Title: Kick Ass Creator(s):Mark Millar & John Romita, Jr. Publisher: Icon
Most superheros have a secret origin: a terrible injustice that was done to them by an evil doer; a super power they gain from a mutation, caused by an experiment gone wrong, or a freak accident; or a dire need for helping people. Dave Lizewski didn’t have any special secret origin, he was just bored.
“I always wondered why nobody did it before me…”
Inspired by his love of comic books super heroes, as well as the lack of real-life ones, in the first issue of the comic this self-proclaimed class nobody embarks on a mission to become a super hero. Deciding that you don’t need special powers to be a super hero – just a wetsuit and mask off EBay – the crime fighting begins with our yet to be named hero prowling roof tops and wearing his costume under his school clothes. At first this is enough to satisfy Dave, until he eventually blunders into an encounter with graffiti-ing thugs who stab and beat him, as well as a run in with the front end of a Mercedes, leaving him hospitalised and fighting for life.
Overcoming intensive rehabilitation and multiple surgeries under the guise of mugging related injuries – but unable to go back to a “normal” life – Dave resumes his crime fighting escapades in the second issue. He begins prowling the streets once again, this time becoming involved in an incident that gets recorded via mobile phone and posted to YouTube. Dave, not a popular kid at school and purely a geek at heart, thoroughly enjoys the overnight sensation that his now named alter ego – Kick-Ass – generates. He creates a MySpace account under the name Kick-Ass to talk to the people, and get requests for help. And so the tale of our less than average hero Kick-Ass begins. (There is a MySpace page set up for Kick-Ass, with the “actual” footage of him saving the guys life. www.myspace.com/kickass_comic)
Mark Millar introduces two new super heroes in the third issue, father and daughter duo Big Daddy and Hit Girl – who are the opposite of Kick-Ass. These two characters impart a no holds barred, take no prisoners stance – they are willing to kill for what they believe in. At this point, if not blindingly obvious earlier, it becomes clear that this is not a typical super hero story. The evil doer doesn’t get caught by the hero and left for the cops to deal with. Hit Girl and Big Daddy serve up their own brand of justice, and they serve it up steaming hot. Mark Millar occasionally drops comments into the narration that give reference to his political views, which adds substance to the vigilante feel of the Hit-Girl and Big Daddy characters.
Issue five introduces the fourth and final super hero character – Red Mist. This character presents a rival for Kick-Ass; he sparks intense feelings of outrage and jealousy in Dave. Red Mist is seemly one of many in a copy cat subculture spawned by Kick-Ass’ popularity in the media. It soon becomes apparent that Red Mist is exactly like Kick-Ass – he has no powers or training – so his addition adds a curious interest to the story, leaving the reader wanting to know where the author will go with it.
Kick-Ass is an original, 8 part mini-series that delivers a fresh perspective on the super hero genre, with a modern-day real-world edge. Not only does it deal with a super hero with no powers, it imparts a sense of cynicism about the hero stereotype. There are many cringe-inducing moments in the story, but there are also many moments leaving the reader thirsty for more. The use of profane language in the comic is not for the faint hearted, but it adds a reckless quality to the characters that is almost endearing. Dave is an easily likeable character; even though most of the time he thinks he’s a total bad-ass, at the end of the day he knows he’s just a comic book geek out for cheap thrills.
The movie Kick-Ass, starring Nicolas Cage, and new comers Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse is released in Australia early next year. It looks to be as action packed as the comic, but it is doubtable that it will convey the same amount of blood and guts or profanities as John Romita Jnr and Mark Millar depict on paper. Initial reviews about the movie are that if you like the comic book, then you’ll love the movie. Hopefully it doesn’t turn out be another of those movies where all the good bits are in the trailer.
After being injured in the line of duty, Rick Grimes awakens from a coma to find himself in an abandon hospital. He soon learned the reason why it is abandon. Zombies have taken over. Throughout the book, however, they are referred to as “roamers” and “biters”, but very rarely “zombies”. Leaving the hospital, Rick soon learns that civilization has changed drastically. After traveling for a bit, Rick is reunited with his wife, Laurie and son, Carl. He also meets the people they have been staying with. Food is scarce, staying in one place to long is dangerous and people aren’t always what they seem. Kirkman does a good job of keeping us on our toes and providing cliff hangers at the end of almost every chapter. As time goes on our characters run into more problems than just zombies; groups not so willing to share, people looking to take advantage, cannibals (yes, cannibals)and eventually fighting and not trusting each other. The last thing I will say is if you read this, don’t get too attached to a character, no matter how “main” they seem to be.
Tony Moore draws in black and white. This, I believe, works very well for this graphic novel. I think it fits with the atmosphere. Also, for black and white, the inking and shading provides a more dark mood. In issue 7 Tony Moore was replaced by Charlie Adlard. It is jarring how different these two artists are. The big difference is, characters are easier to tell apart.
The 11th trade, Fear the Hunters, which will collect issues 61-66 is set for release in Dec of 2009.
Radical Comics has announced that Sam Worthington (star of James Cameron’s Avatar) has signed on to do a film adaptation of The Last Days of American Crime. Sam Worthington will star and produce the film.
“I had met Sam’s producing partner, Michael Schwarz, at the recent San Diego Comic-Con, who loved the concept for The Last Days of American Crime” said Radical Publishing’s President and Publisher, Barry Levine. “I figured that since Sam had done three tentpole movies back-to-back with Terminator Salvation, Avatar and Clash of the Titans, that he would want the more character driven role of Kevin Cash, the sociopathic partner to Graham Bricke. Michael had set up a meeting between Sam, CAA agents Kimberly Hodgert and Jon Levin along with myself to discuss Last Days. During the two hour meeting, we hit it off and Sam had committed to both star and produce.”
The Last Days of American Crime is set in the future where the US Government plans to secretly broadcast a signal making it impossible for anyone to knowingly commit unlawful acts. Graham Bricke intends to steal a charging station to live off of unlimited funds but when media leaks the news about the signal, he decides to plan the last heist in American history.
The European Playstation Blog has an interview with Ben Templesmith about digital comics and particularly digital comics on the PSP. Ben Templesmith is the creator of Wormwood and will be the first of his titles to be on the PSP. He talks about his thoughts on comics going digital, “the new frontier”.
With Top Cow’s Pilot Season in the horizon (the event beings next month), the publisher has released Pilot Season: Declassified – a 32-page full color book that gives the readers a chance to take a sneak peek at their five upcoming properties. For those who might not know what Pilot Season is all about, the basic premise of the event is for the readers to vote on their favorite comic title (out of the given choices). The winner will have shot at getting its mini or ongoing series. For this year, fans of Robert Kirkman (best known for The Walking Dead and Marvel Zombies) and Marc Silvestri (Uncanny X-Men and Witchblade anyone?) will be thrilled to know that these two have joined forces and co-created the five new properties to choose from: Murderer, Demonic, Stealth, Stellar and Hardcore. Declassified focuses on these five titles and for only a buck, fans can pick it up and get a taste of what’s in store for them. Thanks to a Top Cow insider, GamingAngels.com and I were able to get an advanced copy of the book and see what it’s all about. Undecided if you should get a copy? Then read on.
As I sifted through the book, it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a preview book – a collection of concept sketches, a couple of full-colored pinups and samples of storyline scripts. Most the artworks are done by Silvestri and it’s pretty damn cool to see how much his drawing style has evolved since his days as a penciller for Uncanny X-Men. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t terrible – in fact, his style back then definitely fit the chaotic world of the Inferno storyline. However, his current style is much more defined and detailed – as evident in the sketches that are showcased in Declassified. I only wish that the book also gave sneak peeks to the two other titles from the bunch. It was disappointing but we’ll get to that soon. Still, as a long time fan of his, it was definitely a treat to gawk at them!
The book also gives the readers a chance to see Kirkman’s thought processes, and it’s pretty clear that he’s bubbling with ideas for this year’s Pilot Season – as evident in the e-mail exchanges between him and the creators. Reading the back and forth messages from the creative team will give the readers an insight on how to conceive and put together a story. Fans of this writer will also be delighted to see a personal letter from him which relates to his readers his passion for comics and his excitement over the new upcoming project. While he didn’t suggest it directly, his message is clear to those who are passionate about comic books and want to work in the industry: score an internship with the publisher and put yourself out there.
Now, according to the publisher’s official press release, “Pilot Season: Declassified is filled with top secret design sketches, documents, along with trailer pages from the five properties.” Sadly, I found that it mainly applies to Murderer, Demonic and Stealth though the first two titles were given the most attention. If I was to decide which property should win, it would be a choice between Murderer and Demonic but it’s only because the book basically dedicated most of the pages to them. What are these two about anyway? Murderer is about Jason Sparks, a young guy who’s cursed with the ability to hear the thoughts of everyone around him. But Professor X makes it look cool – why is this a curse? He can’t shut them out – at least not in the most conventional ways. The only way he can shut out the voices in his head and keep his sanity? Murder. Now what’s stopping him from being deemed as a serial killer? He’s using his curse for good. Demonic is about Scott Grave, a married man who just happens to have a demon in his head. The demon also happens to make him strong but there’s a price: Scott needs to kill for the demon in order to spare the lives of his wife and daughter.
As for Stellar and Hardcore, both are given brief descriptions in the beginning but pretty much ceased to exist after that. They didn’t even get a concept sketch or a preliminary script. Sadness. I would have loved to have seen at least the concept art for Stellar – a genetically enhanced super-human who’s been banished from Earth since she’s become toxic to humans. It’s a pretty ambitious concept, but I’m curious to see as to how Kirkman and Silvestri would have fleshed out her character and story.
The layout of the book towards the end also threw me off. After seeing some concept ideas and designs for Stealth (guy finds out his dad, who’s diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, is really a butt-kicking masked vigilante, and he’s forced to deal with his dad’s disease and his many enemies), I had expected to see tidbits onStellar and Hardcore to follow but instead, came upon concept ideas and artwork for Top Cow’s other ongoing titles. “Huh? I thought this book was about the new properties!” I literally had to go back a few pages just to make sure I didn’t skip a page. Newp. I guess it’s their way of pulling a ninja-like move and promoting what’s also available for readers out there. Plus hey, it also paved the way for the advertisements that filled up the rest of the five pages of the book. I get it. Gotta promote your other products too. Yet in my honest opinion (and in the risk of sounding bitter), those last few pages could have been dedicated to the other upcoming titles. But that’s just me.
So is this book worth your dollar? Yes if you’re a major fan of Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri as well as a loyal follower of Top Cow’s Pilot Season. There’s plenty enough info to pore over – at least with Murderer, Demonic and Stealth. And let’s not that you can also drool over Silvestri’s concept sketches (I know I did). Just keep in mind that it’s a preview book and it only highlights three out of the five upcoming new properties. For those who aren’t any of the above, save your dollar for an actual comic book.
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