A review by rachel_cg
Deadly Class Deluxe Edition Volume 1: Noise Noise Noise by Rick Remender
3.0
I wanted so desperately to fall head-over-heels in love with this.
It sounded right up my alley: dark, gritty graphic novel set in the 1980s about a school of assassins. But somehow, it just didn't click with me. I think there are multiple reasons why, but first let's run through the good:
- the artwork is amaaazzziinnnggg
- abundant amounts of badassery
- no gorey detail is glossed over or censored - there is hard drugs, swearing, beheadings, bestiality, crucifixion, vast amounts of blood, and much more. some people could easily be put off by this, but i personally fucking loved it
- the gritty atmosphere and rich 1980s setting
- some really quality writing, especially in the introspective scenes
- the characters (for the most part) shine on the page and have a lot of charm, even if some of them are a bit underdeveloped
- MARIA MY QUEEN I LOVE HER SO MUCH, WHAT A BOSS ASS BITCH SHE IS THE BEST
but, for the most part deadly class left me a bit disappointed. I think i was expecting a very different story, and ultimately it didn't deliver.
the bad:
- the pacing is almost TOO fast, and as a result a lot of scenes seem underdeveloped. i wish a lot of relationships and characters were fleshed out a little more
- INSTALOVE. INSTALOVE EVERYWHERE
- saya is a lowkey manic pixie dreamgirl - i know pretty much zilch about her, and i know that shes supposed to be ~mysterious~ or whatever, but she just seems like every other generic badass female lead with no actual substance, designed to further marcus's character arc
- I was promised a revenge story - where the hell is it? ronald reagan isnt mentioned ONCE after the first volume. shouldn't that be marcus's fuel, his end goal which all things lead towards? but instead, marcus is too caught up in his fucking girl trouble to even think about his revenge, and the result is that marcus's character seems very wishy washy with no actual longterm motivation or goal.
- the actual assassin school is featured remarkably little. I've never seen marcus learn any real skills that will help him in the art of killing, and there is no evidence that his education is actually helping him one bit. i wanted him to develop from a street kid into a badass experienced assassin, but alas this book seems determined to rob me of things that i want.
- some details are mentioned and then completely ignored/forgotten in later scenes. for example, during volume 1 saya mentions that she was a bit of an asshole to marcus because her gang didn't approve of him and she needed to uphold her reputation. but after that, her gang is literally never brought up again. marcus and saya start hanging out with no issue. did her gang suddenly approve of marcus? who even IS her gang? what is her relationship with them, and what function to they play? does she even ever hang out with them?? it's stuff like this that I wish was clarified more, so the assassin school and its politics would become more fleshed out.
- am i seriously supposed to be convinced that these kids are 15?? because im not. at all.
despite all that, i WOULD recommend this book for anyone who wants a dark and gritty graphic novel with great art. however, don't go in looking for a story centred around assassins and revenge, because you're bond to be disappointed.
It sounded right up my alley: dark, gritty graphic novel set in the 1980s about a school of assassins. But somehow, it just didn't click with me. I think there are multiple reasons why, but first let's run through the good:
- the artwork is amaaazzziinnnggg
- abundant amounts of badassery
- no gorey detail is glossed over or censored - there is hard drugs, swearing, beheadings, bestiality, crucifixion, vast amounts of blood, and much more. some people could easily be put off by this, but i personally fucking loved it
- the gritty atmosphere and rich 1980s setting
- some really quality writing, especially in the introspective scenes
- the characters (for the most part) shine on the page and have a lot of charm, even if some of them are a bit underdeveloped
- MARIA MY QUEEN I LOVE HER SO MUCH, WHAT A BOSS ASS BITCH SHE IS THE BEST
Spoiler
WHY DO MY FAVOURITE CHARACTERS ALWAYS HAVE TO DIEbut, for the most part deadly class left me a bit disappointed. I think i was expecting a very different story, and ultimately it didn't deliver.
the bad:
- the pacing is almost TOO fast, and as a result a lot of scenes seem underdeveloped. i wish a lot of relationships and characters were fleshed out a little more
- INSTALOVE. INSTALOVE EVERYWHERE
- saya is a lowkey manic pixie dreamgirl - i know pretty much zilch about her, and i know that shes supposed to be ~mysterious~ or whatever, but she just seems like every other generic badass female lead with no actual substance, designed to further marcus's character arc
- I was promised a revenge story - where the hell is it? ronald reagan isnt mentioned ONCE after the first volume. shouldn't that be marcus's fuel, his end goal which all things lead towards? but instead, marcus is too caught up in his fucking girl trouble to even think about his revenge, and the result is that marcus's character seems very wishy washy with no actual longterm motivation or goal.
- the actual assassin school is featured remarkably little. I've never seen marcus learn any real skills that will help him in the art of killing, and there is no evidence that his education is actually helping him one bit. i wanted him to develop from a street kid into a badass experienced assassin, but alas this book seems determined to rob me of things that i want.
- some details are mentioned and then completely ignored/forgotten in later scenes. for example, during volume 1 saya mentions that she was a bit of an asshole to marcus because her gang didn't approve of him and she needed to uphold her reputation. but after that, her gang is literally never brought up again. marcus and saya start hanging out with no issue. did her gang suddenly approve of marcus? who even IS her gang? what is her relationship with them, and what function to they play? does she even ever hang out with them?? it's stuff like this that I wish was clarified more, so the assassin school and its politics would become more fleshed out.
- am i seriously supposed to be convinced that these kids are 15?? because im not. at all.
despite all that, i WOULD recommend this book for anyone who wants a dark and gritty graphic novel with great art. however, don't go in looking for a story centred around assassins and revenge, because you're bond to be disappointed.