PLEASE NOTE: The following a few spoilers from this series. You have been warned.
Television has joined movies with the many media adaptations of books of numerous genres. TV has turned popular graphic novels, YA, contemporary and classic books into a format worth watching. Game of Thrones has been successful for HBO, The Walking Dead and Preacher have been popular on AMC, and the CW has adapted many of the D.C. Comics into 1-hour episodes: Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, etc. The SyFy Network has done the same thing with The Magiciansand Nightflyers. Now, that channel has decided to adapt, Deadly Class, a graphic novel series by Rick Remender and Wes Craig.
2018’s San Diego Comic Con premiered the trailer for Deadly Class. Upon learning this news, I wasn’t at SDCC, I was both shocked and excited. I was excited to see one of my favorite graphic novel series make the transition to TV. Yet, Deadly Classis not a “positive” homage to the 1980s like Stranger Things. As both the title, and the cover of the graphic novel suggests, this is a dark and gritty story that takes place during the forgotten reality of America’s recent history.
Pop culture has people remembering the 1980s with Michael Jackson’s music, John Hughes’ movies, video and arcade games, and MTV. However, history points out that the 1980s had Americans dealing with the Drug War, the long-term effects of the end of the Vietnam War, the end of the Cold War, the rise of the AIDS Epidemic, Reaganomics, and the Reagan Administration. The last one is emphasized in this series as a cautionary tale of how funding cuts hurts more people than help them. Thus, we get the story for Deadly Class.
Marcus Lopez Arguello, played by Benjamin Wadsworth, is a homeless orphan who is suicidal. Traumatized by both his parents’ deaths and his foster care experience, Marcus holds his rage inside until it bursts into flames, literally. Afterwards, Marcus finds himself on the radar of both the police and the headmaster of an elite school. Obviously, Marcus chooses the latter and becomes a student at the Kings Dominion School of the Deadly Arts. There, Marcus must learn to survive his classes and his classmates. And, Marcus gets regular assignments such as reading The Anarchist Cookbookand killing people.
The Pilot of Deadly Class has been on the SyFy website for a few weeks, but it officially premiered on January 16th. Judging from the Pilot, the TV show is a direct and excellent adaptation of the series. The tone and the characters are aligned with the presentation found in both media formats. However, it needs to be said that both the graphic novel and the TV show presents the darker side of humanity through angry, but privileged adolescents. I read the first 4 volumes, back when they were released, which covers the first arc of the story, and the only “spoiler” I can give is: DON’T GET TOO ATTACHED TO THE CHARACTERS! Deadly Class is a story about students who are learning to become assassins. Not all assassins live to an “old” age, so what makes you believe all of the ones in training will survive to graduation?
The Russo Brothers are the producers of Deadly Class, and with the work they’ve done within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’m not worried about the adaptation faltering. In fact, I expect the characters to become more rounded than in the graphic novels. The casting met my expectations—Benedict Wong and Henry Rollins—and it looks like the first season will spend a lot of time exploring the backgrounds and the circumstances of all the characters, and how they grow into the roles placed on them. This TV show looks very promising, and I know I won’t be disappointed. So, if you’re looking for a TV show with a realistic storyline, with the violence of Game of Thronesand Romein a high school setting similar to The Magiciansand Battle Royale, then Deadly Classis for you!
I will be writing weekly reviews of each episode for the first season of Deadly Class, but I’ll only do video reviews for both the season premiere and the season finale. This way, I can give my feelings on both the shows’ growth and whether or not it remains faithful to the books. That being said, I’ll continue to re-read the first arc of Deadly Class, and I hope you enjoy the series as much as I do.
