A review by ellist
Deadly Class Volume 5: Carousel by Rick Remender

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’ll probably get around to finishing the series eventually, but so far it’s shaping out to be a good comic that could’ve been made better if it wasn’t three ostensibly white men writing about the experiences of a variety of BIPOC characters. The various tokenizations are so pervasive as to seem purposeful, to say nothing about the strange sexualization of characters who we’re meant to understand as being in high school, the sanctimonious commentary on various punk and metal subcultures, and the cheap “cliche defying” trick used to subvert expectation for each character’s backstory. Woof.