Deadly Class, Volume 12: A Fond Farewell, Part Two

Deadly Class

by Rick Remender (Writer), Wes Craig (Artist), Jason Wordie (Artist)

There’s nothing more beautiful than a total retreat from reality with someone you love in a place where you can leave behind all the noise, greed, and hate for a quiet and simple life. But does such a place truly exist? And if it does, how could the rabid monsters not come to destroy it? A final lap around the track with the outcasts of Generation X as everything they ever predicted comes true.

Collects DEADLY CLASS #53-56

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Crime, Action

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 2022

About the author

Rick Remender is an American comic book writer and artist who resides in Los Angeles, California. He is the writer/co-creator of many independent comic books like Black Science, Deadly Class, LOW, Fear Agent and Seven to Eternity. Previously, he wrote The Punisher, Uncanny X-Force, Captain America and Uncanny Avengers for Marvel Comics.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 3 out of 5]

(B+) 77% | Good
Notes: Far too fast, no space to breathe, though killing bits are killer, a lot of coping, gripes and moping, mostly dreary filler.

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten years in the making the final volume of this stand-out series bookends the entire series as the final surviving members of the assassin school, mostly unknowingly, are under lethal threat of assassination by former class members! A final volume very much influenced by the writer Rick Remender selling and adapting the screenplay for this series to TV!

A somewhat fitting finale with a fitting look at the nature of so much media focusing on 'edgy' dark endings and eschewing 'good endings'. To find out what this series chose.. read it! A scrumptious mostly 1980s set series that came before Stranger Things and all the other 80s set media in the 21st century. Mos def one of the top 100 must-read graphic novel serials. This volume gets a somewhat sombre 8 out of 12, Four Stars.
[image error]
2023 read

[MrGlassWontBreak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helmut, now married and with kids, takes a job to assassinate Shabnam, but gets tricked and killed with poisonous gas by Brandy. Marcus, now a struggling published Sci-Fi writer, tries to support his wife, Maria, and her worsening health condition, while they’re both being watched by Shabnam and Brandy. Zenzel and Toshawi, while being hunted by Brandy, try to tip off some reporters to look into Brandy’s family and expose that she is the leader of a White Nationalist Terrorist organization, but the reporters remain reluctant.

Marcus’s book is now a success and is being made into a show, which lands him a deal with Honda. Years later, in 2020, the Pandemic hits, and Marcus and Maria are now parents with two kids, living on an island, hiding from COVID. We see Saya, now in charge of the Kuroki and mass-producing drugs. But she remains sad, resentful, and still taking Heroine. Her goons warn her that Shabnam and Brandy intend to kill Marcus and his entire family, but she orders them not to interfere, refusing to help. Instead, Shabnam shows up at her house, kills her partner Jayla, and her as well.

In 2023, Brandy is now the front-running candidate for president of the United States, and it’s all secretly being orchestrated by Shabnam, who treats Brandy like shit. After three years of living undercover and on the run with their kids, Marcus and Maria deal with the secret service and get into Shabnam and Brandy’s home, beat and tie them up, and force them to fight as they intend to spare only whoever survives. Brandy obviously kills Shabnam, but comes out to find on the news that reporters have found evidence of her connection to white nationalist terrorism, and the deaths of various individuals. Her home is immediately raided by cops who find Shabnam’s body and arrest her.

This final volume was a bit less satisfying compared to the last two, but still a very good ending overall. I like how things got very meta, as the story reflected the real world and the character of a comic book that was made into a show. Writes a book that gets made into a show. Very fitting ending to a series that has always been heavy on meta commentary. Great job, Remender. This is now one of my all-time favorite book series, and I strongly recommend it.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this a very on the point wrap up to this series..
Some later volumes had tended to wander off...but this seemed apt and told a fitting end.

[Phrique · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not crying, you’re crying. 😭 I’m not good with goodbyes but this was a perfect ending to a great story that definitely sucked me in. Happy/Sad/Fateful/Deep/Epic, very on brand the series as a whole. 🥲

[flovdra · Rating 4 out of 5]

tak dziwnie jest skonczyc te serie… to uniwersum jest ze mna od 2019 i przeciagalom czytanie tych komiksow tyle, ile sie dalo, ale w koncu dobieglo konca i… nie wiem, czuje dziwna nostalgie, ale tez spokoj.
,,deadly class” jest
- obrzydliwe - przez polowe serii marcus jest albo nagi, albo caly we krwi, albo pokryty jakimis oblesnymi ludzkimi plynami, albo wszystko naraz
- krwawe - i to o wiele bardziej, niz spodziewalibyscie sie nawet mimo slowa ,,deadly” w nazwie (fr praktycznie kazdy tu umiera i na palcach jednej reki mozna policzyc tych, ktorzy dotrwali do konca) (zalezy w sumie na palcach czyjej reki, bo polowa bohaterow albo nie ma rak w ogole, albo nie ma wiekszosci palcow)
- i dołujące - siedzenie w glowie marcusa to najgorsza i najlepsza rzecz, jaka kiedykolwiek mi sie przytrafila. also did i mention, ze kazdy tu umiera?
ale to tez kawal dobrej roboty, ktory mimo swoich wad wciagnal mnie jak cholera (jakim cudem z moim adhd przeczytalem DWANASCIE komiksow?? ja nawet nie lubie komiksow)
dziekuje za wkroczenie do mojego zycia, nie zapominam was
it was truly a fond farewell

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always bitter sweet to say goodbye to a series you enjoyed for years. 8 Years reading Deadly Class and we're at the end point.

Marcus is going through rough times. This time more focused on Marcus life being messy with his career and what he's doing with his novelist life. Things go crazy when he gets a movie deal. And this story becomes very META to relate to what Rick Remender (The writer) went through with his TV show on Deadly Class. I do feel at points it is a little too on the nose and takes away from the main plot but whenever it's not doing that, it's a great farewell to almost every character.

The story remains dark, with sad ending to give out in bundles to some characters, but still gives that sense of hope I believe all of us need especially after the last few years.

A 4 out of 5. Will reread these all when the deluxe editions finish releasing.

[Pruett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so impressed with what Rick Remender pulled off with the end of Deadly Class. The final villain being who they are makes too much sense when you look back on what the crassest parts of the first 9 volumes were, and you really feel the distant between the adult versions of the cast and what happened to them in high school.

This series isn’t in my immediate recommendation list, and I’m not putting it on the all-star shelf, but this was a consistently good story from start to finish, and our guys stuck the landing. That’s more than most can ask from longform storytelling, and when your tale can essentially be considered a single story across 1500 pages, that’s pretty impressive. 56 issues. Remender and Craig made ‘em count.

Comics! This story was a Class act.

Five stars.

[✼ Hollie ✼ · Rating 3 out of 5]

And with that, the series comes to a close.

These final few issues definitely gave solid closure to the series, for better or for worse, and it takes a certain level of art to show a character experiencing explosive food poisoning in the face of a child one second then having a philosophical discussion with their inner monologue about human consciousness the next. Truly, the duality of life.

The structure of this volume has me demoting its rating, however. The timeline was constantly jumping around, with this volume alone spanning almost 20 years, and it just felt rushed in a way. Clearly the end was nearing, and this volume seemed to just wanna get there already.

[Christopher Funk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending to a wonderful series. Master class in punk depression and self-contemplation. It stays self absorbed and kind campy for most of it, so you expect the worst ending. Cause why wouldnt you? But then it surprises you, and ends on such a lovely note. Truly beautiful. Thanks creators, I needed this.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how this series ended. It was both poignant and satisfying. Brandy Lynn and Shabnam sure got what they had coming. The flash backward was surprisingly bittersweet and emotional. Most of those kid characters are dead now.

[isabela ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

''All stories end sadly if you follow them long enough. The difference between an up ending and a down one is where you stop.
Why not just stop someplace nice?''

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I own this book.

Deadly Class was one of the first comic series I ever read, and this ending was just perfect.

We follow Marcus and Maria living the slow life, finally. They're away from greed, murder, drama, and theatrics. Marcus is a novelist who gets a movie deal. He becomes distant from his lanky, strung out drug-ridden former self and becomes a stressed-out creative who seems so far removed from his assassin background. However, he doesn't stay removed for long. We get loose ends tied up. Happy endings. Sad endings. Everything in between. This volume was so bittersweet and I really think it was the perfect wrapping up to the series.

[Sevki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nearly perfect finale for a nearly perfect series.

All loose ends were connected, all stories came together. Progression and story telling were also much better than Vol.10, which was the start of these continous time jumps.

The two parts I did not like are:

* Helmut's death: This was a little abrupt, and I wish his peers were somehow included, or at least they paid some tribute to him in a small panel.

* Saya's death: In Vol.11 we clearly saw her choice, but not caring about potential deaths of Marcus, Maria, and their kids? Come on Remender, she is/was not that much of a bitch... I think this was a motive for the readers to feel that her death was deserved.
Still, a cruel way for her to go. Shabnam again?! She should have at least cut him a little you know, he already caused her to lose an arm in the past!
The content of her letter to Marcus from Vol.11 was not revealed either, shame.

Overall I loved the conclusion, and the reference drawings on each related "year" were again so cool as in Vol.s 10&11.

Thank you, Deadly Class Team, for the great story, art, and colorings.

[Jimbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last four issues bound of the incredible Deadly Class by Rick Remender and Wes Craig with Lee Loughridge.

The art, the stories, the pathos, the death, the love, the hate, the insanity wrap up in an ending that is as close to what Marcus talks about within the story as to what happens in the story itself.

Brilliantly done (as always).

I totally wish that the TV series had continued, but most people would have been lost watching it. There is a timeliness from the 80's through today that would probably not translate well on the small screen, but I loved the books and I really enjoyed the show.

Kudos to the creators and I wish them much success in the future.

[Laïni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. It hits right in the feelings to finish this serie.

I fell in love with the characters, got fed up with some of their decisions, and was shocked by the time we got to the end. I want to know more about their stories, but as the ending said you only get what you get and that's it. And it's okay.


Thank you to the team involved in the project. I hope you will all get your happy endings, that your future projects will be successful, and that you don't forget some of the life lessons you shared with us in "Deadly Class".

[Aleksandra Rafailović · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be quite frank, the last several volumes were kind of weakish, as characters were no longer being developed, and the storyline was a bit dragged out.
But overall, I cannot give it less than 4/5 due to entire story.

Thank you, Rick Remender, I enjoyed the ride! 🖤

[deah · Rating 5 out of 5]

when this series started, I was in my last year of high school. I have carried these characters around with me for 8 years now. saya's ending completely gutted me. the final panel and Willie's last words were so beautiful.

[OmniBen · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review for the library edition collecting this volume, score for this volume) 2.75/5
So there you have it. Another very good series done and dusted. One less title in the 'to be read' pile. One less very good series I haven't read, has now been read. And how was it? It was alright.
Volume three wasn't as good as one or two. Volume four is probably better than three, but still nowhere near as good as volume one and two. It was all going along rather smoothly until we hit the final couple of issues, and Mr. Remender felt the need to shift from dishing out his dime store philosophy (mostly about music and underground culture in the previous millennium) and give us a steaming big helping of all the shit nobody wants in their comics in 2023. Granted, the internal monologue (whining) of the major character, which certainly seems to be Remender's self-insert did grate a little at times, though was mostly harmless when eschewing on what was punk and what wasn't. It sticks out like a sore thumb when all of a sudden it's no longer the 1980's and it's climate change and covid. A sore thumb that was dusted with cayenne pepper and shoved where the sun don't shine.
Seriously, it was all going so well, and then within a couple of pages and a few dialogue boxes, it all went south very, very quickly. That, and the final resolution seemed rushed, unearned and unappealing. I won't spoil it obviously, but nothing in the last two issues, save a few pages here or there, in anyway did justice to the greatness, or at least the very goodness that came before it. And the meta commentary on changing the ending was so obvious (probably intentionally so), but did little if anything to wash the taste of bland and disappointment from my mouth. It really was going pretty darn well up until this point.
So did the ending break the series? Well... no, not really. It certainly tarnished it a bit, however. The flat and frustrating conclusion aside, this was still a very good series. Wes Craig's artwork throughout was mostly stellar, with some of the best modern colouration I've seen in a comic book this millennium. If Remender could have reigned in his distemper for the modern world long enough to end the book without any histrionics, it certainly wouldn't sting quite as much as it does right now. Oh well... So close. 2.75/5


OmniBen.

[Jen-Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

This had some great moments fitting for a finale of a series. However, something just fell flat and I'm feeling a bit 'meh' about it.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This definitely felt very heavy handed in being about finishing the series with Marcus and his book but they’re allowed cuz they’ve been writing this for so long. Can’t believe it’s over

[Davy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a long strange trip it’s been. Deadly Class will go down as one of my favorite series I have ever read. Truly SPECTACULAR!

[wiktoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

24/12/2023
5/5 ✨

nie wiem co powiedzieć... ale co jak co dobrze się skończyło (pov będę zbierać się tydzień, teraz tym bardziej boli, że serial ma jeden sezon...)

[Marmoladka · Rating 5 out of 5]

[09.06.2024]
Ale to było mocne kocham to piękne zakończenie

[devyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

this ended badly but i liked seeing all the old characters again

[nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

będzie mi strasznie brakowało tej serii, ale najważniejsze jest to, że ktoś w końcu zemścił się na brandy i shabnamie.

moja ocena: 3.5/5

[brand · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t initially see much to this series. The first two volumes felt like an edgier take on Harry Potter tropes, right down to racial stereotypes and the hidden school setting. As it went on, it became apparent that this series wouldn’t end in the same manner.

Almost every character is unlikeable. Each one is a hormonal, apathetic teenager for the most part whose alliances waver every issue. Being at a school for assassins, this is understandable, even more so when you realize how many of them come from difficult backgrounds and circumstances. And that’s really what the series is about.

‘Children are the are time machines that we send into a future we’ll never see.’

Marcus, one of the protagonists, and among the most unlikeable characters in the series, is still largely compelling because you completely understand his motivations. He wears his emotions on his sleeves, and admits that he is the product of a fucked-up system and traumatic accident. He lashes out constantly, and is very much his own worst enemy. You hope that he’ll change, that he can change, and these sentiments are true for almost every student at the school.

The series final act is very reminiscent of HBO’s Barry, wherein a time skip occurs and we find our characters four, ten, even 36 years into the future, some still bound to the events of their past, some trying to move past it. In fact, I’d be surprised if one didn’t inspire the other in some way. For the ones who have put their past behind them, it’s easy to see how much they’ve grown, and you can really see the distance between their current selves and their adolescence. And for the ones that haven’t, it’s tragic to see how they’ve succumbed to their circumstances. The ending is satisfying, although it feels as though a couple scenes are missing. This is an issue that more-or-less plagues the entirety of the series, but though it’s noticeable, it’s never too distracting. The short epilogue flash-back is bittersweet, and can be interpreted in quite a few different ways, and is probably among the best scenes the series has to offer.

It should go without saying that the art is fantastic, with elements of minimalism yet being quite graphic and visceral when the situation calls for it. The coloring is also fantastic, especially during the drug-induced sequences.

I can’t recommend this series to everybody. Not everyone will enjoy such a pessimistic view of life in the 1980s and beyond, with a story full of assholes and unjust endings. It has a slow, cliched start, and in some ways, it doesn’t grow out of it. But I can’t deny how enthralled I was by this series and its characters.

90/100

[Alex E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I certainly wasn't expecting that kind of ending...

It's always weird to put down a series that you have followed for literally years. And while that amount of time (I think this series has been going on for 7 or 8 years) is usually too much for a series to manage, it actually kind of worked out in it's favor for this title.

Because to start off with, the kids, and specifically Marcus, are pretty much young punks. Literally in some of their cases. They're full of teenage angst, anger, rebelliousness, spite, etc... that is perfect for a school of assassins to harness and train. But as they go through life as they know it, slowly - but surely, they begin to change. And what is great about Rick Remender's writing is that a lot of what he writes is a reflection of his inner thoughts/feelings. So you see how Rick takes this title from one of the most nihilistic and cynical titles, to something that is a reflection on life, choices, victories, and defeats. Remender even fast forwards through time in the last volumes so we get that full effect of an older person looking back and reflecting. Entertwined with real life events and speaking about feelings and times we all experienced recently, it hit home in a very cathartic way.

I was shocked at the ending. Specifically, that it's a happy ending. Maria and Marcus are in love, have kids that they look after, and are free of their more villainous traits. And the second ending, with a flashback to when they were young, and Remender showing us a glimpse of the more vulnerable side to Marcus, was also really nice. It shows that deep down, Marcus always was inherently about love. But boy did he have alot of darkness on top of that. Of course, not all of the characters have a happy ending. Saya meets her inevitable demise unfortunately after turning down Marcus in a previous volume. She ends up swallowed by the very life she hated, but couldn't escape. The saddest for me was Helmut's death. He was my favorite, and he met a brutal end with karma catching up to him.

Remender is one of my favorite modern day writers and this series really is a testament to that. And I would be remiss to not mention Wes Craig, who's visuals fit the tone of the book so perfectly from the very first page. He is a huge part of why this book works well, and his name is now something that I look for in other comics - hoping he gets assigned to another good book.

This is a great read, I recommend it for anyone who had that rebellious spirit when young, then in their mid life, look back and contemplate.

[JCRD]

Esta relectura de la serie completa me hace ver que efectivamente Clase Letal se parte en dos después del séptimo tomo. A partir de ahí es cuando la serie empieza a dar más vueltas sin un rumbo claro y donde se nota a Remender especialmente perdido, pero creo que en los últimos compases ha sabido encontrarse a sí mismo. Suelta muchísima bilis a SYFY y Hollywood por lo que hicieron con la (buenísima) adaptación de esto, todo ello merecido aunque a costa de alejarse totalmente de lo que la serie fue en un principio.

Los saltos temporales han acabado gustándome más que en su momento pese a que se nota que parte de la historia ocurre fuera de cámara, pero lo que más he disfrutado sin duda es el número final. Hasta ahí todo es un camino muy agridulce, como siempre ha sido este cómic, pero he notado a Remender más cínico aún por cómo se ha ido quitando de en medio a más y más personajes con el devenir de la historia. Por suerte ha sabido echar el freno justo a tiempo y, convirtiendo el subtexto en texto, deja claro por qué el final es como es. No es lo que había pensado en un principio ni mucho menos, pero mentiría si dijera que no se me han humedecido los ojos con las últimas páginas.

Qué decir de Wes Craig y Lee Loughridge. Han estado al pie del cañón, dando el do de pecho hasta cuando flojeaba el guión. Que no hayan ganado un Eisner por este trabajo es increíble.

En fin. Clase Letal pese a sus tropiezos en su segunda mitad se ha consagrado como uno de mis cómics favoritos, uno al que volveré una y otra vez con el paso de los años y redescubriendo nuevas lecturas e impresiones a medida que crezca como persona.

Gracias a Rick Remender, Wes Craig, Lee Loughridge y Jordan Boyd. Chapó.

[Tyson Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

The team behind Deadly Class accomplished something that is very difficult; they provided a satisfying conclusion to a series. The twelfth and final volume of Deadly Class ends the series in a rewarding way to the long time readers. Not every character gets a happy ending, but I think that makes the story feel more authentic. I can also appreciate how the writers used current events to influence the last saga of the story.

The surviving members of the academy are being hunted by the last surviving members of the student council. Some people just can't get over high school grudges. The survivors are just trying to live adult lives, but their past keep on haunting them.

I was sadded by Saya's ending, but it was unlikely she was going to have a happy ending. Saya made a choice when she left Marcus after killing her brother. I think she was scared of living an ordinary life and went to the only life she knew. I am glad that Marcus and Maria finally got Brandy and Shabnam. Although part of me wonders why Brandy and Shabnam went after the survivors. Was it revenge or were they scared?Those two had it coming for a long time. I like how Marcus and Maria ended up having a happy ending.

Overall I enjoyed reading Deadly Class over the years. The plot, characters, and art were great, unique, and refreshing. I think people who like crime stories would enjoy the series. Lastly I would highly recommend both the Deadly Class series and Volume 12: A Fond Farewell, part two. A fond farewell is a suiting title for this volume.