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“Kick-Ass” Only Lives Up To Half Its Name

Kick-Ass 1 cover
You gotta love the name Kick-Ass. John Romita Jr.’s cover and interior art definitely live up to the title. From the jump pain, brutality and general mayhem of all sorts take center stage in the comic. But Mark Millar’s story arc doesn’t really get traction.

The first issue focuses on a kid, main character Dave Lizewski, who dreams of becoming a super hero. He adds some yellow piping to a wet suit for a costume, sneaks out of the house while his Dad works the night shift and practices walking on ledges. Long story short, little Dave gets his ass handed to him by another group of kids (none of whom seem to feel the need to dress up like gimps) and then gets t-boned by a mini van. Which, when you take the wet suit out of the equation, sounds like a typical day at a suburban mall. But don’t worry. It’s only issue #1. Odds are the story will get Dave out of the full body cast. While the writing doesn’t exactly grab, it does have some dark, nasty promise. Marvel bills this as the “greatest super-hero comic of all-time.” Millar’s just going to need a few issues to live up to the marketing and prove this comic is about more than a kid who can take a punch.