Kick-Ass is a Marvel Icons comic by Mark Millar, John Romita Jr, and Klaus Janson. And it is absolutely fantastic. The first issue was released yesterday, February 27th, for the normal price of three bucks!
Three bucks! There is no reason not to have it.
IGN's Jesse Scheeden has this to say about Kick-Ass's debut:
Why hasn't anyone tried this before? Sure, plenty of writers have tried their hand at "realistic superheroes," but these stories still require a certain suspension of disbelief. No one has really sat down and imagined a world where ordinary teenagers choose to suit up in silly costumes and go fight crime. Not until Kick-Ass anyway.
There's not a whole lot you need to know to get into this series. The Youtube videos and viral marketing campaign are all gravy. Rather than create a world like ours, writer Mark Millar has literally set Kick-Ass in our world. Teenagers read Batman and X-Men comics. They play Halo 3 on their Xboxes. They idolize superheroes of all sorts, and when they get mugged walking down the street or shoved in a locker at school, they wonder why there aren't any real heroes protecting the streets. Kick-Ass follows the select few who choose to rectify the situation.
Issue #1 focuses on the first of what looks to be many costumed vigilantes. Dave Lizewski is, in many ways, the same stereotypical nerd seen in any number of stories. Many of his more defining traits, such as a penchant for stalking female classmates and an almost total emotional detachment from daily life, don't really serve to make him a more likable character. Still, it's very hard not to identify with anyone who actually takes the adolescent power fantasies of superhero comics one step further. You'll quickly find yourself rooting for Dave even if you don't necessarily like him, and even when Millar makes it perfectly clear this journey isn't going to go well for him. Millar makes abundant use of the freedom that comes from Marvel's Icon imprint. Characters curse abundantly, and the overall impression is that this universe is very far removed from the regular Marvel Universe.
Unfortunately, the book's visual tone isn't nearly realistic enough for what Millar is going for. I can't say I'm surprised either. One expects certain things from John Romita Jr.'s art, and stark realism isn't one of them. Naturally, Romita's skill with action and fight choreography really shine through. His slightly odd facial work is also heavily apparent. Overall, his style is just too flamboyant and flatly unrealistic for a book about realistic superheroes.
Generally, though, I'm loving Millar's newest creation. Given that he already appears to be hard at work on multiple sequels, I can't wait to see what future issues have in store.
Having picked it up early this morning, I must say I agree with pretty much everything in this review. It's a comic book featuring teen characters that feels pretty legitimate (as opposed to the Degrassi-esque sugar coating we see in stuff like Robin and Teen Titans), the main character is instantly easy to relate to, and while Scheeden feels otherwise, I think the art is absolutely spot-on. I can definitely see this series going interesting places, and I would implore any super hero fan to pick it up. It's fun, it's edgy, and, well, it has a blonde teenage weirdo getting electrocuted through his testicles.
Anyone else pick this gem up?
Also, I hope there wasn't already a thread. I searched, honest!
Posts
Anyhow, I enjoyed it, and I like the fact that...
IMAGE SPOILER
For example:
I was thinking of the Spider-Man discussion, but people still argue about the change to organic webs now.
If you had said "naked" this would sound a lot like Empowered.
Also, totally bought.
I play Metroid prime 3 on my Wii thank-you-very-much.
They said it coming out of Rise of the Silver Surfer
:whistle:
it's all right
wasn't really anything special, but not bad
No, Keith
It was special.
Is it any good, and does anyone have links?
Anyone else have any questions?
They're cell phone "vids" of Kick-Ass stopping some muggers.
There's a website mentioned in one of the comments, but I'm afraid that it's just a commenter being retarded.
Google says it's a retarded commenter thinking this shit is real, when it's tagged "comic book."
There's also a MySpace, but who cares about that.
It looks like they're really pushing for the real-world feel.
So it'd make you one of those dudes that calls Steven Tyler "Aerosmith".
His Youtube profile is Kick1988.
It's going to happen.
just Imagine, JRjr drawing an "O" Face
Even if it's not right after the origin, it'd be a nice idea for a later arc.
Steam / Origin & Wii U: Heatwave111 / FC: 4227-1965-3206 / Battle.net: Heatwave#11356
this.
Also,
although i suppose he has to get his balls shocked at some point.
Neverming *checks*
HA HA deadbeat santa got banninated!
Meanwhile, I just read this thing and... what, it's on Earth Prime or something?
I think I translated that correctly.