Deadly Class No. 37 review: Prisoners freed and debts paid

Deadly Class tells one hell of a redemption arc.

Who loves stories about a high school for assassins, vengeful ninjas, and constant blood flow? Everyone does. That’s why Deadly Class, from writer Rick Remender and artist Wes Craig, with magnificent colors from Jordan Boyd and impeccable lettering from Rus Wooton, with a variant cover from Daniel Warren Johnson, is not only one of Image Comic’s flagship pieces right now, but has also been transformed into a hit television show on the Syfy channel, with episodes premiering every Wednesday night at 10 PM Eastern. While the show is great, like most adaptations, it can’t hold a candle to the furious artwork and gripping storyline presented in the first thirty-six issues, and the latest issue steps it up to a whole new level.

Image Comics

King’s Dominion students are in a deadly class all to themselves

In the last issue, Marcus, Maria, and the sophomore crew of Zenzele, Helmut, and Tosawhi took psychedelics in the desert, as Marcus decided they needed to return to King’s Dominion to seek revenge. This issue follows Quan and Saya, who were taken by her brother Kenji, who is in the process of taking over his family’s Yakuza clan. Planning to set up Saya for the death of their mother, thereby consolidating power among the gangs, Kenji creates an alibi for himself by taking the gang to a brothel, where Quan, who keeps getting fingers chopped off, is forced to serve drinks. He has a plan, however, and kills the gangster meant to torture Saya further, taking his keys and freeing Saya from the dungeon she is being kept in.

Image Comics

Sword retrieval and daring escapes

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Quan has space on a freighter headed to San Francisco all lined up for himself and Saya, but she refuses to go without her sword, which Kenji is never far from. He is living it up at the brothel, and Saya makes Quan sneak in to get her sword back. Weaseling his way in, Quan finds a lady’s costume in the bathroom and puts it on, planning to grab the sword and run, but his deception is ruined when a gangster stops him just short, letting Kenji see his ruined hands. In an explosion of violence, Quan gets the sword, puts Kenji’s eye out, and makes it back to Saya, who is waiting on a motorcycle, barely staying conscious. They flee through the streets, beheading Yakuza close on their trail and narrowly avoiding car crashes. They escape and make it to the boat, where Quan reveals that he won’t be going back to King’s Dominion; he plans to try to start things over in Vietnam, where his parents came from. He seeks encouragement from Saya about this idea, and she plunges her sword through him, telling him they’re finally even.

dark. Next. Vader: Dark Visions No. 1 casts the villain as the hero!

She flings his body overboard and prepares to return to California. Quan sold her out to Kenji, so it was only appropriate that he pay the ultimate price for his betrayal. The murderous antipathy of Saya and many other students is a thing to behold; understandably, it’s just a comic, and violence sells, but it’s a visceral, compelling kind of violence, one you can relate to. The show does a good job of translating the anger and rage these teenagers experience, but it’s nothing like the comic. 9.7/10, highly recommended. Let us know what you thought in the comments section below.

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