Class 6 is a LGBTQ superhero comic published by Kraven Comics, who provided me with free access to the first seven episodes of the series, in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
The Human Rights Army (HRA) is devoted to protecting vulnerable members of the LGBTQ+ community around the world from violence and persecution. To this end, they’ve recruited several members who possess special abilities, which these individuals use to help others and fight against the hatred and bigotry that has caused them to suffer. During their struggle, these heroes stumble across mind-blowing information about the secret history of Earth and realize that there’s a malicious force working behind the scenes to destroy all of humanity! Will the heroes of THE HRA, who’re all from different backgrounds and represent different facets of the the LGBTQ+ community, be able to come together and save humanity?
Review:
I feel like I should preface this review by saying that I don’t read a lot of western superhero comics. I like superheroes, and watch a lot of superhero movies and tv shows, but the number of superhero comics I have actually read is very limited. I’m mentioning this at the top, just in case my lack of experience with the genre has influenced my opinion, because I really didn’t like this comic.
I thought Class 6 had solid art; the character designs were attractive, and I thought the action scenes were exciting and generally well-drawn.
That’s probably the only kind thing I have to say about this series.
Everything about Class 6 is over-the-top to the point of absurdity, and not in a fun way.
The bad-guys aren’t just villainous, they’re so evil, they’ll blow up a plane full of scientists who’re transporting the formula for the cure for aids, just because they hate gay people that much.
Now, I’m not saying that there is a need to give characters with bigoted beliefs nuance – some villains can just be evil bastards who you can’t wait to see get punched in the face – but the antagonists in Class 6 are so cartoonish that, instead of feeling the weight of the violence that these people are inflicting, their dastardly schemes just feel ridiculous.
If Class 6 had been a dark-comedy, maybe this wouldn’t have been a problem, but this comic is sadly devoid of humor. Instead, it’s chalk full of dreary tragedy, convoluted lore and awkward dialogue.
The villains aren’t the only ones whose characterization is shallow. Each of the heroes of Class 6 have suffered as a result of homophobia and hate-crimes; these are people who I should feel deeply for, but I don’t care about any of them.
Each time a new character is introduced, the comic clumsily dives into their heartbreaking backstories, and the piling on of tragedy after tragedy ultimately robbed these stories of any impact they might have had. Instead of being well-developed characters with depth, the heroes of Class 6 are all bland avatars of trauma, none of whom have well-defined personalities and most of whom are interchangeable in any given situation, save for their different superpowers.
For example, Izaar is a being who’s lived for thousands of years and has overseen the entire course of human history (on earth, anyway). While I could tell you a bunch of stuff about her mess of a backstory, I can’t tell you anything about her as a person, aside from the fact that she has rad taste in headgear.
I feel a little bad about how negative I’m being about this comic, not just because it was nice of Kraven Comics to reach out to me to do a review, but because there is an earnest quality to Class 6. I think the creators sincerely care about representation and LGBTQ issues, but, despite this, I’m having a hard time thinking of anyone whom this would appeal to.
I don’t presume to speak for a group of which I am not a member, and maybe the idea of a group of superheroes fighting for LGBTQ rights could be comforting or cathartic for some people in the LBGTQ+ community, but I feel like the depictions of homophobic violence presented in this Class 6 would make it more upsetting then uplifting for a lot of people.
Perhaps, if you don’t really care about character-development, and are just interested in an action series with LGBTQ heroes punching bigots and reptilians, you could get some entertainment out of this series, but I’m afraid that I can’t recommend it.
Final Score: 4 out of 10
Content Warning: Contains depictions of Homophobia, Slurs, Hate-Crimes and Rape.
For more information on this comic, visit Kraven Comics website.
What do you think of this comic? If you’ve read it, please let me know your thoughts in the comments. I’d really like to hear what other people’s takes on this series are.
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Al's Manga Blog 
I hadn’t even heard of this before your review. But as a hat-lover myself, maybe I could be good friends with Izaar!
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Izaar’s hats were legit my favourite part of this comic 😉
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I’m also not apart of the LBGTQ+ community so maybe my comments aren’t that useful but I do find it simplistic sometimes when a chracters whole personality is there gender or sexual orientation. Beacuse you can replace them with something esle and the story doesn’t take a hit. I think if they are trying to empower that community then maybe make a person who has a bit more about them than just being trans for example. Or maybe go in deeper about their daily life/struggles being trans because that background will make them more endearing.
I’m not saying Black Panther or spider man into the spiderverse are perfect when showing an ethnic minority lead but as a black young male I liekd that their whole story wasn’t based on being black because for me it would seem like they were a token piece.
Also people need to do better with villians coz people like Thanos and killmonger show that even if you don’t agree with their actions, atleast they have a reaosnable justification behind their action
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It did feel like there wasn’t much to these characters, beyond their sexuality or gender identity. They really could have used some fleshing out.
I didn’t get into this series’ lore in my review, as it seemed like it would be getting too into spoiler territory, but the explanation of the main villains’ motivations, such as they are, gets wild! Not in a way that makes the story interesting, unfortunately, more in a “What did I just read?”, kind of way.
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Thanks for the review. Big ol’ capital B over here. Can confirm that while I love superheroes and LGBTQ+ Superheroes, I would not enjoy the set up described above.
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