now and did the characters dirty but it DID make marcus hottttt and also they were FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL????? doing this shit??? like i know it was mafia and cia kids but still what the shit hell. also i hate how they ended season one how they did when the first storyline still wasn’t over, they should have ended it when the “finals” began it would have made so much more sense but whatever. lana condor as saya was a bit of a weird choice for saya’s actress but i’ll take it, i just couldn’t see lana condor doing any of the things saya was doing.
January 6, 2022
Deadly Class follows the exploits of Marcus Arguello as he goes from homeless teen to freshman student at a school to create the worlds next elite assassins. Rick Remender has beautifully made the isolation, emotion and confusion of high school so relatable in such a ridiculous situation. The whole time seeing echoes of Marcus' actions, decisions, and feelings in my own high school life. And I wasn't doing massive amounts of hallucinogens and learning to kill people.
Deadly Class is a lot of fun, but underneath the great action storyline is a wonderful story of jealousy, revenge, and isolation. Teen angst was never done so perfectly in a comic form. The book contains the first sixteen issues, and I promise you're going to be upset at the cliffhanger that ends the book. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.
Deadly Class is a lot of fun, but underneath the great action storyline is a wonderful story of jealousy, revenge, and isolation. Teen angst was never done so perfectly in a comic form. The book contains the first sixteen issues, and I promise you're going to be upset at the cliffhanger that ends the book. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.
February 14, 2019
It was okay. If you are a big fan of reading about people on drug trips, I think you would love this. I don't like any of the characters, but I feel like maybe Marcus is at a point where he is going to try to learn to grow up. I understand that they are traumatized teenagers too so you can't expect too much maturity from them. I loved the artwork though and it is an interesting concept. On story alone, 2 stars. But I loved the way they told the story through the layouts and illustrations.
November 1, 2018
The art style is ok (not my favorite) but the coloring is fantastic. The story is very dark and violent — much more than I expected it to be. This is not a book for the squeamish.
November 27, 2017
I wanted so desperately to fall head-over-heels in love with this.
It sounded right up my alley: dark, gritty graphic novel set in the 1980s about a school of assassins. But somehow, it just didn't click with me. I think there are multiple reasons why, but first let's run through the good:
- the artwork is amaaazzziinnnggg
- abundant amounts of badassery
- no gorey detail is glossed over or censored - there is hard drugs, swearing, beheadings, bestiality, crucifixion, vast amounts of blood, and much more. some people could easily be put off by this, but i personally fucking loved it
- the gritty atmosphere and rich 1980s setting
- some really quality writing, especially in the introspective scenes
- the characters (for the most part) shine on the page and have a lot of charm, even if some of them are a bit underdeveloped
- MARIA MY QUEEN I LOVE HER SO MUCH, WHAT A BOSS ASS BITCH SHE IS THE BEST
but, for the most part deadly class left me a bit disappointed. I think i was expecting a very different story, and ultimately it didn't deliver.
the bad:
- the pacing is almost TOO fast, and as a result a lot of scenes seem underdeveloped. i wish a lot of relationships and characters were fleshed out a little more
- INSTALOVE. INSTALOVE EVERYWHERE
- saya is a lowkey manic pixie dreamgirl - i know pretty much zilch about her, and i know that shes supposed to be ~mysterious~ or whatever, but she just seems like every other generic badass female lead with no actual substance, designed to further marcus's character arc
- I was promised a revenge story - where the hell is it? ronald reagan isnt mentioned ONCE after the first volume. shouldn't that be marcus's fuel, his end goal which all things lead towards? but instead, marcus is too caught up in his fucking girl trouble to even think about his revenge, and the result is that marcus's character seems very wishy washy with no actual longterm motivation or goal.
- the actual assassin school is featured remarkably little. I've never seen marcus learn any real skills that will help him in the art of killing, and there is no evidence that his education is actually helping him one bit. i wanted him to develop from a street kid into a badass experienced assassin, but alas this book seems determined to rob me of things that i want.
- some details are mentioned and then completely ignored/forgotten in later scenes. for example, during volume 1 saya mentions that she was a bit of an asshole to marcus because her gang didn't approve of him and she needed to uphold her reputation. but after that, her gang is literally never brought up again. marcus and saya start hanging out with no issue. did her gang suddenly approve of marcus? who even IS her gang? what is her relationship with them, and what function to they play? does she even ever hang out with them?? it's stuff like this that I wish was clarified more, so the assassin school and its politics would become more fleshed out.
- am i seriously supposed to be convinced that these kids are 15?? because im not. at all.
despite all that, i WOULD recommend this book for anyone who wants a dark and gritty graphic novel with great art. however, don't go in looking for a story centred around assassins and revenge, because you're bond to be disappointed.
It sounded right up my alley: dark, gritty graphic novel set in the 1980s about a school of assassins. But somehow, it just didn't click with me. I think there are multiple reasons why, but first let's run through the good:
- the artwork is amaaazzziinnnggg
- abundant amounts of badassery
- no gorey detail is glossed over or censored - there is hard drugs, swearing, beheadings, bestiality, crucifixion, vast amounts of blood, and much more. some people could easily be put off by this, but i personally fucking loved it
- the gritty atmosphere and rich 1980s setting
- some really quality writing, especially in the introspective scenes
- the characters (for the most part) shine on the page and have a lot of charm, even if some of them are a bit underdeveloped
- MARIA MY QUEEN I LOVE HER SO MUCH, WHAT A BOSS ASS BITCH SHE IS THE BEST
but, for the most part deadly class left me a bit disappointed. I think i was expecting a very different story, and ultimately it didn't deliver.
the bad:
- the pacing is almost TOO fast, and as a result a lot of scenes seem underdeveloped. i wish a lot of relationships and characters were fleshed out a little more
- INSTALOVE. INSTALOVE EVERYWHERE
- saya is a lowkey manic pixie dreamgirl - i know pretty much zilch about her, and i know that shes supposed to be ~mysterious~ or whatever, but she just seems like every other generic badass female lead with no actual substance, designed to further marcus's character arc
- I was promised a revenge story - where the hell is it? ronald reagan isnt mentioned ONCE after the first volume. shouldn't that be marcus's fuel, his end goal which all things lead towards? but instead, marcus is too caught up in his fucking girl trouble to even think about his revenge, and the result is that marcus's character seems very wishy washy with no actual longterm motivation or goal.
- the actual assassin school is featured remarkably little. I've never seen marcus learn any real skills that will help him in the art of killing, and there is no evidence that his education is actually helping him one bit. i wanted him to develop from a street kid into a badass experienced assassin, but alas this book seems determined to rob me of things that i want.
- some details are mentioned and then completely ignored/forgotten in later scenes. for example, during volume 1 saya mentions that she was a bit of an asshole to marcus because her gang didn't approve of him and she needed to uphold her reputation. but after that, her gang is literally never brought up again. marcus and saya start hanging out with no issue. did her gang suddenly approve of marcus? who even IS her gang? what is her relationship with them, and what function to they play? does she even ever hang out with them?? it's stuff like this that I wish was clarified more, so the assassin school and its politics would become more fleshed out.
- am i seriously supposed to be convinced that these kids are 15?? because im not. at all.
despite all that, i WOULD recommend this book for anyone who wants a dark and gritty graphic novel with great art. however, don't go in looking for a story centred around assassins and revenge, because you're bond to be disappointed.
April 10, 2022
Reread the first deluxe book of Deadly Class, and i liked it even better then the first time. I am a big fan of Rick Remender, and i think this one is my very favorite one. I love his hardcovers which are always oversized like a DC Absolute, and very well put together. The artwork is so much better like this, and it truly is a deluxe edition, with a foreword, scripts, sketches, and tons of variant covers. The story is coming of age, and set in the late 80s, but not your typical one, its about all kind of kids who got selected to go to Kings Dominion atelier of the Deadly Arts, the most brutal high school on earth, to learn the art of killing, poisoning, and just everything about murder. The story follows a couple misfits ala the breakfast club, with Marcus Lopez Arguello as the main character, he lived on the Street after been living in the worst childrens home on earth and he gets the change to make his bones on this peculiar Academy... I think this is Remender's most tight script, every second something happens and it is incredible how everything spirals downward in this book, its like you sit next to these people doing drugs on the backseat on a roadtrip and everyone is tripping their balls of (dont do drugs people) or the difficult times there are on high school. Wes Craig's style mixed with Lee Loughridge oldskool colors are beyond beautifull and really make this book pop on every page, and the use of paneling and foreshadowing of some things is brilliantly done. Gonna read that second and third book soon.
4.5 stars and HIGHLY recomended.
4.5 stars and HIGHLY recomended.
August 29, 2018
What it's about: Marcus is an orphan living on the streets after the deaths of everyone at the orphanage he lived at. Marcus is saved by Master Lin, the headmaster of a school for assassins. Does Marcus have what it takes to survive in a school where everyone is deadly?
What I thought: Jeez, this is a bleak book. And the protagonist is SOOO whiny! I get that he's got a lot of cause to be disappointed, but there are just pages and pages of introspection-exposition that go nowhere.
Why I rated it like I did: See above.
What I thought: Jeez, this is a bleak book. And the protagonist is SOOO whiny! I get that he's got a lot of cause to be disappointed, but there are just pages and pages of introspection-exposition that go nowhere.
Why I rated it like I did: See above.
January 15, 2024
This was my first comic. I saw the series they made and really liked it and when I did some back research I found out it was a comic first so I wanted to check it out. I would never really pick up a comic I’m not really into the superhero thing or end the world or anime which seems that is most comics. Honestly I don’t know where I’d start in the comic genera, But I thought we’ll this is the perfect comic to check things out with. I thought it was absolutely great the originality of the story on its own was a really cool idea. It seems that there’s not many comics like this one from what I’ve googled, I couldn’t find many recommendations. I thought the 80s punk theme was a great pairing. But honestly the art work and even so more the coloring was incredible. The coloring was great I mean I don’t think that artist could have chose a better color scheme nor did better at matching each scenes mood. And A special shut out for paying tribute to fear and loathing in Las Vegas, one of my favorite books, as well the GD. there’s a few lines I would of maybe changed but I mean the art and coloring of the comics killed it so much, let’s not split hairs. I don’t think I would have killed Maria maybe she comes back in I don’t know, she was such a cool character hard to believe they offed her like that. This edition itself is very well made, vivid, great color, great quality thick gloss paper. It also has a bunch of bonus pages at the end.I look forward to getting the rest of the hardcover editions.
Any recommendations for other comics that someone might like if they like this one please feel free to suggest.
Any recommendations for other comics that someone might like if they like this one please feel free to suggest.
April 21, 2019
This is absolutely brilliant!
While this might appear to share a common origin story with everyone's favourite saga, Harry Potter
(orphan boy, bullied, has no idea what to do with his life and suddenly is invited to join a private school), Rick Remender gives us a dark, brutal, violent but amazing story of Marcus Lopez Arguello, a Nicaraguan boy who's invited to attend King's Dominion, a school for assassins.
The first 16 issues set up the story and background of both Marcus, his friends and the school, and give us lots and lots of plot twists and ends in the most amazing cliffhanger I could ever ask for.
Add to that the brilliant artwork of Wes Craig, which made me feel I was actually in 1987 (year where the story begins) and somehow is in tune with Remender's plot. I simply couldn't have imagined it any other way.
One final note, this series also have a TV series with the same name. There's only 1 season, which goes up until the end of "F-Face" arch (probably issue 9 or 10, not sure), so if you are undecided about reading this or not, check out the series! The story is a bit different, but it's an exact match on all crutial points.
Needless to say I can't wait to read more about "Deadly Class"!
"Kill the rats."
While this might appear to share a common origin story with everyone's favourite saga, Harry Potter
(orphan boy, bullied, has no idea what to do with his life and suddenly is invited to join a private school), Rick Remender gives us a dark, brutal, violent but amazing story of Marcus Lopez Arguello, a Nicaraguan boy who's invited to attend King's Dominion, a school for assassins.
The first 16 issues set up the story and background of both Marcus, his friends and the school, and give us lots and lots of plot twists and ends in the most amazing cliffhanger I could ever ask for.
Add to that the brilliant artwork of Wes Craig, which made me feel I was actually in 1987 (year where the story begins) and somehow is in tune with Remender's plot. I simply couldn't have imagined it any other way.
One final note, this series also have a TV series with the same name. There's only 1 season, which goes up until the end of "F-Face" arch (probably issue 9 or 10, not sure), so if you are undecided about reading this or not, check out the series! The story is a bit different, but it's an exact match on all crutial points.
Needless to say I can't wait to read more about "Deadly Class"!
"Kill the rats."
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