Kids are terrible to each other. High school can be hell and the 80s must have sucked if you were poor. Deadly Class takes high school and turns it into a place where rich criminal send their kids to become trained killers. A homeless boy who blame Ronald Reagan for his parents death and his subsequent homelessness gets swept up in the school and learns to be a better killer. His end goal? Kill Reagan. The more I read Remender (Black Science) I feel like he is my comic soulmate. His bleak internal voice that contemplates meaning in world where nothing has value is always striking. Then add a layer of criticism of American culture and power structures and you have something that hits me straight in the heart.

Worth picking up for sure. Lots of action and twists galore. Artwork adds a lot to the writing and they work seamlessly. Interesting characters and basis for the series. You must pick this up!

Deadly Class is truly spectacular. The art takes some warming up to, but eventually engaged me, as did the story, which puts a gritty, dark spin on what could have been a cheesy concept.

Deadly Class Vol. 1: Reagan Youth (2014) by Rick Remender and Wes Craig (Image)

I first took notice of this book after seeing it listed as #19 on a Coliseum of Comics store top 50 list in Orlando. I new it had been a show on SyFY but had never watched it. I’m a big Remender fan. I’ve enjoyed Black Science, Low, Seven to Eternity, and his Uncanny X-Force run. I don’t believe Deadly Class has been nominated for any industry awards but it has gotten pretty good reviews: 8.8 Critic Review on Comic Book Round Up, 3.96 on Goodreads, and 4.7 on Amazon.

Sadly, the first volume didn’t really interest me. I just didn’t really seem to care one way or another what happened to the characters. The art and colors were complimentary and not distracting from the story.

I picked it up in trade for the wonderful Image introductory price of $9.99 (I also see it is currently available with Comixology Unlimited). Because of all the fan support, I may give the second volume a try. In regards to similar titles, I would offer I enjoyed both Gerard Way’s Umbrella Academy and Nick Spencer’s Morning Glories.

Both art and narrative are a bit confusing.