Deadly Class #49
Marcus and Saya get reacquainted in Deadly Class #49 by writer Rick Remender, artist Wes Craig, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Rus Wooton. Remender and company spin a web in this one that feels like it's leading to heartbreak, and it's terrific.
The issue starts with Saya's brother talking about the revenge he wants against his sister and goes to Marcus, helping Saya get clean. They go to a diner and talk things out when she's up to it, airing their grievances before going home for some passionate getting reacquainted. The ending… well, that would be telling, but it's fantastic.
Remender does a great job with this issue from the word go. The whole part with Saya's brother gives readers a massive clue to where the story will go. While it doesn't explicitly telegraph the ending, it sets the right tone for the rest of the issue. It's one of the reasons why the whole thing works so well. A good beginning can make or break a comic, and this is a perfect example of that. Remender could have started the issue somewhere else, like Marcus and Saya, and the ending would have the same impact. Still, the comic itself wouldn't have the same tone. The tone makes the whole thing work that much better.
The body of the comic is all about Saya and Marcus. They talk about love and life, and the whole thing gets a little cliche, with the stereotypical airing of the grievances and the name-calling. The entire thing ending with sex is also a cliche for this type of scene. What brings it above the level of been-there-done-that is the way Marcus regresses as he's talking to Saya. One of the things about the last few issues of Deadly Class is the apparent character growth of Marcus. It's a nice change, but this conversation sees him regress a bit. Going back to his childish know-it-all way of speaking, the pretentious nihilism that defined him as a teen. What makes that great is with his first love sitting in front of him for the first time in ages; he's a kid again but in the worst possible way. It shows how much he's changed and yet how much he's the same. The ending is the cherry on top of the whole thing.
Craig and Loughridge do a great job with the art. Minimalism is the name of the game with this issue's art. There's a lot of negative space, and it draws the eye to the panels and the action therein. There's not much background in the panels either. It's all about controlling where the reader's eye goes, and it works beautifully. The detail and character acting are on point, which makes that much better.
Deadly Class #49 starts the last story arc with a bang. This book has picked up a lot since the doldrums of the middle of the book. Remender does a fantastic job with this opening story, and Craig and Loughridge are on point. This is a great opening chapter.
