If the X-Men all got together, hammered some cool beverages, “accidentally” stumbled into free rooms and bumped uglies, subsequently pumping out little Suicide Squad babies, you’d have an uglier rendition of Deadly Class (Book 1). And, as insane as that sounds, it really is kind of accurate.

This sprawling story focuses on an assortment of troubled teens who find themselves recruited into a private school (complete with an ancient cousin of Professor X), far off the radar. This school isn’t designed to help your reading, writing and arithmetic however, this is school is designed to turn rogues into highly skilled professional assassins.

It’s an insane concept to work with, and although the book borrows a few ideas from a few major titles, Rick Remender’s narrative is infectious, complex and unique enough to suck readers into the morbid vortex inhabited by youthful assassins. With each page that passes in this beautiful collection only becomes more curious, until the answers finally begin trickling in, and readers are left to assemble a few severely damaged lives.

At the heart of this top notch piece is a somewhat simple coming of age tale, and I love that about it. Don’t get me wrong, the violence and brutality of the book is gratifying, but the more personal elements are where the magic really lives. The love, the loss. The loyalty, the betrayal. These are things we’ve always dealt with in the real world, and they’re issues that make up a prominent slice of a teenager’s life.

Wes Craig’s artwork is excellent, often mixing up clean, precise images with frantic illustrations to further enhance Remender’s story. The two work well together, and the book is nothing short of absolutely magical.

Highly, highly recommended!

You can look into it right here.

Rating: 5/5