Kick Ass #6

It would be unprofessional of me to not talk about Kick Ass before the movie comes out or at least before you start seeing trailers for it. The odd thing about this book is that it only took one issue and it already got optioned for movie rights.

It came out last April, which means it’s taken a year for the first story arc to wrap up. For some, that sounds like it could be extremely frustrating, but for the average comic reader, waiting a month for the story to continue is a basic rhythm.

But still, with it’s bi-monthly release, I was starting to get worried whether the movie was going to come out before the comic actually came to it’s sixth issue. No worries though, because the sixth issue is being released this Wednesday, and I guess you could say it’s what I’m looking forward to the most this week.

When I first read issue number one, I was pretty blown away. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Mark Millar’s gritty realism combined with John Romita Jr.’s classically modern art style helps tell the story of Dave Lizewski extremely well.

Kick Ass takes place in a very real world. Our world. Dave reads comics and talks about them with his friends, he has girl troubles just like every other nerd.

One day, without any real motivation, Dave decides to become a crime fighter. He buys a costume off the internet, works out, and goes on patrol. Eventually he has a run in with some thugs and gets beaten to a bloody pulp. After a few months of rehabilitation, he starts right back up again. He just can’t help himself. Finally, he gets noticed and makes a name for himself.

After earning some credibility in the media, other people are inspired to do what he does, which is where the story gets interesting. So far they’ve introduced a Father and daughter combo, where the girl uses swords to a disgustingly precise degree, and a kid about the same age as Dave, who’s using some of the knowledge of his family’s gang related activities to combat organized crime.

The first issue, like a lot of first issues, starts off with a jump in time. We see Dave already in his costume and get introduced to what could lead up to the climax of his first story. So with issue six; I’m hoping to see how he got there.

The big reason that I’m looking forward to this issue is that it’ll complete the first arc, and ultimately judge how good this series is so far. It’s had some bumps in the road, mostly because what felt like a very real story has gone into more obsurd plot lines, but entertaining none-the-less. And since I’m assuming that Kick Ass, the movie, will be based faithfully on the comic, then I can guess that what this whole first arc has in store will be what we see up on the screen.

I highly suggest you give this book a shot. The first collected trade paperback (or hardback) should be coming out soon, but if you can’t wait, they’ve made many other printings for it. Just find your local comic supplier.

Oh, and it does actually kick ass.

Pride & Prejudice

To the left you’ll see the cover to Pride & Prejudice issue #1 of 5. Not only did I actually read this, but I bought it. “Why?” you might ask. Mostly because of that cover, beautifully done by Sonny Liew. The best way I can describe it is “adorable.” Because it is. The art is clean, the layout is that of a modern magazine cover, and it just feels very welcoming. Like, “hey, read me, you’ll enjoy this.” Except you won’t. Because all they did was take Jane Austen’s words and added some sub-par art with it so they could call it a comic book.

For a while now, Marvel has been doing adaptations of classic literature and novels. So far they’ve done Three Musketeers, Moby Dick, The Illiad, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and several others; all of which I’ve heard good things. And I personally think Oz is a pretty good accomplishment mostly due to Scottie Young’s fantastically child-like art.

But that’s where P&P suffers so much. I would probably enjoy it a whole lot more if the art was as good and well spirited as it is on this cover. But when you open it up, all you’ll find is something that looks like the interior of a Sears catalogue from the 1800’s. Everybody is smiling as they speak, no one is really expressing any emotion, and the art itself just sits there. Nothing ever pops off the page.

You have a story that’s based around people talking constantly, which means the artist(Hugo Petrus) has to make everything else look as interesting as possible, and that’s something he seems to fail at.

My other complaint was the adaption of the dialogue itself. I understand that they’re trying to keep it very close to the source material, but I felt like they could’ve cut down on the long-winded discussions and observations. It seemed like Nancy Butler(writer) was trying too hard to cram a whole lot words in one speech bubble, and that always comes off as sloppy to me.

I think I’m mostly disappointed with this because it could’ve been good. The artist that made this cover to the issue had an idea in mind, and instead of adding some modern thought to the recreation of this story, they just went the straight and narrow path.

But I love the cover, so I’m kind of glad I bought it.

-Ben, the comic guru

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