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.