DEADLY CLASS is one of those comics that has people waiting on the edge of their seats with excitement for the next issue. For a series dealing with teen angst, premeditated murder, and high school life in the late 1980's you'd think that readers of the popular comic series would have grown tired of reading about something so often portrayed on television. The sheer number of shows dealing with teenagers - or young people in general - their social lives and some sort of murder plot is staggering to behold. It's really because of the incredible team working on DEADLY CLASS that readers are sucked into a world that is wholly believable and overflowing with kinetic energy. As is the case with rock music, the players have to be capable in order to create something amazing. It's lucky then that we have Rick Remender as writer, Wesley Craig on illustrations, Lee Loughridge as our colour artist, and Rus Wooton holding down the type face. These four powerhouses together are "The Deadly Class Creation Team" and each issue is an homage to the synergy brought about by their individual personalities.
The last issue of DEADLY CLASS came out late last year, and since then things have been relatively silent. Now with the reveal of Issue #32, the creators of DEADLY CLASS are finally ready to bring us readers into the fold. Titled, Love Like Blood, I was ecstatic to see a small blurb at the bottom of this issue claiming Issue #32 as Part 1 of 5! Yeah, that's right, a conjoined, preplanned, five issue story arc that's going to see a major shift in paradigm across DEADLY CLASS. I was, am, and will be excited to see what Remender, Craig, Loughridge, and Wooton will be bringing to the table in coming issues. Frankly speaking, you should be just as overjoyed and enamored cause this story has been a journey. To recap that story and the last couple of issues; people died. I mean, LOTS of people died. It's crazy just how many people died. Major characters, minor characters, characters we didn't even think COULD die; nobody was safe from the writer's decision to maim and murder everyone. All that death and murder might have been fine, but that was only first semester at Kings Dominion School of the Deadly Arts and the new semester is far more crazy than the last. Since those early murders, things have changed at Kings Dominion. Our new protagonists, Quan, Zenzele, Helmut, and Tosahwi are as diverse a bunch as can be found in any contemporary literature piece. Banding them together in a very racially charged 1980's is the fact that the Student Body Council wants to see them as dead as our old main characters. I'd argue that even this is not all together bad, but when our main girl Saya gets kidnapped by her brother Kenji, and Quan plays a pivotal role in the nabbing, is when shit really hits the fan. Which, of course, brings us up to Issue #32. Oh, and Marcus was alive. Oh, and he went and saved Maria. Oh, and they're still together and ran into our new main characters. Oh, and Quan is still a dirty rat for getting blackmailed by Kenji AND Viktor - of all people, VIKTOR! Are you kidding me? That guy is a TROGLODYTE!! - but I digress. In Issue #32, despite Viktor having the element of surprise, Marcus is able to successfully stab that bitch Brandy, and manages to get the drop on Viktor. Things proceed to get infinitely more complicated for Marcus when yakuza goons burst into the room, screaming his name and firing off guns. Given the sudden arrival of mutual enemies, Marcus, Viktor and Brandy ally themselves against the sudden yakuza attack. Meanwhile, Quan, Zenzele, Helmut, Tosahwi, Maria, and Petra are confronted by still more yakuza on the street. At this point the yakuza get cocky, which makes them stupid and horribly cliched, but exposes Quan's hand in helping them locate Marcus. At this point Maria takes the lead as a senior of Kings Dominion, and combines some very shoddy acting skills with her more masterful murdering skills to take down a bunch of yakuza thugs. Using this as a signal the younger students begin throwing down as well, but all members quickly realize that they are outnumbered and outgunned. While making a mad dash from the firefight, Zenzele, Petra, and Helmut are hit by bullets but manage to keep themselves upright and running. Still running point, Maria tasks the group with splitting up and then reconvening at a ranch ten miles north of town within an hour. The group divides into three sets of two - Tosahwi and Zenzele, Petra and Helmut, Quan and Maria - with each group employing different tactics to avoid, deter or attack their pursuers. While Zenzele deals with PTSD following the attack, Helmut is shot by the police, and Maria confronts Quan about his role in bringing Kuroki and Viktor down on her and Marcus. The rapid pace of these three plots spread across three pages rushes us back to Marcus' side of the story. Having cleared the room of living yakuza, Marcus and Viktor attempt to return to their dick measuring contest, but are stopped by Brandy who insists that they make an escape. Working together, the trio continue through the building murdering and maiming members of the yakuza as they go. Once they make it to street level outside, Marcus and Viktor agree to serve as distractions while Brandy searches for a doctor to keep her from bleeding out. Marcus and Viktor operate as a fearsome duo, and are able to kill their way through the yakuza hoard and escape on to some boats. The issue ends with the two of them engaging in a battle of fisticuffs that lovers of DEADLY CLASS will be talking about for weeks leading up to Issue #33. This issue cleared the air about several key plot points that have been eluding the protagonists across the last couple of issues. Marcus being alive, Saya captured by Kenji, and Quan being a dirty rat, were critical pieces of information that we as readers had been aware of for quite sometime now. With the main characters now in the know, Remender's writing ramps up the drama of the story. With Maria threatening to slag Quan, Helmut shot, Zenzele freaking out, Saya captured, and Marcus throwing down with Viktor, readers can already feel the tension mounting in anticipation of Issue #33. The writing, however, was not the most awe inspiring aspect of this issue. No, that particular emotion is reserved for Wesley Craig and Lee Loughridge who put together some jaw dropping illustrations. This issue is filled to overflowing with action sequences, weaponry, and blood in copious quantities. It's their unique synergy that allows even stand-still panels to seem as if they are in motion; this has the added benefit of heightening the tension of the story and really draws the eye around the whole page. Adding in the final touches was Rus Wooton, who takes a special care with Remender's words and gives them a life all their own. Every bold, italic, and even the positioning of the words serves a purpose in DEADLY CLASS, and really highlights Wooton's work for the series. These next four issues will see the rise or fall of Marcus - this time, maybe, for good - and our new heroes growth as they realize that Kings Dominion is far more cruel in its methods than they had first thought. I don't need to tell any readers of this series that we're going to be waiting right where the creators left us last time - on the edge of our seats. At least, that is until April 11th! Written By: ALAN "VIENNA" SINGH
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