A disillusioned teen finds purpose and fights for survival at an elite academy for the Deadly Arts.

The latest comic adaptation to come to the screen is here as the much beloved and praised Deadly Class has officially debuted on SyFy.

Based on the comic series by Rick Remender with art by both Lee Loughridge and Wes Craig and published by Image Comics, the series focuses on a school that teaches kids to be the next generation of assassins.

Set in the 80s, there’s a lot taken from tropes of the time and a soundtrack that’ll take you back the 30+ years. As it’s set in high school, there’s the usual cliques and lots of references to the socio-political situation of the time.

The pilot is a slick debut that belies the fact it’s on SyFy, a channel I don’t usually associate with quality. Great looking, solid direction, and some animation thrown in, the pilot is a debut that immerses you into the world introducing you to it as it introduces our initial main character Marcus, played by Benjamin Wadsworth.

And this show is very much about the characters. This is an ensemble show featuring Benedict Wong, Lana Condor, Henry Rollins, and so many more. And the show nails the characters. Their tone, their look, it all feels like the comic come to life. Deadly Class is one of the finest comic adaptations to have come out on multiple levels.

The show knows its strength in the material with Remender involved that’s not surprising. There’s a certain cool about it all, not that we haven’t seen parts of this story elsewhere. Still, this combination, this world, is something interesting and to see it live and breathe on the small screen is pretty impressive. Here’s hoping what follows the pilot keeps it up and can deliver on what this initial episode promises.

Overall Rating: 9.0