Hit-Girl #1-5

The latest outing in Mark Millar and John Romita Junior's "Kick Ass" franchise is a spin-off series starring the breakout character Hit-Girl. Although originally announced with Leandro Fernandez as the artist, the series was eventually laid out by the "Kick Ass" co-creator John Romita Junior, with Tom Palmer providing the inks and the finished art.

Chronologically, "Hit-Girl" takes place between the first and the second mini-series of the parent title, and serves to further delineate the motivation between the key players, most notably Mindy, the 12 year old assassin. As the story starts, she has moved in with her mother and the police officer foster father, trying to balance the life of an ordinary school girl with her nighttime activities as a vigilante serial killer.

It goes without saying that the book is completely over the top. Hit-Girl's bizarre attempts at fitting in the school's social structure are played as a parody, with the child assassin showing her classmates the same ruthlessness that she dishes out in her superhero escapades. Unfortunately, Romita junior's depictions of children leaves a lot to be desired, as most of Mindy's peers are rendered in a way that bears only cursory resemblance to actual human anatomy. The artist has spent his whole career in the superhero industry, and naturally feels much more assured when tackling the scenes dealing with out of school activity, which thankfully make up most of the book.

Besides the main narrative detailing Hit-Girl's troubles with the secret identity, Millar weaves several subplots, with the girl's relationship with Kick Ass being perhaps the most interesting. Using the knowledge thought to her by her late father, the hyper competent protagonist spends the first half of the book drugging her parents and going out to train the five years older Dave, who also doubles as a sympathetic school friend. This kind of a reversal from the traditional superhero/sidekick dynamic is relatively fresh for the medium, and certainly in keeping with the book's general tone, but once Kick Ass suffers a minor injury, the character's arc more or less ends.

Millar uses the remaining space to spotlight more of the villainous Red Mist's origin, which is entertaining, despite being largely divorced from the main plot. The fact that Dave's nemesis doesn't get to play the antagonist here presents a major problem, as the criminals opposing Mindy never outgrow their roles as one-dimensional foils. Red Mist's scenes ultimately serve to further explain his motivation and set up his actions in the second series, while also reminding the reader of his role in "Kick Ass 3".

Thus, the role of a direct foil ends up belonging to Marcus, Mindy's foster parent, who presents an honest policeman in a crooked squad. He is aware of his daughter's vigilante past, but actively discourages her nighttime activities, citing her mother's fragile health. By calling back to Spider-Man's original motivation for hiding his secret identity, Millar is simply using the genre tropes to support his story, and ultimately ends up fully utilizing the set-up in the book's action packed conclusion.

The gangsters Hit-Girl dispatches left and right end up threatening her family, by way of blaming her foster father for refusing to actively side with the Genovese family and their associates. The plot contrivance, coupled with smart scripting leads to a conclusion that epitomizes Mindy's abilities, but also leaves her largely unchanged for the beginning of the second "Kick Ass" miniseries, which it precedes chronologically.

This is another, and perhaps the most profound of the book's weaknesses. Despite seeding the debuts of some of the minor superheroes and providing the details regarding Mindy's secret identity and her family dynamic, the book is largely static. "Hit-Girl" serves to provide fans with more of the breakout character, but is largely superfluous to the main plot, while being completely anti-climatic. Having read "Kick Ass 2", the reader is aware of the ultimate outcome of the characters and their struggle, robbing the book of the shock factor that has provided so much of its appeal.

Millar and Romita junior could have utilized the spin-off to subversively introduce a major element, such as a romantic subplot between two teens (which would have been shocking considering the age difference), but they seem satisfied with providing another look at the ruthless world of the Kick Ass. The reader is offered a slight plot, filtered through the eyes of a side character, but at least in that respect the book is a success.

Mindy will never be as shocking as she was when she debuted in the original "Kick Ass" mini-series (as well as the movie adaptation), but she is still reasonably entertaining and, more importantly, works as a lead character in her own book. The creators' mandate seems to have been to present a well paced book with high production values, in order to keep the attention on the property while the second movie is being produced. Despite sacrificing some of the original's notoriety, "Hit-Girl" likewise works as a lighthearted tie-in, published in anticipation of the creative team's supposed final work on the subject, the "Kick Ass 3" mini-series.

Kick ass 2 #1-7

Debuting in 2010, "Kick ass 2" was envisioned to continue the plot and themes introduced in the original and serves largely to keep interest in the property until the premiere of the proposed second movie adaptation. As such, despite the trademark over the top violence and the continued characterization, the derivative nature of the work turns out to be crucial. To put it simply, Mark Millar and John Romita junior's "Kick Ass 2" is an exercise in maintaining the franchise and strengthening the brand and feels significantly less provocative as a result.

This is most notable in the closing credits, that slyly re-brand the seven issue package as "book three", to make way for a tie-in. The writer has already announced the plan to release a "Hit-Girl" mini-series in order to bridge the two existing "Kick ass" volumes, with the co-creator Romita junior replaced on the art by Leandro Fernandez. Millar is obviously feeding the market he so methodically created, but at this point it's questionable how it will impact on the property. What's at stake is not only a case of a contrived spin-off diluting the brand integrity, but also if the derivative works challenge the very concept of subjective reality he has created, in effect turning "Kick ass" into yet another fictional superhero universe. This is not only visible in terms of keeping up with the inter title continuity, but in the fact that with "Kick ass 2", the project is starting to play by the rules of Marvel and DC superhero universes.

By the middle of the second series, Millar has already tied up the loose ends from the original's lukewarm epilogue and the effects are very telling. Its laudable that the co-creators put the new story front and center and utilize unwanted carry overs to make up for the protagonist's motivation when it comes to his present predicament. Yet, in the process the writer makes a fundamental choice to drown out the human element. Thus, two of the original's principal non-superhero characters are savagely punished for their connection to Dave, while his school friends quickly join in and become superheroes themselves.

As for the theme that puts all of this into perspective, Millar and Romita jr. choose the growing superhero movement. Again, this puts the book one step away from the reality. The original series' basic premise dealt with the consequences of a troubled teenager's decision to follow his comic book idols and become a neighborhood superhero. Even then, the creators proceeded to put his decision in perspective by introducing imitators, which makes the follow-up's superhero explosion somewhat easier to understand. Yet, seeing that there are no organized superhuman communities in the real world, the second "Kick ass" book basically consists of the writer's extrapolations of the continued criminological and socio-legal ramifications of the first series' events in a way that feels much more akin to something like Marvel's MAX line's micro continuity.

By the very nature of the project Millar poses a comparison to the genre milestone "Watchmen", and with "Kick ass 2" the connection is much more explicit. The long time industry gold standard, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons graphic novel's main premise is built upon the idea of superheroes in the real world. The level of craft and invention involved with the 25 year old finite series is still remarked upon, thus Millar is being very confident when he directly quotes it, featuring a break in into a superhero's home and the subsequent brutal slaying the veteran crime fighter. With the recent news of company-owned follow ups to Moore's venerable work and the creator's subsequent vehement protestation, its telling that the "Kick ass" creative team seem much more comfortable in exploiting the spin-off potential.

Of course, Millar and Romita junior's story involving their creator owned is a much happier one, with the creators taking a direct role in the movie tie-in, yet their mind set still reflects on "Kick ass 2" as a separate creative entity. With the participation of inker and finisher Tom ("The Avengers") Palmer and colorist Dean white, the production values involved with the severely delayed series seem particularly high, which could easily lead a fan of the series in thinking that he's being presented a credible effort that improves on the original and continues the story. The bold and confident look of the lushly painted pages certainly eases the reader into trusting Millar to tell at least a diverting piece of entertainment, but "Kick ass 2" could hardly be called a satisfying reading experience.

For one, the writer never truly brings life to the new characters, as the new additions, particularly Captain Gravity, feel one dimensional and gimmicky, even when compared to what amounts for Kick Ass and Hit-Girl's shaky characterizations. There is some plausibility in the idea of the makeshift local superteam basically adopting the monikers of the well established traditional comic book brethren, but even then, the writer never goes too far with the idea. The reason is a relatively sudden mid-story shift for greater emphasis on the title character, which sidesteps his Justice Forever cohorts until the big finale, which is again teased in the opening sequence.

John Romita junior lends some credibility to the derivative designs so that Kick Ass' new friends at least maintain a semblance of individuality, yet undoubtedly the best part of the book remains in the burgeoning relationship between Kick Ass and Hit-Girl. It's obvious that Millar has already recognized her as making up for most of the project's commercial potential, thus limiting her appearance to the role of a supporting character for most of the second series, before she returns to have a larger role in the final issue. Having such an overblown and unlikely character even survive the first series already strains credibility, with the creators already treating her as a scene stealer feels oddly calculating and somewhat detrimental.

For narrative purposes, her continued role in the book continually undermines the main character, even if it gives some the heart to the work. The relationship between the two co-leads thus remains the closest thing to genuine emotion in the series and will probably result in the controversial love affair between barely adult Dave and Mindy just entering her teens. Likewise, the conclusion, echoing Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" routinely assigns her a crucial role in the not yet formally announced "Kick ass 3" that is set to debut sometime after the conclusion of her owns series.

Likewise, Millar succeeds in wringing some sympathy out of the dynamic between Dave and his father, which can't really be said for his infatuation with Katie, the love interest of the previous series, who would have been better off if she was completely left out of the follow-up. They are included seemingly only to bring some gravity to the senseless violence, but in the case of the latter, Millar strives for his most cynical and inhumane, bringing to mind his opening for Marvel's "Civil war" event. Seeing innocent bystanders riddled with bullet holes is not so much gory as manipulative, and feels so wrong and misjudged that it almost stops the story altogether.

Still, the creators use the incident to pull away from their exploration of the emerging superhero scene and reestablish the premise as that of Kick Ass versus his opposite number (the change of focus probably accounts for the seventh issue being added to the series at a relatively late date, production wise). The drug using Red Mist is renamed in proceedings, to match his completely out of control role the plot asks him to fulfill, which for the most part feels like a misstep. Seeing Kick ass continue in his relatively down to Earth personality as opposed to his former friend's turning into a mass murderer more or less completely destroys the character dynamic, the semblance of which can be seen only in the very ending, as the two once again interact in a way that actually resembles two friends who have parted ways less than amicably.

Interestingly with Red Mist Millar departs from his own idea of Kick ass being just a member of a local superteam, and has the villain lead the opposite organization, which is precisely where the book falters the most. It forces the writer to come up with a completely bizarre second in command in Mother Russia, where simply a stronger and more calculated villain, heavily influenced by Dave's former friend, would have brought at least some credibility behind the series of atrocities.

As presented, the chief culprit behind the attacks on Dave's loved ones and the city is simply the creative team, who benefit from the raised stakes and the perverse thrill the carnage supposedly bring to the work. The reality is that the reader already familiar with the first series feels largely numb to the carnage, with the repulsion largely replaced by genuine genuine need to question the creators' motivations. Did "Kick ass" succeeding far above all the projections locked them into thinking that the gracious, over the top violence had to be included at every opportunity, and did they really have to present it in such a crass and forced way?

The point is moot, and Dean White's dark purples are left to do what they can to recast the slaughter in a semblance of subdued storytelling. With "Kick ass 2", the co-creators largely abandon any defense that their work should be read as a satire, and simply present it as a relatively grounded superhero universe. Likewise, the ending brings no real sense of closure beyond putting a stop to Red Mist's gang, with most of the cast perfectly poised to play the roles in the obligatory sequel.

When Millar's big idea of superheroes as a new outlet for social activism boils down to baiting the reader for the Mother Russia/Hit-Girl fight sequence, "Kick ass" is revealed to be simply a rarely successful mature readers superhero title, and nothing more. That the said sequence turns out to be as brutal as it is anti-climatic comes as a no surprise, as Millar and Romita jr. seem to be way past the point of even entertaining themselves with the premise. "Kick ass" has simply become another trademark to exploit and constantly renew, with the difference being that the creators themselves own it, and don't have to put up with a publishers requesting an ongoing series by outside talent.

Leandro Fernandez' involvement with "Hit-Girl" largely departs from that model, but still seems relatively modest, given the typical excess involved with even remotely successful publishing initiatives in the Direct Market. As for the inevitable "Kick ass 3", it's best to remember Millar's own oft-repeated stance on the possibility of a follow ups to one of his projects. When discussing the possibility of a sequel to his and J. G. Jones' "Wanted", the writer said that he ultimately decided against it, as it would inevitable prove to the detriment of the original. It's a shame then that the writer feels the need to continually exploit its spiritual successor, no matter the number of in story subplots left dangling.

The strongest part of "Kick ass" and the brutal commentary that gave the original most of its energy for the moment seem to be in the process of a continued exploitation, with the derivatives supplanting the innovation for traditional superhero universe tropes. From a creative point of view, Millar and Romita junior's efforts could be excused as an attempt to influence the movie sequel's story with a plot and character designs that they as creators had a hand in designing, but even then "Kick ass 2" feels dubious.

It's not that it's the worst sequel to the original series, as there's enough authenticity in the mini-series that it feels coherent, it's just that the original didn't really need the follow up. On his own, Millar has shown such a strong cross media track record success that he's currently at various stages of several different series, with some of the strongest mainstream talent, including Dave Gibbons himself, and Frank ("We3") Quitely. No matter how lucrative the franchise has turned out to be, there is no reason why the writer didn't simply proceed to develop another property with John Romita junior, instead for settling on a course that can only lead to over-saturation and diminishing returns already seen with the likes of "30 days of night" and "Irredeemable".

"Kick ass" in perspective

When the original "Kick ass" series debuted in 2008, Mark ("the Ultimates") Millar was in a very different phase of his career. "Wanted", a movie based on one of his controversial comics was about to be released, and he was still enjoying height of his commercial success at Marvel. Thus, as he was developing Kick Ass, Millar was very aware of the series' potential to find a life outside comics.

In a very real way, the high concept was developed to resonate both for comics and the cinema that has come to embrace superhero movies. Millar's simple idea of a teenager becoming a real life superhero became a hit but the reader should be aware of the circumstances behind it. The success behind the cult movie had much more to do with the writer's popularity, marketing sense, and most importantly, contacts in the entertainment industry.

As a comic, "Kick ass" was a foregone conclusion, with the first issue selling most of the story, and the character of the Hit-girl (coming somewhat later in the series) rounding out most of the appeal. Designed brutally simple, these caricatures posed as characters whose neuroses made up for their personality. For a long time comics reader, this was nothing new, as Millar employs a similar set up to raise the stakes in all of his hyper violent comics. Still, "Kick ass" the mini-series was marked with few key differences, particularly when compared to "Wanted".

"Wanted" was a potential DC comics pitch gone over the top when the writer's popularity assured him that he could have a sizable audience if his ideas were laid bare. The fan favorite artist J. G. Jones pencilled series still communicated largely with his existing audience, positing an ugly view at the world of supervillains with a lot of the in jokes and allusions that can entail. The notoriously slow artist made the rarely shipping series disappear from the sustained discussion of superhero comics, but that didn't hurt the property in any real way.

The movie studios recognized the genre defying banality of the central premise and proceeded to develop a very different story. In fact, by recasting Millar's homage to Catwoman into a supernatural femme fatale played by Angelina Jolie they made perhaps the loosest comics adaptation this side of Monica Vitti starring "Modesty Blaze". Most of the creators would be insulted by the degree of the licence the movie producers took with his work, but Millar seems to have learned from it.

One must always take into account that he was the very same creator who made his artist model the principal characters after Eminem and Halle Berry, and launched a false rumor that the rapper was interested in starring in the adaptation. Thus, when preparing "Kick ass", Mark Millar was very aware of the direction he was taking his new property in. Firstly, by recruiting Marvel's mainstay John Romita junior, who fared much less successfully with his first creator owned project, the writer was counting on his status as Marvel's premiere superhero writer. By offering his former "Wolverine" collaborator a co-creator credit on a potentially lucrative cross media franchise, Millar was simply raising his chances of success.

Having a "based on the successful graphic novel" credit on the forthcoming Kick ass movie was almost as important as the artist's role in designing the characters and the set pieces that would guide the Matthew Vaughn directed actioner. Taking the crude wish fulfillment premise of "Wanted", and re-contextualizing it into a much more down to Earth superhero premise, Millar opened his series with a hint of the Romita junior designed blood baths. Thus, the writer enabled himself to proceed with the relatively slow paced characterization, as befitting a proper story, with romantic subplots and a fair amount of world building, no matter how twisted and banal.

Reading through the series, and finally getting past the part of the finale that was teased in the first issue, the reader would be hard pressed to remember anything beyond Kick Ass taking down the mafia leader after teaming up with Hit-Girl. What followed was the obligatory epilogue, lacking in the sense of finality, as it was clear that these characters were being set up for further adventures, no matter how unlikely.

Finally getting to read the follow up, proves a both frustrating and interesting experience, as befits Mark Millar comics.

Kick ass #1-8

"Kick ass" was originally solicited as a six issue creator owned mini-series by Marvel exclusive Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Released almost to coincide with the movie adaptation of Millar's own "Wanted", it was solicited to present a similar take on the superhero genre, albeit grounded as a nominally realistic story. Published by "Icon", Marvel's author-friendly impint, the mini-series' release schedule was constantly interrupted by John Romita jr.' obligations as the penciller on the "Amazing Spider-Man", yet the news of a fast tracked production of the "Kick ass"' own movie adaptation still kept the book fresh in everyone's memory. It finally concluded almost two years after it started, transforming into not only a two-issues longer work, but one that is clearly marked as the first book in a series, with the creator now apparently repackaging the project as an ongoing commitment.

"Kick ass" starts with the flash-forward to the story's finale, yet the over the images of the over the top violence that have since become the book's signature, are quickly interrupted as the narrator feels the need to start the story at the beginning. Thus, the reader is transported into a much more sombering daily life of a comic-book fan, trying to escape his dreary high-school existence into the fantasy life inspired by Marvel and DC's superhero lines. Even in his eager beginnings, much of Millar's cruel and cynical writing persists, as it constantly teases the promise of the bigger and more catastrophical developments.

To get the idea of the creators' protagonist, as well as the creative and marketing approach at play, it should be noted that even the main character's name was auctioned for charity. The covers are likewise adorned with bold letters making impossible proclamations, which goes hand to hand with the frankness of the creative vision - Millar and Romita jr. are violent and persistent in winning over the audience traditionally averse to new superhero properties.


Similarly, Kick Ass keeps constantly name checking the superhero titles that inspired him, which at first seems harmless, but once again turns into a much more calculated and direct device. In striding to make a wider point about would-be heroes being one and all inspired by the mainstream superheroics, Millar actually sticks to the pattern established in his previous work. Despite no doubt deliberately mentioning movie-friendly well known superhero icons, he is once again shamelessly exploiting his core audience, just like he did with "Wanted".

By providing a grotesque version of the real life troubles he feels that his fans can identify with, Millar is both providing the shocks of R-rated action-movie entertainment, as well as a sly commentary meant to take up the space where the book's heart and meaning should reside. This is a particularly dubious tactic which could well be taken as an insult to his own audience, if he wasn't so smug and open about it. In the end, the morale of the story ends up being just manipulative enough to make the reader sit up and take notice in all the right places, but to do no other thinking post closing the book, except for remembering to follow Millar's next highly commercial creative endeavour.

By combining bad taste and idealism, Millar is purposefully calling out the confusion and anger in his readers, but it's largely unwarranted once one really gets down to the specifics. The reality of Kick Ass' world is defined by caricatures of American teenagers decades removed from the writer's own Scottish upbringing, that are once again subjected to constant referencing of current Internet perephernalia, in a desperate attempt to appear convincingly modern.

Of course, the chief device Millar employs in depicting the reality of the main character's coming of age relationship is defined by his homophobia. Once again, the writer shows no subtlety in teasing the reader with a longstanding paper-thin negative conception regarding the irony between the costumed heroes larger than life adventures and their stereotypical shy and socially awkward audience. This concept, more than anything else, serves to drive home the reality of Kick Ass' civilian life, as he is prone to repeating in endless narrative captions. Of course, in reality, this is just another attention grabber, along the likes of fake documentary footage that appeared on the Internet in order to promote the book. It is to Millar's testament that he manages to squeeze enough drama with this part of the plot to keep the reader caring, and tide him over to the next scene.

The best part of "Kick ass" still comes from this bitterly satirical portrayal of everyday life, as Millar somehow manages to keep to the reality of the world where no superpowers exist. Likewise, the parts where his protagonist openly reveals the need to get to the center of the attention along with his first steps in the world of costumed vigilantism by doing no more than trying to help out the tenants of a burning building and then hurry up home to his computer to see the message board reaction feel somewhat inviting in reaching the honest tone that Millar and Romita Jr. constantly strive for.

Yet, where it all gets problematic is when it comes to depicting the violence. From the start, the reader is made certain that this is a "mature-readers only" book as despite the profanity, the vulgarities depicted at every turn serve as a constant reminder. Bluntly, the Romita jr. depicted pages are regularly filled with the details of black-eyes and blood and snot exiting the characters' mouths, and that is only in the pages depicting "Kick ass"' quiet periods. The celebrated "Spider-Man" artist is routinely called forward to show gangs of thugs from all sizes and colors ganging up on the protagonist and his eventual associates, proceeding to try their best to beat him up to the point of death in the goriest and most bloody way.

If one believes that the scenes are taking place in what is almost the Punisher's semi-reality of New York city, which is what the artistic cues seem to point at, there is still little actual maturity behind the bloodshed. The gangsters' heads are split open like watermelons, while their guns seem constantly set to stun and injure, providing their lives to be as cheap and familiar as the well worn bad guy types they so strongly emulate. This is the shocking promised in the book's title and it just seems endless and repetitive, while nevertheless constantly kept in check by the video-game-like rules of such encounters. What little reality can be gleaned behind the purple tinged, indigo-like shadows falling across everything, comes from the aforementioned injuries. Still, their treatment and general presentation are once again in tune with the familiar superhero cliches of the vigilante needing to protect his identity even while suffering grievous injuries. Instead, they just read like a laundry list of almost every possible injury one can sustain in a fight, and never actually survive combined, much less get up and fight crime again.

The little nods to the protagonist building up the physique are quickly forgotten, while his actually mastering a particular fighting style is never really explored in the first place. His determination seems enough, as indicated by the image of a still growing-up teenager getting across the neighborhood in a wet suit, and trying his hardest at fighting with makeshift weapons. This is not because of the space taken by his relationships with school kids, which except for his love interest keep being left out in the backgrounds, in order to focus on the superhuman movement that springs along with Kick ass' step. And except for the nods toward the already existing portions of subculture exited to get dressed in garish costumes,this is where the book is actually at it's most unreal.

Because by jumping through the down time, Millar gives his protagonist no time to remain in the spotlight for long enough, before the make up of the rest of the so-called superhuman scene takes the stage. This is perhaps what lead to the series being extended beyond the original plan, as the writer and the artist try to take time to provide glimpse into the lives of their other costumed creations, seemingly inspired by Kick ass' actions in the first half of the book. It is not only that their character designs bring to mind much more familiar and generic forms of superheroes, it is that their arrival feels to soon. If Millar and Romita jr. indeed suddenly changed their plans and turn their concept into a series of mini series, then they still should have kept to their protagonist in this early, introductory phase. Perhaps they felt the need to keep up with the plot of the movie, and didn't want their original presentation to be seen as lagging behind the developments introduced in the cinematic version. In any event, the creators' experience helps them integrate the rest of the characters into the story on the plot level, leading to the proceedings taking a much larger scope, even than the flash-forward that starts the book out. Millar's constant referring to the next stage of Kick ass' superhero life also helps smoothen out the transition, along with the characters' cameos before they officially start teaming up with one another.

The book is thus transformed into a much larger and filled with the choreography that mimics that of the traditional superhero titles. Having debuted, Kick ass' imitators all have their own agendas, leading to the extended conclusion where they all set out against a clear villain. It goes without saying that these new superheroes are also much more gratious and offensive in what passes as a shorthand for their characterization.

Beyond their capacity for violence, Hit-Girl, Big Daddy and Red Mist come designed with their own sense of mystery and surprises, much of it forcefully tied into the book's thematic structure. A particular plot point regarding the origin of one of Kick ass' cohorts might have actually benefitted from the intermittent serialization, as it appears glaringly obvious when the mini-series is read as a whole. In any event, it is difficult to think that the book might have reached such an impossible overblown conclusion without their presence, so there's little sense in second guessing the creators' original intentions.

Instead, it's the page after page of bloodbath at the big showdown with the local gangsters that will stick to the reader, and decide on his or her eventual acceptance of the work as a whole. Millar and Romita jr. decide only to tie up some of the loose ends afterward, in a manner that is clearly not meant to be definitive. The book ends on a splash page directly teasing the plot of the second stage in the development of the concept, in a reasonably logical way. Before that happens, the movie adaptation theatrical debut will no doubt prove to be be critical to the concept, and it's eventual development by millar and Romita jr.

Still, despite "Kick ass" being a very visual comic book collaboration it's hard to shake the feeling that John Romita jr. is somewhat shunted off to the side, to make way for Millar's manipulations. It is his sure hand that renders all of these characters and scenes, and the veteran artist shows signs of improvement everywhere. Seeing his depictions of school life, gang-related violence, and the over the top superhero portions of the story, actually creates the story from start to finish. His clear layouts and the emotions he conveys in the cast, coupled with the writer's cynical delivery of the dialogue, really make a lot of the captions superficial.

Once again, it's hard not to imagine how the story would have looked like, had the creators not deemed it necessary to rush through the recovery scenes, before settling on the scenes involving the greater plot of superhumans versus a key mob figure. Letting Romita jr. render the miserable days the teenager wanting to be known as Kick ass recovers from his mistakes, instead of mostly being told about them in captions, would not really rob the series of it's action packed scenes, as there are more than enough of them that take center stage in the book's initial chapters.

Overall, it depends to be seen where the creators feel fit to next take the property's original comic book iteration. It is more than possible that they will continue to keep creating a guilty pleasue package tinged with bitter irony, or if they will employ a different form of sarcasm in the adventures of the somewhat older version of Kick ass. Hopefully, now that they've established their audience, and gauged out the shape of the project, they will settle into just creating a coherent story, despite probably keeping a healthy dose of controversial surprises. At this point, "Kick ass" is exactly the cross-media developed comics property that the industry hasn't seen since the 1980s, and will no doubt help secure Mark Millar's reputation as a talent capable of coming up with the high concept ideas of his own, and developing them in a very distinctive way with the help of some of the industry's most beloved superhero artists. After all, no less is to be expected from the man who markets his own book as the product of collaboration between the writer of "Civil war", and the artist of "World war Hulk", who never forgets just how to manipulate his initial audience.