With the morbid sense of humor Mark Millar puts on the page with “Kick Ass,” and his propensity for punishing Dave Lizewski at every turn for generally being a complete moron worthy of an early grave, I think this series will finally end with someone shooting Dave in the face and killing him in that stupid costume. And damn it if he doesn’t deserve every thing he gets for being such a brainless imbecile. Sorry, people but Millar’s writing sucks me in so much, I just want to call Dave a stupid whipper snapper and smack him with my cane. I want to kick his ass, as it were.
But is he so different from the people who star in “Jack Ass”? Or the folks who leap from houses into pools on their bikes? If you’re looking for a glamorous underdog tale then you’re not going to find it here. “Kick Ass” continues to be an equally funny and disturbing tale about an idiotic teen so hopped up on delusions of grandeur that he can’t realize that he’s going to get himself killed very soon if he doesn’t stop. But, Millar doesn’t let us off that easily.
Lizewski is a pathetic little toad (I’m sure even Millar cringes while writing him), and more so, he has this non-existent grasp on reality that has now become a drug. Even in spite of massive injury, he just has to dress up as a superhero and go out there to “fight crime.” Millar’s story continues to be a commentary on the modern youth’s lust for violence in a world that’s harmful to anyone who will venture deep enough in to it. In a society filled with illusion and sensationalism, Dave is just another of the teenage numbskulls venting his frustrations and trying to find some claim to fame, wholly unaware of the damage he’s not only doing to himself, but to everyone else in his life.
As for the world Millar sets the reader down on, it’s about as realistic as possible. Instead of jumping buildings and swinging on a high wire, Dave walks the streets in his garb like everyone else. No one marvels (so to speak) at Dave in costume, no one gazes in awe, they simply just ostracize him, and harass him, and rightfully deem him a nut job. And who can blame them when John Romita Jr. makes Dave look awkward in his oversized costume and basically useless hand held weapons? The violence is vicious adding a better intent toward brutal honesty the series tries to implement by displaying heavy blood shed, awful injuries, and setting scenarios that you almost wish Dave wouldn’t get in to try and stop.
“Kick Ass #2” is more of the same path to self-destruction by Dave. He just keeps getting himself in to trouble even after six months in a hospital and three major reconstructive surgeries. Now with the climax ensuring a bonafide celebrity status, you have to wonder when Dave is going to come to his senses. Or if his dad will just take him to the loony bin eventually. We can only hope, for his sake. I’ve never been in so much pain reading a comic before. And that’s a compliment.