Never Not A Nerd

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I don’t know what to say, really.  Kick-Ass was released in hardcover last week and I’m just not sure.  The concept of the story is a simple one, and it’s one we’ve seen many times before: why don’t people in real life try to be superheroes?  Well, it’s because they’d be killed rather quickly, that’s why.  Fortunately, that’s something Millar opts not to ignore in his story.  But still, the main problem I seem to have with this story is that there’s no one actually likable throughout (with the exception of Kick-Ass’ father, and that’s only because he’s barely in it).  Therefore, let’s take a look at the Yays and Nays of the story before the movie is released.

YAY :

• For some reason I never used to find the appeal of John Romita Jr.’s art, but now I’m a huge fan.  There’s something really beautiful about his work, in that for me it seems to be like a sort of mix between old and contemporary comic art styles.  He does a great job of keeping up the beauty in even the goriest, most brutal scenes from the book.
• What everyone is going to say they like is Hit-Girl, and I will be no exception.  Take a ten year old girl and teach her to be a ruthless killer while still keeping her in a cutesy purple costume is a pretty funny idea, made better by the fact that she MURDERS WITHOUT HESITATION.  Some have said her presence detracts from the story.  I say… I could care less.  It’s like if the Power Pack were sinister ninjas.
• In the most basic sense, some people can kind of relate to the intro of Kick-Ass.  A kid who lives only with his father after his mother’s death, can’t talk to the girl he has senseless interest in, only has a few nerdy friends, and constantly thinks about his hot teacher with the huge chest.  He wants more out of life, and dreams of going out and doing what he reads about in the comics.  Unfortunately, this leads right into my first problem with the book:

NAY :

• There’s no real reason given for Kick-Ass’ origin beyond “I was bored with life.”  He doesn’t want to do what’s right, he doesn’t want to save lives, and he doesn’t really care about saving the world.  He does what he does for the recognition.  He pretty much skews the entire reason superheroes do what they do by acting like a douche and clutching at fame tightly.  More or less, he misses the point because he’s too obsessed with improving his public status.
• This has been said before, and I’m hardly saying anything original or breakthrough when I mention this, but there seems to be a weird tone of racial issues in Millar’s books.  Kick-Ass’ first act of heroics is basically picking a fight with a group of young black men who are tagging a wall somewhere.  Later he takes on a group of men who are simply described as a bunch of Puerto Ricans.  It’s not to say this is a definite racist portrayal of certain nationalities, but Millar does often set up groups of “minorities” as the villains/opposition.  It happened in Wanted, which oddly enough had a similar theme of “my main character is a self-proclaimed asshole,” which could be laying down a subtext that could have eluded me up until this point.  Maybe that’s what he’s trying to say.  That the guy who’s doing what’s right for him included beating down other nationalities?  If so, kudos to Mark Millar.  If not, then try including some white villains that aren’t Italian mafia stereotypes (also present in Kick-Ass).  I’m probably wrong, but it’s just something that ends up being a big topic of conversation when talking about Millar’s work.
• Quite frankly one of my biggest problems with the book was knowing from the beginning that the movie was planned.  Look, I don’t want to let any feelings I may have about the author influence my review of his work.  I loved Wanted.  I really loved Superman: Red Son.  But Mark Millar is just far too into the “looking for a paycheck” part of the business.  He didn’t mind at all how drastically different the Wanted movie was from the book, because he made some good money.  But it’s probably not a very valid complaint.  Dude needs to make money.  I get that.  It’s just that I felt there was too much connection as the series was being released to the fact that the movie was coming out.  I mean, I was disappointed by the fact that the ‘Now a Major Motion Picture’ stamp was in the corner of the title on my book.  But whatever, I’ll make my peace with it.
• Big Daddy.  Just when you think he’s awesome, he kind of proves that the contrary is true.  Although to be fair, this really ties in a lot to my first point.
• I’m not going to spoil the ending, but I’m just going to say this:  I didn’t like the ending.

So we’ve got that.  Possible racial issues, but probably not, so don’t take me seriously.  A movie deal made instantly.  Nic Cage as a terrible, terrible father.  Awesome art with a rather hard to deal with message (a message that winds up being lost on me) and a sequel in the works.  A sequel I hope will include Hit-Girl.  Oh yes, I intend to read Kick-Ass 2.  I also plan to read Nemesis and whatever else Millar does because despite my problems with his writing and his business maneuvers, I’m a fan.  Man can write, let’s be honest.  I just fear he’s on this kick of “my main character is an asshole and he knows it” stories.  I’d love to see him try a new concept like Red Son.  But for now I’ll deal with reading his villainous Batman-pastiche and his sequels to his books I’ve already read.  Because I’m a sucker for some bad, bad behavior.