Rick Remender’s popular Image series “Deadly Class” has finally made it to the silver screen, folks, and not without a huge production team behind it. This series boasts talents such as the Russo brothers of Avengers: Infinity War fame and is one of the few comic-to-television adaptations to have both the writer and artist of the original series on board. Yes, both Rick Remender and Wes Craig have had their hand in working on this adaptation, hopefully meaning it will be as close to the original comic vision as possible. But does the translation to TV work?
Spoilers loom ahead!
1. The mellow, introspective eighties soundtrack you always wanted.
The show starts with a lot of good things going for it – fun cinematography and set pieces, but what really made me smile was when the music kicked in. Deadly Class could have easily gone with the usual iconic pop pieces of the 1980s, and maybe get away with it too, but when Depeche Mode’s “Behind The Wheel” kicks in, we get something that feels truly appropriate to Marcus’ character – and I guess, Remender’s as an extension.
The show continues with the tasteful musical choices – namely, The Cure, New Order and more (no The Smiths, but I’m assuming that’s being saved for later, crucial moments). It feels ripped straight from Marcus’ mixtape, but they serve as more than just this. Songs like “Too Young To Die” by Agent Orange feel appropriate, almost like Marcus has been choreographed to run for his life from the cops he’s being chased by when the song comes on.
It does feel a little ham-fisted when Killing Joke’s song “Eighties” plays, with a chorus of “Eighties, I’m living in the eighties / Eighties, I have to push, I have to struggle”. Like, is it really that hard to figure out when this show is set?
2. Faithful to the source material – but maybe too faithful?
This review can probably be summed up in one statement: if you loved the comic, you’ll likely love the show. As expected from an adaptation supervised by the original creators, Deadly Class feels beat for beat similar to the original Image series. For starters, Marcus is still an idiot and fairly unlikeable for the most part. He has his usual redeeming qualities like baring his teeth at the status quo and daring to be even more rebellious in a school that might embody the term. However, he’s still swept up by the idea of romance with Saya and Maria and something of a social mercenary when fellow students offer him a chance to be cool.
Not everything that works for the comic necessarily translates well to television, however. As a writer, Rick Remender is notorious for injecting his scripts with hefty doses of brooding interior monologue. This works in a medium like comics where time is perceived solely by the reader. In the television realm, it feels unnecessary and bloating to the point like it’s trying too hard to make Marcus likable.
3. That animated Wes Craig scene though.
Props to director Lee Toland Krieger for letting artist Wes Craig take the wheels for a beautifully haunting and simple animated scene. We get shown the death of Marcus’ parents via a sequence that animates one of Craig’s comic sequences panel for panel and in a show that is already visually exciting, it feels very striking. The scene feels and looks appropriately bizarre considering that the story consists of Marcus’ parents being killed by a falling suicidal mental patient. Craig’s deceptively simplistic art style works at conveying this tone, and the deliberately weighty and slow pace of the scene amps this surreal nature another notch.
4. How to build up a villain in one episode.
I’m impressed with how this episode feels like a mini story arc within itself. The show establishes Mexican student Chico as a threat within the first third of the show. The creators give him the usual gravitas of the television school bully, but with a much more sinister personality and much more permanent threats. What I love is that we see almost nothing of him until his confrontation with Marcus later in the show, yet he still feels present within everyone’s dialogue. Marcus tries to dismiss him as all bark and no bite, yet his peers constantly remind him that Chico is a terrifying force of nature. It builds up significantly to the fight, which doesn’t get to run its full conclusion. It feels appropriate for a pilot episode, working to bring audiences back for more.
Continued belowThe subplot feels a little shafted in light of this, even considering the stakes. Marcus is told to literally assassinate someone for a school assignment and chooses someone who continually harassed him on the street. The confrontation is short and feels lackluster considering it was Marcus’ first kill in King’s Dominion. It’s still satisfying but doesn’t feel as organic as the Chico conflict.
5. Copious amounts of cheese ahead.
This is one point that I struggled with. Deadly Class embraces its setting and absurdity and dives headfirst into cheesy dialogue and heavy soap opera. Be prepared for Riverdale levels of dramatic with the Marcus/Maria/tentatively Saya, as it will be a constant lingering presence throughout the episode. On one hand, it does feel a little grating in these times, yet considering the setting it couldn’t be more appropriate. These are teenagers who attend a school that teaches them how to murder people better. In addition, our focal character is one who is a homeless orphan who feels like his own country couldn’t give a shit whether he lived or died. They have every right to camp up a scene, yet I still can’t help but cringe every time Marcus spouts a scripted one-liner or manages to steal yet another kiss.
That’s it for my five thoughts, but there’s so much here to dissect. Will the horrifying, burn-victim villain F***Face be done justice in future episodes? Can Marcus become less annoying? Can we please get more Wes Craig animated art?!? Let us know in the comments.
