Marcus Arguello is an orphan who gets sent to a special
school, but he is no Harry Potter, and Kings Dominion
Atelier of the Deadly Arts is no Hogwarts. Set in 1987,
DEADLY CLASS VOLUME 1 has more in common with THE
BASKETBALL DIARIES by Jim Carroll and OH THE GLORY OF IT
ALL by Sean Wilsey than any book by J.K. Rowling. Marcus
has known tragedy in his young life before living on the
streets. Although wary, he resigns himself to being
thrown into life at Kings Dominion. Rick Remender tells a
tale of high school experiences but distorted when the
students are children of assorted criminals, and the
instructors are deadly and intent on providing their
students with an education in evil.
In this first installment, the main characters are
introduced, and the tone is set. Marcus' end goal is to
kill then president Ronald Reagan for the wrong he
believes he did his parents, but he tries to just get by
until he can carry those plans out. The reality of a
Kings Dominion student is casual murder before study hall
and failing an assignment can mean utter destruction. I
like how the author shows how killing affects each
student. Marcus is wildly regarded as a psychopath, but
he doesn't really see himself that way. Some students are
just stone-cold killers, but some appear to be products
of societal failures and trauma. A joyride to Vegas turns
into a drug-fueled and fatal trip. Everything is
magnified and twisted. Marcus has a crush on fellow
classmate Saya, but Maria looks to entangle him in her
web. Under normal circumstances, this would be a common
teenager conundrum, but these students are anything but
normal. I hope to see how these fragile and new
friendships evolve in future books, and who will survive.
DEADLY CLASS VOLUME 1 is disorienting, intriguing, and
full of deadly characters. Even though there is no "good
guy" in DEADLY CLASS VOLUME 1, there is one villain
reminiscent of a character from a Tarantino or Coen
brothers film -- bizarre, frightening, and used as a
grotesque punchline. I look forward to seeing how Rick
Remender develops this violent and chaotic world.
This new edition of RICK REMENDER and WES CRAIG’s DEADLY
CLASS, VOL. 1 features a media tie-in photo cover with
key imagery from the highly anticipated SYFY series—
coming in 2019 from Executive Producers the RUSSO
BROTHERS (Directors of Avengers: Infinity War)!!
Welcome to the most brutal high school on earth, where
the world’s top crime families send the next generation
of assassins to be trained. Murder is an art. Killing is
a craft. At Kings Dominion School for the Deadly Arts,
the dagger in your back isn’t always metaphorical.
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