IT'S NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS
The introduction to the narrative of "Kick Ass" actually managed to fool me. For a comic series that purports to display a brutal realistic look at someone trying in vain to be a superhero, this series of scenes involving a winged superhero is very stylized and action packed and instantly made me second guess Mark Millar. Then we see him fall to his death mid-way and crash in to a Taxi suffering a rather horrific death in front of a crowd of on-lookers and then I suddenly realized that Mark Millar was not going to let us off so easily. We've seen normal people become superheroes in comics like Batman, Daredevil, and Spider-Man and we never quite managed to witness the consequences. I can just imagine the person behind this costume who rigged a device for months, spent all of their money, used up all of their precious time and all for this disastrous leap to their deaths just because their damn wings wouldn't allow them to glide as they'd hoped. Further selling this hilarious opening is the fact that the reader assumes this is the main character when really it's just another look at what happens when normal people try to emulate the comic books and fail. Big time. Sadly the trailer for the film gives away the little hook.
 

KICK ASS = ASS KICKED
Millar not only explores the need to don a costume and fight crime, but also the thrill putting on a costume. Our main character Dave gets such a thrill he proudly proclaims that he hasn't looked at porn in weeks because of his crusade to be a superhero and this reveals his tendencies for masochism. This results in a brutal ass kicking as in an attempt to stop graffiti artists, he's beaten, gets kicked in the crotch, beaten some more and then is stabbed right in the chest. To top that off he staggers off with his guts falling out and is run over by a hit and run driver leaving his mangled body to fade away on the pavement. And almost taking pride in this fact, Millar follows this grizzly scene by beginning the second issue by showing Dave in the hospital in very critical condition almost exploring his need for pain as a form of pleasure while also subtly wagging his finger at readers warning us rabid fan boys not to even try to do something like this. Because you can get hurt and very likely killed. And you may wake up naked in a pool of your own blood, too. I can't decide which death would be more humiliating.
 

SHE WAS LIKE JOHN RAMBO MEETS POLLY POCKET.
After reaping the rewards of his instant fame Dave manages to completely idolize himself by advertising his services. He starts a MySpace page, is featured on talk shows and even manages to be cheered on in the streets. After starting an online service, he agrees to talk to the ex of a girl who has been taunted by her boyfriend for a while. Taking it upon himself to be the ever vigilant protector and self-important crusader, he goes to talk to the man. It's just a shame he's guarded by humongous bodyguards and friends who take pride in defending him at a moment's notice. Kick Ass is in yet another bind being kicked up and down a room by a greasy hooker and a bunch of big black guys. That is until the leader is impaled in front of the entire group. And as Kick Ass looks on he realizes he's just been saved and is at the mercy of Hit Girl, a petite child who knows how to make suckers pay if they even try to cross her. Her wide eyed enthusiasm for the kills just makes this character even more likable and disturbing. If you didn't think impaling a man could get any worse for a little kid, then the following panels depicting her reign of gore perfectly explores the sick minds that would get behind a costume and fight crime. I almost felt bad for that greasy hooker.
 

BIG DADDY AND HIT GIRL
The origin of Big Daddy and Hit Girl isn't as demented as perceived in the trailers. In fact in the comics it's darker and more disturbing. But that's Mark Millar for you. If you think watching a little girl get blown away by her dad in the movie is bothersome, then Millar makes it all the more stunning when we see the lack of mercy her dad takes on her by calling her a cry baby, taunting her when she doesn't want to get shot and then proceeding to blow her away in a big splash. Then when he mocks her for flinching in pain, he reminds her to stab a crack head in the nuts if she's ever shot by one, and then volunteers to take her out for a Sundae. Oddly enough Hit Girl doesn't mind it too much. To a further odd degree we learn in the following pages that she was taught to be a warrior from a very, very young age and didn't even go to school. Thank heaven for little girls.

HIDDEN AGENDA
As with most writers, Mark Millar's works stand as a hidden agenda for the man's views. He's not the first comic writer to do it. People like Frank Miller, and Stan Lee have been doing it for years through their work and here it's no real big surprise that he's a gun loving, violence adoring, action loving man whose characters revel in gun trivia and blood spewing while enjoying their hobbies. In one page, Big Daddy quizzes his daughter on weapons and movie stars as she takes down a room full of thugs in the distance and eventually asks for the definition of a Democrat, to which is becomes painfully clear that not only is Big Daddy training and conditioning this kid to be his exact double and push his propaganda, but so is Millar in the long run. Every artist pours himself in to his work, and Millar is just no exception. He is Big Daddy and if we don't watch out, we could be Hit Girl.