Deadly Class is probably my favorite current ongoing series. Written by Rick Remender with art by Wes Craig, the series follows Marcus Lopez Arguello as he attempts to navigate King’s Dominion, a high school designed to train the next generation of international assassins. Set in the late eighties, the series provides a window into the underground music scenes and various youth countercultures of the time. I cannot recommend this series highly enough. Remender has crafted one of the most diverse, three-dimensional casts of characters in comics today, and his dialogue practically jumps off the page and into the ear. Wes Craig’s art for this series is wonderful as well, making equal use of heavy shadow and exuberant color to make sure the over-the-top violence present in basically every issue never loses its impact.
Although the TV adaptation of Deadly Class has been tragically cancelled, the comic is very much alive and well and returns on September 25th with its fortieth issue. In honor of its return, I have decided to rank the top 10 single issues of Deadly Class so far. For those fans of the show who maybe haven’t caught up with the comics yet, I’ll try to keep this list as free of any major spoilers. There are some minor spoilers here though, so be warned.
10 – ISSUE 11: “Kids of the Black Hole, part 5”
In this issue, Marcus and his friends deal with typical teenage issues such as infidelity, anxiety, and love getting in the way of friendship. Of course, because this is Deadly Class, they end up confronting these issues while trapped in a serial killer’s house, engaged in combat with his deranged hillbilly cult followers. This is the first big battle in the series. Although the Frank Miller influence on Deadly Class would become most apparent later on, in “Love Like Blood”, this issue is an early example of that influence. The majority of the comic is colored in grays and blues, with red providing a bloody emphasis. The griminess of the cult house and its horrifying inhabitants make this battle reminiscent of Batman fighting the Mutants gang in The Dark Knight Returns. This might be the most grotesque issue of the series, although it is nice to have a battle of good vs. unredeemable evil as a change of pace from some of the more…let’s say morally ambiguous killings in later issues.
Another significant aspect of this issue is that parts of it are narrated by Saya and Maria. This is the first instance of anyone other than Marcus providing narration, and it allows the reader a glimpse into Saya and Maria’s thoughts as they try and cope with emotional issues while fighting for their lives. Whereas previously Deadly Class had been mostly all Marcus all the time, this issue begins a shift towards a more ensemble approach, which carries through the series all the way to the present.
9 – ISSUE 3: “Reagan Youth, part 3”
Everyone needs a best friend, and Marcus’s is Willie. The two of them go out to commit their first killing (of someone who “deserves it”) as part of a homework assignment, and after Marcus saves Willie from falling off a roof, the two open up to each other and become friends. Willie is a crucial part of Deadly Class, and in this issue we learn who he is, who he pretends to be, and why he’s different from everyone else at King’s Dominion. The dialogue for this issue is a cut above, providing huge amounts of character development while still sounding like a natural conversation between friends. In a departure from the introspection of the rest of the issue, this issue’s ending is abrupt, violent, and legitimately shocking. While I won’t spoil it here, it drives home the graveness of the situation Marcus is in, and that when it comes down to it, he’ll do anything to survive.
8 – ISSUE 23: “Carousel, part 2”
Successfully introducing several new characters to an established story all at once can be difficult, especially when the old characters are as interesting and well-liked as the characters of Deadly Class. However, this issue finds an inventive way to achieve that goal, as Saya plays Dungeons and Dragons with a new class of freshmen. Both Saya and the reader learn a lot about the new freshmen through the characters they create for the game. To depict the events of the D&D game, Wes Craig’s art is inked and colored much more softly in order to more closely resemble a fantasy comic or the typical D&D illustrations of the time. If any readers were hesitant about accepting the new freshmen, watching them slay pencil and paper ogres is sure to bring them around.
As Saya learns about the freshmen, the reader learns more about her. Although she had always been at the forefront of Deadly Class (especially the cover art), her history and motivations had always been mysterious. Saya’s backstory would be fully explored in issue 27 (narrowly left off this list), but in the meanwhile this issue does a good job of hinting at why Saya is the way she is and foreshadowing future conflicts she would have.
7 – ISSUE 17: “Die for Me, part 1”
There’s not much I can say about certain issues on this list without spoiling major plot points. For this issue, the best way to describe it is “All Hell Breaking Loose.” Most high schools are by nature volatile situations. But when every student is a trained and practiced killer, high school becomes a powder keg doused in nitroglycerin, and Master Lin just tossed in a match. Here we see the full extent of the student body’s capacity for violence turned in upon itself, and for the first time in the series, the true nature of King’s Dominion makes sense. The same can be said of Shabnam, Marcus’s roommate, who comes into his own amongst the ongoing slaughter. Shabnam spends the whole series up to this point alternating between harmless comic relief and pathetic whipping boy. Before this issue, one could be forgiven for wondering what Shabnam was doing at King’s Dominion in the first place. After this issue, in the forever-changed Deadly Class, it is clear Shabnam might be the most dangerous student of them all.
6 – ISSUE 36: “Never Go Back, part 1”
In a conversation with Black Flag singer and punk rock legend Henry Rollins on the Mirror/Image podcast, Rick Remender tells Rollins his spoken word performances were one of the biggest inspirations for Deadly Class. That inspiration is at its most prominent in this issue. This issue is essentially an extended dream sequence, where Marcus goes on a vision quest and finally confronts the traumatic demons of his past. Through monologic narration and dialogue with imagined versions of his friends, Marcus confronts his hatred of the society that took so many of the people he loved and his fear that someday he might be forced to conform to that society. After his visions, Marcus makes a decision that is sure to impact the future of Deadly Class.
Wes Craig is at his finest in this issue, using a variety of techniques to effortlessly switch styles as Marcus’s hallucinations shift and change. The quality of this issue’s art simply has to be seen to be believed. Issue 36 is a joy to read, featuring many callbacks to the Deadly Class of the past while expertly setting up the series’ future.
5 – ISSUE 1: “Reagan Youth, part 1”
Some comic books take time to get going and hit their stride. The first issue of Deadly Class, however, wastes no time in establishing the series’ distinctive style. All the attributes that make Deadly Class special are fully present in the first issue. Marcus’s voice springs fully developed from the page, his narration full of anger, grief, and punk rock disdain for authority in all its forms. The artwork pulls no punches as well, with spreads full of the inventive panel layouts that would become a hallmark of the series, and colors that gradually grow more bright and dynamic as Marcus slips out of homelessness and into the world of assassination. All the ingredients are present, leading to a debut issue that stands not only as one of the best issues of the series, but as one of the best Issue #1s of all time.
4 – ISSUE 29: “This is not the End, part 3”
This issue is a little less action-packed than most of the other issues on this list, and that’s what makes it so special. Petra, wracked with guilt over her past actions, despairs to the point of attempting suicide. Before things go too far, she is found and stopped by Helmut, who offers Petra one last night on the town to decide whether or not she wants to keep surviving.
This is among Deadly Class’s happiest issues, and I’ve found it’s best read while listening to “In Between Days” by The Cure. It’s wonderful seeing this pair of outsiders, the Goth and the Metalhead, get a chance to go out, talk about music, play some harmless pranks, and have normal teenage fun without someone trying to kill them. And in the end, both of them realize they have something worth surviving for.
3 – ISSUE 5: “Reagan Youth, part 5”
Marcus has taken too much acid, and it costs him. What makes this issue so interesting is that although plenty of comics feature hallucinations in isolated dream sequences (such as the aforementioned Issue 36), this one blends them into the progression of the plot. Marcus receives no respite from reality, because in his chemically-altered state he is forced to deal with Billy confronting his abusive father and Maria’s abusive boyfriend Chico hunting him down. Unsurprisingly, these problems end in violence, violence that stands out from other issues of Deadly Class by virtue of being viewed through Marcus’s acid-tinged lens. The psychedelic fervor of Marcus’s trip fit is portrayed in a variety of clever ways in the artwork and fits perfectly with the debauched extravagance of this issue’s Las Vegas Strip setting.
2 – ISSUE 26: “Ballad of Marcus and Maria”
Although it might not be obvious from the get-go, and honestly I’m not even sure if it was Rick Remender’s intention when he began the series, the relationship between Marcus and Maria is one of the pillars upon which Deadly Class stands. This issue is a great showcase of that relationship, showing how two damaged people can find some semblance of healing in each other’s arms. It’s also one of the most action packed issues of the series.
I’ll be real with you guys, the issues preceding this one don’t have a lot of good things happening to the King’s Dominion gang. That’s why the happiness present in this issue (even if it is happiness in the form of vengeance) is so satisfying. It really is a breath of fresh air to see everything break the right way for our heroes. Although Issue 26 doesn’t take the number one spot on this list, it’s definitely the most fun.
1 – ISSUE 21: “Die for Me, part 5”
Whereas Issue 26 is memorable for its satisfying action scenes, Issue 21 will break your heart. I really can’t say much about it, other than that it’s epic, it’s tragic, and it’s full of twists and turns no one in their right mind could see coming. The series is not the same after this issue, and no one who reads it will be either. This issue is the perfect example of what makes Deadly Class the amazingly unique series it is, and that’s why I have it as the single best issue of the whole series.
