Deadly Class #10 Review

By Edward on Tuesday, January 6th, 2015

If there’s one thing Deadly Class has proven itself good at – of which Deadly Class #10 is no expcetion – it’s making everything self contained, yet part of a wider arc or story. Case in point, we have another issue full of unique, twisted humour and frantic story telling. Sure, it’s not going to be for everyone, but for those who enjoy it, it will likely offer a lot.

The official description from Image:

Even teens training to be the world’s coldest killers need a day off, so Marcus and Maria hit the streets of San Francisco. But you know what doesn’t mesh well with too much booze and heartbreak? A seething cartel hit squad! It’s true. Look it up.

This issue is basically split into two sections, both of which are loosely connected. The former more or less reads like a teen drama (without the prettying up) while the latter is something more expected of Deadly Class. It sounds unusual, but it does work; the two halves contradict nicely and represent, in essense, the juxtaposition of teenage assassins. Sometimes it’s about love, romance and cheap booze, other times its about guns, violence and murder. Deadly Class #10 simply does both.

Throughout all of this, Rick Remender’s writing is very grounded. From the very opening, Remender’s narrative dialogue feels very familiar to anyone in similar predicaments. It captures the unusual, over the top setting by starting with the most familiar. As a reader, it’s hard not to get sucked in – whether it’s pitying Marcus or laughing at him – and this makes all the difference when it shifts to the night time raid scenes. In many ways, I think Remender is better at the earlier parts, since the action sequences don’t bother with tense pauses or suspense.

Visually, there isn’t too much new with this issue. Wes Craig’s pencils are consistent, even if the loose style is difficult to look at in smaller panels. Still, it holds up in this issue and the two halves have very different color palettes – courtesy of Lee Loughridge in both regards – to help break things up.

All in all, this is a good issue for the series. Deadly Class #10 opens up well and ends on a decent enough cliffhanger – what more does it need to do?