Deadly Class

Deadly Class 1-26

I don’t remember why I bought the first trade.  The concept is certainly a catchy one - Hogwarts for assassins and killers.  The art more than passes the flip test; Wes Craig can draw a striking image, no doubt about that.

That's some beautiful silhouetting.

On the negative side, it’s written by Rick Remender, who you can add to my list of “consistently excellent concepts with shaky execution” writers.  (I’ve actually started keeping track.)

Regardless, after reading the first six issues, I was sufficiently hooked to buy the next three trades, which were already out.  Then I got the fifth one when it came out before I wondered if I was suffering from Song of Fire and Ice syndrome, where I was only reading it because I wanted to find out what happens next, and not because I particularly liked it.  Deciding it was more of the former than the latter, I’ve since stayed away from the next two trades.

Now, after the reread, my opinion is once again teetering along that fine line.  To be fair to Deadly Class, I read trades two through five today in one sitting.  There’s no doubt it’s an addictive title. Remender took me on a breathless run from one chaotic, insane set piece to the next.  The guy can write extended action scenarios with the best of them, with visceral action and unexpected twists. And he’s got the perfect partner in Craig, who illustrates the crap out of them.  Remender has no compunction about killing off his characters, and he knows how to do it for maximum shock without making it feel cheap (I’m looking at you, Joss Whedon. Don’t even get me started with Dr Horrible).  His deaths are earned, and aren’t thrown in just because he needs a convenient crisis to get to the next plot point.  

I’m somewhat surprised that I wrote that last paragraph, given how little I thought I cared about the characters.  “I really really hate Marcus” (the main character) was the foremost thought in my head throughout the read. Going along with the Harry Potter parallel, Marcus Lopez Arguello was orphaned at a young age, had an abusive childhood in foster care, and suddenly finds himself in a totally different world.  He quickly finds friends with a group of misfits and gets caught up in a series of whirlwind adventures.

Unlike Harry though, Marcus did not manage to hang on to his innocence and pure heart.  Getting beat up and molested in a child’s home, then barely surviving on the streets of San Francisco left him a self-loathing wreck dependent on drugs to numb the pain of everyday existence.  Couple that with the blinding hormones of a freshman in high school and you get a kid who’s utterly incapable of making a single correct decision in life. I can understand Marcus, but I have zero sympathy for him.  Sure, certain things are out of his control - He’s at a school populated with assassins-in-training, there’s bound to be conflict. But so many of his problems are of his own making that I ways always sad when someone else died and he didn’t.  

For some reason, I feel more for his friends.  Saya, Maria, Willie, and Billy all come across as more trapped than Marcus.  It’s not that their circumstances are that different from Marcus’. They all have screwed up parental issues and had no choice in their enrollment or selected vocation.  They all have their own set of baggage. Maybe it’s because we don’t have access to their inner monologues, but none of them seem to be spiraling as horribly as Marcus. They’re dealing with their shitty hands slightly better.  They all have redeeming qualities, while Marcus has none.

Another point that just came to me.  Marcus actively pushes away his friends.  He’s just a dick to them most of the time, and that self-defeating attitude ticks me off.  

At the end of the day, I sorely tempted to pick up the rest of the available trades.  I haven’t had the urge to reread Deadly Class since my first go around, but these really were effective at grabbing and holding my attention, in a way that separates it from the “want to find out what happens but don’t want to own” titles of the world.  I’ll think about it some more. Do a flip through the next time I’m at the store.

Also, can’t forget that Lana Condor is playing Saya in the upcoming tv adaptation!

Lara Jean's going to be wielding a katana!

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes (I think.  Razor’s edge)

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice