Deadly Class #43
A party becomes a slaughter in Deadly Class #43, by writer Rick Remender, artist Wes Craig, colorist Jordan Boyd, and letterer Rus Wooton. After the regular Deadly Class drama of the last issue, this issue takes an abrupt turn into something else entirely and, honestly, it’s hard to know what to think about that turn.
Marcus goes off into the woods to think, but he makes a rather startling discovery- Maria and Stefano having sex. He runs off and bumps into Helmut, dressed all in black and ready to kill him. More armed people start coming out of the woods, surrounding Maria and Stefano. Maria prepares to defend herself, but Stefano runs off. At the party, more people come out of the woods to Shabnam and Brandy. They tranq dart Brandy and the leader, Petra’s father, starts talking to Shabnam. Tosawhi and Zenzelle notice Marcus running from Helmut through the window and get ready to go after him, but cultists begin busting in and killing the partygoers. Saya, armed with her katana, starts fighting off cultists. In the woods, Helmut and Marcus fight. Petra’s father wants Shabnam’s help finding out who killed Petra. In the cabin, Saya gets ready to leave, telling everyone left alive that she isn’t taking responsibility for anyone else anymore… and then everything starts to go up in flames.
So, last issue was what could be referred to as a “classic issue of Deadly Class”- a lot of drama, some betrayal, some revelations about the characters, and all of it adding together to change things up. It was a very good issue. This one turns all of that on its ear. It starts out like it’s going to be more of the same kind of stuff from the last issue- Marcus’s monologue is all about not being able to trust anything, blah blah blah, the exact type of stuff readers would expect from him. He catches Maria and Stefano having sex. Again, typical. However, he stumbles into a circle surrounded by animal skulls on sticks and runs into Helmut, his hair black, face painted white, armed with axes, and surrounded by more animal skeletons. Things have just taken a left turn.
Helmut joining Petra’s father’s cult is a strange thing, seeing as how the last time readers saw him, he was killing them, but Helmut, being a Viking heavy metal fan, seems like the type to get into a cult that is down with killing. However, it makes more sense when Petra’s father reveals why the cult is attacking- he wants revenge on those who were involved in Petra’s death and so did Helmut. Then, it’s revealed how the cult knew where to go get revenge and things are back in the regular territory for this book. Still, the cult attacking is out of left field that it makes this feel like a different book for a while.
Wes Craig’s art is extremely inconsistent. The first page is filled with weak line work and this goes on throughout the issue. Not all of it is like this- there’s some great stuff in this book. Helmut’s reveal is awesome, for instance. Saya attacking looks great. The wide shots suffer a lot. Jordan Boyd’s coloring makes some things too dark, leeching detail. It’s a shame because the art used to be a highlight of this book.
Deadly Class #43 starts like any other issue and then veers wildly in another direction before coming back around to more usual Deadly Class territory. In some ways, Remender changing things up is pretty great, but then one realizes that even the change is just another twist that he would usually use and it robs it of a lot of its impact. Wes Craig’s art is the same as it has been for a while now- inconsistent. This is an interesting issue and it sets up things pretty well for the next issue, but it just feels so weird in places. It’s entertaining, though.
Grade: B
