Kick-Ass

[ssjtom]

I just got the first issue of this, and I thought the concept was pulled off really well,
Comic book fan turned super hero but made as close to real life as possible,
reading that issue reminded me of a lot of the fan boys I see around here, especially the arguments over comic book movies, but I can't wait to buy the next issue.

one weird thing I found though was that isn't it only up to like issue 4 and yet theres already a movie in the works.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1250777/

staring Nicolas Cage.

[brokenhill]

i'll have to check that out,cool.

[N.O.D.]

Haven't checked it out yet. I'd just read Wanted when Kick-Ass started, I thought Wanted was twaddle and wasn't really interested in anything else Millar was doing. I might pick up the first trade.

Nicolas Cage huh? Really don't know how that guy keeps getting work.

[brokenhill]

Nick is a comic guy at heart,Hell he even named him self after one.I like 'em

[ssjtom]

heh yeah cage has done some crap but conair was pretty decent, didn't mind 8MM either.

Yeah you guys should check it out,
I didn't make much of Wanted either but this just has a bit of an original spin and witt and its just a little something different I think.

[Crimson Spider]

one weird thing I found though was that isn't it only up to like issue 4 and yet theres already a movie in the works.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1250777/

I might be wrong, but I believe the movie deal was made before the first issue was even published, or closely after its release.

[ssjtom]

I might be wrong, but I believe the movie deal was made before the first issue was even published, or closely after its release.

I wonder if that was off the back of Wanted's success at the cinema,
I guess they figured if comic book movies are hot shit
and this guys last comic book adaption was a hit
they might as well get in there before anyone else does.

If the films anything like the comic it'll be fun, satirical, brutal and awesome,
if its anything like half of the other movies Nicolas cage has been in, it will be weak as ****

[DJ Kenobi]

This is really looking like a general discussion thread (there being no real review of the comic and most of the discussion is about the upcoming movie), so unless someone wants to write a good review about the comic, I may bump this over to the Break Room.

[NickRocks]

I love Kick-Ass with all my body (including my pee-pee) and ive only read issue 2, so ill review that issue.

The series is about what would happen if a normal teenaged boy decided to dress up like a superhero and "fight crime". hed get the shit kicked out of him. alot. and boy, does it happen in spades in this book. issue 1 ends with the boy getting beat so bad he spends half a year recovering. theres even an excellently handled part where the boy cries for 3 hours seeing all the bills hes left his single dad with. when its all done he says he quits, but before he knows it hes back "pounding the streets" as he calls it....right before he gets into the middle of a fight with puerto ricans and gets the crap beat out of him again...but this time he wins (sort of) and someone in the crowd tapes it on a cellphone and promises to put it on youtube.

Millar seems to be a big Frank Miller fan (but not as much as me :p) as his narration constantly reminds me of miller. The writing is enjoyable, but two things always are miss for me with millar's writing. One is that everything Millar writes has a very sarcastic overtone to it (or at least thats the way it comes off to me) and the second is that millar doesnt seem to be able to write dialogue for anyone who isnt white.

for instance, in issue 2, when our hero is fighting the puerto ricans, a black guy runs over to his friends who are hanging on the side of the street and yells "theres a guy dressed like a superhero fighting puerto ricans outside-its ****ing AWESOME!" when a more "realistic" (or maybe steryotypic? but thats an argument for another day) way to put it would be "theres a mother****er dressed like a superhero fighting puerto ricans outside-yo come check this shit out!" or something. it was the only time in the book i re-read the dialogue and felt it didnt work.

but the real star of this book IMO is John Romita Jr. His art is so visceral and bloody, this is the best stuff hes ever done! I wish Klaus janson was inking him though and not tom palmer, becasue where klaus kept everything nice and crisp, palmer seems unsure of how to handle romitas linework at times-the sketchy inks work for the fight scenes but not for the other scenes.

overall, this book is a blast to read....i just wish it was on a more dependable schedule. also i cant help but wonder what will be changed int he comic to fit the movies ending, since the comic hasnt even finished coming out yet.

7/10

[DJ Kenobi]

Thanks for the great review!

[AlexT17]

The book is INCREDIBLE!! The only thing I do not enjoy is the lateness of the book. It takes away from the overall essence of the story. Millar expressed so much about not having any money to produce the book and how comic stores had to advertise the book THEMSELVES. Although he has given credit to them, I don't think he should be late with the book. Millar has stated that he has pretty much finished writing it, I think that John is having a hard time drawing that and Spider-Man.

Issue 5 was great to say the least.

[Popninja]

...I think that John is having a hard time drawing that and Spider-Man.

I highly doubt that. JRJr. can do two books a month with no problem.

[Howling]

The storyline is actually progressing quite well in Kick-Ass. It certainly has lived up to its hype thus far with the protagonist's struggle to not only do the right thing in a very realistic and corrupt world, but to stay relevant in the process. Issue five was really great as it relates to surprises.

Will Mark Millar pursue a movie project involving this work as he did with his beloved Wanted?

[lost-spartan]

It's Millar, he sold the Kick-Ass movie rights before issue 2 even hit the stands.

[Howling]

Thank you very much for the heads up, Lost-Spartan. Well, comic to movie transition is the popular thing nowadays. I think Kick-Ass will do fine at the box office as long as it stays somewhat true to the source material.

[AlexT17]

I hope so. The movie was done on a budget of 40 million dollars. Kick-Ass' mask has a cut-out for his mouth. Judging by pics I've seen so far, it may do as poorly as The Spirit.

[Howling]

That's a pretty harsh, but possibly true statement, AlexT17. I think The Spirit suffered from its handling despite a pretty admirable cast, trailer, and presentation. I think with the fact you had Iron Man, the new Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight, and the hectic fandom of the Watchmen movie, The Spirit got lost in the shuffle, which happens. Most reviews, including a review from the Washington Post, seemed to indicate that The Spirit was a batman knock-off that knows it's a batman knock-off, all due respect to Will Eisner. Another thing is that it's a franchise that most casual movie-goers and casual comic fans have never heard of until now despite the fact Batman and the Spirit were around at the same time back in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Millar has been using the modern day tools of advertising such as myspace and facebook to push his product, so it might come out a little differently than The Spirit.

[gadgetwk]

i love this book. every issue has been great so far. in everything ive read, millar said the movie will be a lot truer to the comic than wanted. im really looking forward to it.

[Telekinetic Ketchup]

haha yeah the mouth cutout of Kickass's mask makes him look like some wierd Bondage pornstar. Comic is great though I'm loving it so far.

[NickRocks]

preview for issue 8

http://comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=4273&disp=table

for my dad and your balls...

[AlexT17]

I might be wrong, but I believe the movie deal was made before the first issue was even published, or closely after its release.

To touch on Millar and movie deals, his new series with Steve McNiven "Nemesis", had companies bidding for rights just based off of a teaser image. It shows that the Hollywood industry has seen that people like Millar are the perfect people to take from when it comes to comic book movie adaptations.

[Brandon Browning]

Well, for you guys who don't like nicholas cage I think you would be glad to know if you don't already that he isn't the lead or even a main focus as far as I have read. But I have to say I did see a scene where he shoots his daughter in the chest with a .45 and it was pretty kick ass.

[NickRocks]

anyine read #8? more millar "everyone talks like an asshole dialogue", more awesomely violent jrjr art meh-ly inked by palmer (why wasnt janson on this or scott hanna?) and a typical "to be continued" ending with the last page saying END OF BOOK 1.

[NickRocks]

oh and an interesting article about Millar's racism in comics (which i noticed before but thought it was just me)

http://www.letsbefriendsagain.com/2010/02/02/burning-them-two-at-a-time/

[NickRocks]

But I have to say I did see a scene where he shoots his daughter in the chest with a .45 and it was pretty kick ass.

i see what you did there :)

[Brandon Browning]

i see what you did there :)

It kinda came out, so I just left it.

[AlexT17]

I read #8 and thought it was a decent ending to a good story. I really didn't like the whole montage wrap-up. I've read online that the red villain at the end is Red-Mist, but the costume is different. Anyone know if it's actually Red Mist or someone new?

[Wolverine_nl]

So whatta you guys think of the movie? Have some of you already seen it?
I have, really fresh approach, i am not comparing it to the comics, just like it is onscreen.

[JPS017]

So whatta you guys think of the movie? Have some of you already seen it?
I have, really fresh approach, i am not comparing it to the comics, just like it is onscreen.

I just finished reading the book after having loved the movie.

It's obviously difficult to approach the book freshly after having seen the movie, as certain things are in your head already.

Firstly, I utterly loved the movie. Thought it was very funny, very slick and hugely entertaining. I already posted in the 'Break Room' my love (whoa, not that kind) for Hit-Girl and Moretz's performance.

The book was really enjoyable and was a very simple idea done quite well. The idea was so simple it is amazing it hadn't really been done before. (I remember once having an idea about a shit superhero (some lonely kid with no powers, but he only has one go at doing something)!).

The comic book is what I would think of as disposable fun. I enjoyed it very much first time around but I wouldn't feel the need to revisit it again in the future the way I do most books I read.

Whereas the movie will be one of my first ever Blue-Ray purchases.

Maybe I don't know enough about him (I read very little Marvel superhero stuff), but I don't quite get the Millar hate out there.

He also wrote my fav ever short story (Nightmare on Seasame Street IIRC, a short in 2000AD).