Deadly Class to End After Next Story Arc

Deadly Class, the fan-favorite Image Comics series which spawned a short-lived TV adaptation for Syfy, will end after the next arc, according to series artist Wes Craig. The series, which returned earlier this year after a long hiatus, ended its last arc on a cliffhanger: after a lengthy time-jump, Marcus and Saya were reunited for the first time in what is, in-story, over a decade. It marks the first time that two of the most iconic characters in the book have shared the page in quite some time, and came at the end of the first Saya-centric issue in a while.

Craig announced via his newsletter that the “Save Your Generation” storyline, which will constitute volume 10 of the comic’s collected editions, will conclude in early September. After that, the final arc begins.

Deadly Class #48, out on September 8, “tells the story you’ve all been waiting for: what went down on that fateful day at Kings Dominion. What went according to Marcus’ plan, and what went horribly wrong,” explained Craig.

According to Craig, the final arc of the series will be called “A Fond Fairwell.” It will begin on November 24.

“In the previous arc we’ve been flashing forward in time to show you were our kids have gone in the strange future of the 21st century, and that’ll continue in this last arc,” Craig told his fan. “Beyond that I don’t want to spoil anything else because we’ve got so much super cool shit planned I just want you to enjoy the surprises, the stuff that’ll tear your heart out and the stuff that’ll make you sing and dance in the streets and kiss random strangers with your tongue. It’s sad to end the series but we’ve been planning on this for a loooong time. Some things got in the way, life stuff, work stuff and worldwide shit-storm pandemic stuff, but we’re back and we’re excited to wrap this all up, to give it the send off it deserves, and leave everyone who’s supported us all this time satisfied (but maybe wanting more, which is what every storyteller wants I think. We’ll see if we pull it off).”

The series was originally set in the ’80s and centered on a boarding school for budding assassins. Marcus, the series’ title character, was a homeless youth who had been wrongly accused of setting a deadly fire. It explored social and class divides within Kings Dominion that mirrored those in the real world, and offered some decidedly non-nostalgic commentary on the 1980s. A TV series based on the comic, starring Benjamin Wadsworth, Lana Condor, and Benedict Wong, ran for a single season on Syfy.