Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Kick-Ass
Icon Comics (Marvel)
Millar & Romita
Wow! A brand new series with an eye-catching first issue. Fantastic. I picked this issue up based on a positive review I read online. I was blown away reading this. I’m starting to think the review I read about the issue doesn’t even give it enough credit.
The idea of this comic is that a kid reads a lot of comic books with his geek friends and decides to buy a wet suit on ebay and become a super hero. He doesn’t have any special powers, he doesn’t have some great tragedy in his life (although his mom does die young but not killed by some villain), he doesn’t have a real goal or even an arch enemy. He’s just trying to do some “good” or at least pretend he is.
The kid’s name is Dave Lizewski, this name’s origin is described in the back of the issue. Dave is just an ordinary kid. He’s not cool, but he’s not a loser. He’s not a jock, but he’s not super smart. He has some friends he hangs out with but none that are his trusted best friend. He likes a girl, but the wrong girl. One thing he has is plenty of imagination and boredom.
He dresses up in what he can find that makes for a costume and he tries to find some evil to stop. There isn’t some hidden complicated plot. Dave doesn’t accidentally fall into a plot to destroy the world or the city. There isn’t a scientist that is planning something sinister. Doesn’t sound like a ton happens. Maybe it doesn’t, but it sure executes perfectly.
Everything hits all the right notes in this issue. The dad talking with his son, the kid talking with his friends, the thugs talking to the hero. It all fits. Even the fact that he can’t figure out a cool name right down to him not being able to take his first punch standing up. It all fits in with what it might be like if some kid decided to try this out for real.
You add in that the artwork fits the story perfectly. Dave is a scrawny looking kid. His costume looks patched together and “fake” just as it a Halloween costume might. He looks like a spec compared to adults, as a scrawny kid should look. The art also has a timeless feel to it. It could have taken place in the 70s, 80s, 90s or now. The colors aren’t bright and shiny either, they feel like the characters live in real life.
This comic is one of the best number one issues I’ve ever read. I can’t believe something as simple as this could be such a fantastic read. There is so much room to grow this story from here. Oh, did I mention Dave gets run over by a car for an ending? This is a series I plan to follow very closely.
5 out of 5 geek goggles.
 Kick Ass #2 |
 Kick Ass #3 |
