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Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years
Kick-Ass 2
The concluding half of Kick-Ass 2, following Kick-Ass 2 Prelude: Hit-Girl, the sequel to the biggest creator-owned comic of the decade--the one that spawned the number one hit movie and the worldwide phenomenon!
KICK-ASS is back, just as over-the-top as ever! As everybody's favorite psychotic 11-year-old HIT GIRL trains KICK-ASS to be...well, a bad-ass, RED MIST gathers a team of super-villains to take them down! It's super hero mayhem as only MARK MILLAR and JOHN ROMITA JR. can bring you!
COLLECTING: Kick-Ass 2 #1-7
KICK-ASS is back, just as over-the-top as ever! As everybody's favorite psychotic 11-year-old HIT GIRL trains KICK-ASS to be...well, a bad-ass, RED MIST gathers a team of super-villains to take them down! It's super hero mayhem as only MARK MILLAR and JOHN ROMITA JR. can bring you!
COLLECTING: Kick-Ass 2 #1-7
208 pages, Hardcover
First published June 13, 2012
58 people are currently reading
5,209 people want to read
About the author
Mark Millar
1,455books2,515followersMark Millar is the New York Times best-selling writer of Wanted, the Kick-Ass series, The Secret Service, Jupiter’s Legacy, Jupiter’s Circle, Nemesis, Superior, Super Crooks, American Jesus, MPH, Starlight, and Chrononauts. Wanted, Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, and The Secret Service (as Kingsman: The Secret Service) have been adapted into feature films, and Nemesis, Superior, Starlight, War Heroes, Jupiter’s Legacy and Chrononauts are in development at major studios.
His DC Comics work includes the seminal Superman: Red Son, and at Marvel Comics he created The Ultimates � selected by Time magazine as the comic book of the decade, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, and Civil War � the industry’s biggest-selling superhero series in almost two decades.
Mark has been an Executive Producer on all his movie adaptations and is currently creative consultant to Fox Studios on their Marvel slate of movies.
His DC Comics work includes the seminal Superman: Red Son, and at Marvel Comics he created The Ultimates � selected by Time magazine as the comic book of the decade, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, and Civil War � the industry’s biggest-selling superhero series in almost two decades.
Mark has been an Executive Producer on all his movie adaptations and is currently creative consultant to Fox Studios on their Marvel slate of movies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 513 reviews
August 12, 2020
(A-) 81% | Very Good
Notes: It dishes body blows in deconstruction: a black and bruising, blunt-force drama, fun no more and bleak with trauma.
Notes: It dishes body blows in deconstruction: a black and bruising, blunt-force drama, fun no more and bleak with trauma.
February 6, 2024
Here it is... volume 2 of the superbly insane / inane Kick-Ass franchise. The excellence continues, bringing on Hit-Girl. Millar and Romita Jnr's wonderful mix of a hyper-realistic superhero reality capes reality and with mega-violence does its job again. 9 out of 12, fiery Four Stars.
2012 read
2012 read
January 27, 2015
Bet you thought you would never hear me say this..but this book was almost too much for me. It upped the violence and cussing to the point where I was like WTF? Millar crossed over the line of awesome into the feeling of just trying to shock the reader. I love the first book and hate the way this one turned out. Yuck.
It picks up shortly after the first one ended. Kick-Ass is training with Hit-Girl.
Then her reins get clipped as her step-dad makes her promise to not don the outfit or fight crime anymore. Yeah, like that's gonna last.
Kick-Ass gets involved with a new team of super-wanna-be-heroes. Justice Forever!
Then his arch nemesis the Red Mist returns as "the Motherfucker"
Bad shit happens..and happens to the point of even me cringing. Trigger warnings needed for a graphic novel..that I'm actually agreeing on. Never would have thunk it.
Well of course, Hit-Girl must step in to the fray.
The book ends with a big cliffhanger..Will I continue on with this series? Stay tuned to find out......
ETA: I'm changing this rating..after thinking about it a few minutes..It's not a 3 star book. You jumped the frigging shark Mark Millar..You get a one star.
It picks up shortly after the first one ended. Kick-Ass is training with Hit-Girl.
Then her reins get clipped as her step-dad makes her promise to not don the outfit or fight crime anymore. Yeah, like that's gonna last.
Kick-Ass gets involved with a new team of super-wanna-be-heroes. Justice Forever!
Then his arch nemesis the Red Mist returns as "the Motherfucker"
Bad shit happens..and happens to the point of even me cringing. Trigger warnings needed for a graphic novel..that I'm actually agreeing on. Never would have thunk it.
Well of course, Hit-Girl must step in to the fray.
The book ends with a big cliffhanger..Will I continue on with this series? Stay tuned to find out......
ETA: I'm changing this rating..after thinking about it a few minutes..It's not a 3 star book. You jumped the frigging shark Mark Millar..You get a one star.
July 28, 2024
This is more indignation than proper review (not that I have ever written a proper review). More accurately, this is a fed-up rage against the forces of publishing who want to infantilize their readership. Moreover, I am not reviewing Kick-Ass 2, as it turns out I did not actually read Kick-Ass 2. What I read was a censored and neutered re-release of Mark Millar’s comic (now called Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years: Book Three from Image, (thank you for wasting my time) in an attempt to make more palatable--to potential readers of the new wet-suit-wearing protégé Patience Lee--a series which boasted such outrageous violence and nihilistic poor taste that the Troma team might balk at its excess.
In short, Kick-Ass’s mean-spirited gruesomeness and boundless depravity were essential components of its existence. There is no genuine empowerment or morality to be gleaned from the horror-show of a life into which Dave Lizewski hurls himself, and to which his loved ones become unwitting parties. It’s fun, but it comes at a massive cost, as both Dave and the reader discover. Therefore, editing out the newly christened Motherfucker’s heinous suburban exploits, (including the mowing down of several young neighborhood children and a [explicitly implied] rape of a high school girl [neither of which are spoilers if you read this version] is tantamount to that asinine request by some mother for a PG-13 release of Deadpool so her eight-year-old could see it. (I think I want to show my kids Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. May I have a censored cut, please?) Given the infamous content of such things, it is ludicrous to expect--let alone actually have delivered--these cuts. To be sure, these few aforementioned panels are horrific and upsetting. But here’s a little secret. That’s the fucking point! Readers can discern for themselves if they want to run the risk of encountering that type of material in their entertainment, but it does serve the story for a wannabe villain so desperate to be feared that he resorts to such levels of barbarity. The stakes of the story are lessened for their removal.
This has always been the problem with the MPAA. They are not content to merely warn potential viewers of what they are about to see. They use trends in social consciousness and their own moralistic ideologies to impose their censorious will on artists. The amount of movies they have butchered (ironically by removing a lot of the butchery) is staggering. These crackdowns often seem to occur after some catastrophe, like a mass shooting, or a wardrobe malfunction. Satanic Panic, anyone? Heavy Metal possessing the youth and forcing them to commit suicide? Obscenity in rap lyrics? A more recent frequency of the feminist variety claiming that video games encouraged misogynistic violence against women? These are all different funneled means to the same end. They want to control how others express themselves through art, because they have such contempt and disrespect for the consumers of these art forms that they don’t think we can handle what we choose to expose ourselves to. Better yet, let’s retcon all art containing antiquated ideas and offensive depictions like the Senator in . Perhaps those schoolboard dictators were right about Huckleberry Finn. Flannery O’Connor? What do you say we bring that old bird into the 21st century? Hell, maybe even Hitler was right about the damaging effects of what his regime deemed ‘degenerate art.� (A note for the context annihilators: I am not genuinely suggesting that Hitler was right about anything!)
“Hyperbole!� you cry? To which I retort, hypothetical umbrage-taker, that this is not my first rodeo (damn, even my clichés are problematic). I went back to school recently and heard students, aspiring writers, genuinely argue against the right of Nathanial Hawthorne to have written The Scarlet Letter, or that O’Connor’s Everything that Rises Must Converge does more harm than good. I once wrote a defense of a poem in a past issue of my Alma Mater’s literary and arts magazine because some in my class objected to its inclusion on the grounds that it “promotes rape culture.� The climate was ghastly for proponents of freedom of artistic expression. Thus, Kick-Ass was, pour moi (I also took French when I went back to school), the straw which the camel (moi), glancing back at the clutter accumulating on his hump, hysterically spit and brayed to avoid placement of said straw atop the heap.
Somehow, the depictions of animal cruelty were not cut from Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years: Book Three. Perhaps because Game of Thrones already made fashioning a canine’s head to a decapitated human’s body mainstream. Nor did they have a qualm with keeping in a point blank execution of a man in those same few censored pages (or an even more head-explody one in the first volume). There were even redrawn panels to remove even the possibility that what happened in the real version actually happened. That’s putting effort into your censorship, like when Tarantino dialogue on basic cable is not merely cut or bleeped, but goes something like: “My name is Buck, and I’m here tofuck PARTY!) At least if they simply put giant black censor bars over the “offensive� panels, we would know we’re getting fucked out of an artist’s true vision, but they try to pull the curtains over our eyes and make it seem like this is the way it was always supposed to be. But their intentions are pure, right? They want to make it more accessible to that faction of readers who take glee in watching a young girl slaughter her way through childhood, but don’t want anything too distasteful. Spare me. This edition still boasts the Mature Content warning label. Kick-Ass is self-aware, transgressive fiction through and through. If mainstream audiences want access to it, they deserve its full blunt force effect.
The movie adaptations pulled more punches as well. Kick-Ass 2, the movie, nixed a rape scene, albeit the villain had the intent, but a touch of the impotence as well. I sought out the movie tie-in edition of the comic just to see if these particular edits were done in tandem with the cinematic release, seeing as how they were not included in the movie. I assumed that had to be the explanation, but no. Fans of the movies who went to pick these up were greeted with the same balls-to-the-wall brutality of the comic’s original release. We all know what is expected of mainstream movies (if they want to avoid the dreaded rating of marketing death, NC-17). But this does nothing but bolster my point about how the MPAA has been filtering content through their arbitrary standards for a long time. I don’t want other mediums of artistic expression to once again fall under that kind of boot heel. The problem is, with instances like the one under discussion, publishers are acquiescing prior to being censored from outside forces. It is a grotesque display of cowardice, and I will not support this particular publisher any longer until I hear concrete word of a spinal transplant. I have no more respect for this release than I would had they censored the very title and tried to bring kids on board.
If you have no interest in exploitative, transgressive, trashy, dark, or potentially (ever shifting and expanding) "offensive" content, that is fair enough, and you have every right to avoid it. But that is all you have the right to do. Religious grounds, sociopolitical grounds, politically correct grounds. Outrage culture can stand there and complain, but it must not be granted another inch.
P.S.
I want to give some credit to GoodBadFlicks on Youtube for his , resulting in neutered artistic content.
In short, Kick-Ass’s mean-spirited gruesomeness and boundless depravity were essential components of its existence. There is no genuine empowerment or morality to be gleaned from the horror-show of a life into which Dave Lizewski hurls himself, and to which his loved ones become unwitting parties. It’s fun, but it comes at a massive cost, as both Dave and the reader discover. Therefore, editing out the newly christened Motherfucker’s heinous suburban exploits, (including the mowing down of several young neighborhood children and a [explicitly implied] rape of a high school girl [neither of which are spoilers if you read this version] is tantamount to that asinine request by some mother for a PG-13 release of Deadpool so her eight-year-old could see it. (I think I want to show my kids Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. May I have a censored cut, please?) Given the infamous content of such things, it is ludicrous to expect--let alone actually have delivered--these cuts. To be sure, these few aforementioned panels are horrific and upsetting. But here’s a little secret. That’s the fucking point! Readers can discern for themselves if they want to run the risk of encountering that type of material in their entertainment, but it does serve the story for a wannabe villain so desperate to be feared that he resorts to such levels of barbarity. The stakes of the story are lessened for their removal.
This has always been the problem with the MPAA. They are not content to merely warn potential viewers of what they are about to see. They use trends in social consciousness and their own moralistic ideologies to impose their censorious will on artists. The amount of movies they have butchered (ironically by removing a lot of the butchery) is staggering. These crackdowns often seem to occur after some catastrophe, like a mass shooting, or a wardrobe malfunction. Satanic Panic, anyone? Heavy Metal possessing the youth and forcing them to commit suicide? Obscenity in rap lyrics? A more recent frequency of the feminist variety claiming that video games encouraged misogynistic violence against women? These are all different funneled means to the same end. They want to control how others express themselves through art, because they have such contempt and disrespect for the consumers of these art forms that they don’t think we can handle what we choose to expose ourselves to. Better yet, let’s retcon all art containing antiquated ideas and offensive depictions like the Senator in . Perhaps those schoolboard dictators were right about Huckleberry Finn. Flannery O’Connor? What do you say we bring that old bird into the 21st century? Hell, maybe even Hitler was right about the damaging effects of what his regime deemed ‘degenerate art.� (A note for the context annihilators: I am not genuinely suggesting that Hitler was right about anything!)
“Hyperbole!� you cry? To which I retort, hypothetical umbrage-taker, that this is not my first rodeo (damn, even my clichés are problematic). I went back to school recently and heard students, aspiring writers, genuinely argue against the right of Nathanial Hawthorne to have written The Scarlet Letter, or that O’Connor’s Everything that Rises Must Converge does more harm than good. I once wrote a defense of a poem in a past issue of my Alma Mater’s literary and arts magazine because some in my class objected to its inclusion on the grounds that it “promotes rape culture.� The climate was ghastly for proponents of freedom of artistic expression. Thus, Kick-Ass was, pour moi (I also took French when I went back to school), the straw which the camel (moi), glancing back at the clutter accumulating on his hump, hysterically spit and brayed to avoid placement of said straw atop the heap.
Somehow, the depictions of animal cruelty were not cut from Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years: Book Three. Perhaps because Game of Thrones already made fashioning a canine’s head to a decapitated human’s body mainstream. Nor did they have a qualm with keeping in a point blank execution of a man in those same few censored pages (or an even more head-explody one in the first volume). There were even redrawn panels to remove even the possibility that what happened in the real version actually happened. That’s putting effort into your censorship, like when Tarantino dialogue on basic cable is not merely cut or bleeped, but goes something like: “My name is Buck, and I’m here to
The movie adaptations pulled more punches as well. Kick-Ass 2, the movie, nixed a rape scene, albeit the villain had the intent, but a touch of the impotence as well. I sought out the movie tie-in edition of the comic just to see if these particular edits were done in tandem with the cinematic release, seeing as how they were not included in the movie. I assumed that had to be the explanation, but no. Fans of the movies who went to pick these up were greeted with the same balls-to-the-wall brutality of the comic’s original release. We all know what is expected of mainstream movies (if they want to avoid the dreaded rating of marketing death, NC-17). But this does nothing but bolster my point about how the MPAA has been filtering content through their arbitrary standards for a long time. I don’t want other mediums of artistic expression to once again fall under that kind of boot heel. The problem is, with instances like the one under discussion, publishers are acquiescing prior to being censored from outside forces. It is a grotesque display of cowardice, and I will not support this particular publisher any longer until I hear concrete word of a spinal transplant. I have no more respect for this release than I would had they censored the very title and tried to bring kids on board.
If you have no interest in exploitative, transgressive, trashy, dark, or potentially (ever shifting and expanding) "offensive" content, that is fair enough, and you have every right to avoid it. But that is all you have the right to do. Religious grounds, sociopolitical grounds, politically correct grounds. Outrage culture can stand there and complain, but it must not be granted another inch.
P.S.
I want to give some credit to GoodBadFlicks on Youtube for his , resulting in neutered artistic content.
November 5, 2012
The interwebs tells me that his official title of this is Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall, but my copy is titled simply Kick-Ass. I’m not sure what happened, but if Mark Millar needs any suggestions, I came up with these options:
Kick-Ass 2: Kick Harder
Kick-Ass 2: The Kickening
Kick-Ass 2: Wrath of Ass
Kick Ass 2: Electric Boogalo
You’re welcome, Mark.
In the collection, teen-age nerd Dave Lizewski took his love of superhero comic books to the extreme when he put on a costume and started patrolling the streets while calling himself Kick-Ass. Unfortunately for Dave, his enthusiasm was far greater than his fighting skills so he took far more punishment then he dished out, and his naïve efforts got him mixed up in a war between the mob and another costumed vigilante, Hit Girl. Despite being only ten years old, Hit Girl is a deadly fighter with a foul mouth.
Picking up shortly after the events of the previous story, Hit Girl has retired to her civilian life as Mindy and is just trying to be a normal kid. Dave apparently didn’t learn his lesson and is still trying to be a superhero. His efforts have inspired others to put on masks and join the fight against crime, and Dave fulfills one of his nerd dreams by becoming a member of a superhero team. Unfortunately, his old foe Red Mist is back and is spending a fortune recruiting so-called super villains. Changing his name from Red Mist to The Motherfucker, his gang of thugs embark on a sadistic and brutal round of crimes to take revenge on Kick-Ass.
While I liked the original Kick-Ass and it’s movie adaptation, I thought it had a contradiction at the heart of it in that sometimes Millar strips away the illusion of stylized violence to show how ridiculous the idea of putting on a costume and taking on criminals is by having Kick-Ass being badly injured repeatedly yet then he’ll have Hit Girl engage in graphic over the top violence that asks the reader to believe that a pre-teen girl could defeat an army of heavily armed mob thugs.
That contradiction is even more evident here since Dave’s life is wrecked and permanently damaged by his actions as Kick-Ass. Dave has clung hard to the delusion of being a superhero but this time a lot of innocent people are killed or hurt as a direct result of Kick-Ass and for a long time it seems that Millar’s point is to show how even a well-meaning fantasy can screw someone up if they refuse to acknowledge reality. However, when things are at their worst for Dave, the solution becomes to once again put on a costume and engage in even more graphic violence.
This really hit home for me in one scene where Hit Girl is talking to a cop and refers to herself as a superhero. The cop scoffs, “You are NOT a superhero. You’re a little girl with a personality disorder.� And he’s absolutely right. Yet the comics set Hit Girl up as the one we’re supposed to cheer for as she routinely engages in mass murder.
Maybe Millar is trying to make some complex points about violence as entertainment, but it seems more like he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too.
Fans of this should also check out the movie for more carnage resulting from a geek trying to play superhero.
Kick-Ass 2: Kick Harder
Kick-Ass 2: The Kickening
Kick-Ass 2: Wrath of Ass
Kick Ass 2: Electric Boogalo
You’re welcome, Mark.
In the collection, teen-age nerd Dave Lizewski took his love of superhero comic books to the extreme when he put on a costume and started patrolling the streets while calling himself Kick-Ass. Unfortunately for Dave, his enthusiasm was far greater than his fighting skills so he took far more punishment then he dished out, and his naïve efforts got him mixed up in a war between the mob and another costumed vigilante, Hit Girl. Despite being only ten years old, Hit Girl is a deadly fighter with a foul mouth.
Picking up shortly after the events of the previous story, Hit Girl has retired to her civilian life as Mindy and is just trying to be a normal kid. Dave apparently didn’t learn his lesson and is still trying to be a superhero. His efforts have inspired others to put on masks and join the fight against crime, and Dave fulfills one of his nerd dreams by becoming a member of a superhero team. Unfortunately, his old foe Red Mist is back and is spending a fortune recruiting so-called super villains. Changing his name from Red Mist to The Motherfucker, his gang of thugs embark on a sadistic and brutal round of crimes to take revenge on Kick-Ass.
While I liked the original Kick-Ass and it’s movie adaptation, I thought it had a contradiction at the heart of it in that sometimes Millar strips away the illusion of stylized violence to show how ridiculous the idea of putting on a costume and taking on criminals is by having Kick-Ass being badly injured repeatedly yet then he’ll have Hit Girl engage in graphic over the top violence that asks the reader to believe that a pre-teen girl could defeat an army of heavily armed mob thugs.
That contradiction is even more evident here since Dave’s life is wrecked and permanently damaged by his actions as Kick-Ass. Dave has clung hard to the delusion of being a superhero but this time a lot of innocent people are killed or hurt as a direct result of Kick-Ass and for a long time it seems that Millar’s point is to show how even a well-meaning fantasy can screw someone up if they refuse to acknowledge reality. However, when things are at their worst for Dave, the solution becomes to once again put on a costume and engage in even more graphic violence.
This really hit home for me in one scene where Hit Girl is talking to a cop and refers to herself as a superhero. The cop scoffs, “You are NOT a superhero. You’re a little girl with a personality disorder.� And he’s absolutely right. Yet the comics set Hit Girl up as the one we’re supposed to cheer for as she routinely engages in mass murder.
Maybe Millar is trying to make some complex points about violence as entertainment, but it seems more like he’s trying to have his cake and eat it too.
Fans of this should also check out the movie for more carnage resulting from a geek trying to play superhero.
October 3, 2014
The second volume is still kicking in big way!!!
A REVERSE EXPERIENCE
My experience with Kick-Ass 2 was kinda opposite to the one with the first story.
When I watched the first film, I hadn't read yet the comic book, and since I loved the movie, I moved fast to read the original comic book as soon as possible. And I loved too the comic book.
When the comic books of Kick-Ass 2 came out, I was prepared and I was able to get them on single issues without having to do the titanic quest of the ones of the first story. So, when finally the second movie reached theaters, I had read the comic books. And boy, it was a shock to watch such awful adaptation of the second story.
If you ever had the bad luck of watching the second film, expecting the same greatness of the first movie, please, PLEASE don't lose your faiht on the comic book, since the second story in its original comic book format is the same as greatness as the first story, even more, you can say.
The adaptation to film of the second story hadn't the "balls" of the original story written on paper, toning down key scenes and even adding an innecesary romantic fling between the main characters and even worse a total different ending that honestly I don't know how they'd do the third adaptation (if ever they do it) since how the second story ends is key of how the third story will start and being most of it.
So... movie, NO NO, ... comic book, YES!!! YES!!!.
HIT-GIRL HAS A NEW SIDEKICK
OR
THE AWESOME IS STILL AWESOME!!!
The first story and the adaptation for the first movie had key differences, while both great, I felt that Kick-Ass 2 was carefully worked to fit as best as possible to merge a kinda "reconciled" story that it can works as a follow up to both audiences (the ones that only watched the movie and/or the ones who actually read the first story in comic book format).
If you think that after reading the first story, Kick-Ass 2 won't shock you... well, you are happily mistaken! Since Kick-Ass 2 is still as awesome as the first story, but definitely, it includes very raw scenes, totally tought to cope about them. You think that you had a hard stomach, well, Kick-Ass 2 is a good test to find out. You will meet evil here. And evil can do nasty things... very nasty things.
The achievements of Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl have shocked the world, and now, more people is getting out to get into a costume and living a "hero experience", and of course, after a solo hero, and a hero partnership, the next logical evolution to the cultural phenomenon was a hero team.
Enter: Justice Forever
A new team of heroes is formed under the leadership of the though guy of "Colonel Stars". In this group of "Justice Forever" joined Kick-Ass but alone since Hit-Girl is trying to obey the request of his new step-father to avoid this "hero business", however, Dave isn't short of friends in the new team since his high school buddies, Todd and Marty, decided to become costumed crime-fighters too.
But where "super-heroes" appear... "super-villains" will rise...
"Red Mist" is now a memory, now it's "The Motherfucker" and he's on "vendetta mode", recruiting as many mercenaries as possible and "turning" them into "super-villains". And if you thought that the mobsters of the first story were evil, well, you will meet a WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF EVIL, since this assault team of villain will do unspeakable stuff that even the most evil supervillains that you have read in regular super-hero comic books never had the chance to do. And I am not commenting as a compliment, since honestly, I think that Mark Millar & John Romita, Jr. had the balls to construct these nasty scenes to show how deadly and awful can get your lives if you ever try to "play heroes", since evil people aren't playing any games, and you aren't islands, anybody around your lives can get trapped and paying the consequences, even people that technically aren't in your lives anymore. Anybody of your present or your past will count if evil people are set to make you suffer.
Kick-Ass & Hit-Girl will have to face the wave of crime convened by "The Motherfucker", and they will find out that the plans are only perfect on paper, on real life, even the best plan can go to hell and having to pay for it.
This is Kick-Ass 2! Taste the awesome... again!
A REVERSE EXPERIENCE
My experience with Kick-Ass 2 was kinda opposite to the one with the first story.
When I watched the first film, I hadn't read yet the comic book, and since I loved the movie, I moved fast to read the original comic book as soon as possible. And I loved too the comic book.
When the comic books of Kick-Ass 2 came out, I was prepared and I was able to get them on single issues without having to do the titanic quest of the ones of the first story. So, when finally the second movie reached theaters, I had read the comic books. And boy, it was a shock to watch such awful adaptation of the second story.
If you ever had the bad luck of watching the second film, expecting the same greatness of the first movie, please, PLEASE don't lose your faiht on the comic book, since the second story in its original comic book format is the same as greatness as the first story, even more, you can say.
The adaptation to film of the second story hadn't the "balls" of the original story written on paper, toning down key scenes and even adding an innecesary romantic fling between the main characters and even worse a total different ending that honestly I don't know how they'd do the third adaptation (if ever they do it) since how the second story ends is key of how the third story will start and being most of it.
So... movie, NO NO, ... comic book, YES!!! YES!!!.
HIT-GIRL HAS A NEW SIDEKICK
OR
THE AWESOME IS STILL AWESOME!!!
The first story and the adaptation for the first movie had key differences, while both great, I felt that Kick-Ass 2 was carefully worked to fit as best as possible to merge a kinda "reconciled" story that it can works as a follow up to both audiences (the ones that only watched the movie and/or the ones who actually read the first story in comic book format).
If you think that after reading the first story, Kick-Ass 2 won't shock you... well, you are happily mistaken! Since Kick-Ass 2 is still as awesome as the first story, but definitely, it includes very raw scenes, totally tought to cope about them. You think that you had a hard stomach, well, Kick-Ass 2 is a good test to find out. You will meet evil here. And evil can do nasty things... very nasty things.
The achievements of Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl have shocked the world, and now, more people is getting out to get into a costume and living a "hero experience", and of course, after a solo hero, and a hero partnership, the next logical evolution to the cultural phenomenon was a hero team.
Enter: Justice Forever
A new team of heroes is formed under the leadership of the though guy of "Colonel Stars". In this group of "Justice Forever" joined Kick-Ass but alone since Hit-Girl is trying to obey the request of his new step-father to avoid this "hero business", however, Dave isn't short of friends in the new team since his high school buddies, Todd and Marty, decided to become costumed crime-fighters too.
But where "super-heroes" appear... "super-villains" will rise...
"Red Mist" is now a memory, now it's "The Motherfucker" and he's on "vendetta mode", recruiting as many mercenaries as possible and "turning" them into "super-villains". And if you thought that the mobsters of the first story were evil, well, you will meet a WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF EVIL, since this assault team of villain will do unspeakable stuff that even the most evil supervillains that you have read in regular super-hero comic books never had the chance to do. And I am not commenting as a compliment, since honestly, I think that Mark Millar & John Romita, Jr. had the balls to construct these nasty scenes to show how deadly and awful can get your lives if you ever try to "play heroes", since evil people aren't playing any games, and you aren't islands, anybody around your lives can get trapped and paying the consequences, even people that technically aren't in your lives anymore. Anybody of your present or your past will count if evil people are set to make you suffer.
Kick-Ass & Hit-Girl will have to face the wave of crime convened by "The Motherfucker", and they will find out that the plans are only perfect on paper, on real life, even the best plan can go to hell and having to pay for it.
This is Kick-Ass 2! Taste the awesome... again!
April 9, 2013
You have to love a comic where the introduction begins, "Hey Fuckers."
Well.... you don't *have* to love it. But I certainly did.
A great continuation of the series. An interesting combination of genuinely interesting emotional story combined with the profoundly grim fucking ultra violence.
Don't start with this one, obviously. People who begin reading a series in the middle go to the special hell, along with child molesters and people who talk in the theatre.
Also, what's happening here won't make a damn bit of sense unless you read the first one first.
Well.... you don't *have* to love it. But I certainly did.
A great continuation of the series. An interesting combination of genuinely interesting emotional story combined with the profoundly grim fucking ultra violence.
Don't start with this one, obviously. People who begin reading a series in the middle go to the special hell, along with child molesters and people who talk in the theatre.
Also, what's happening here won't make a damn bit of sense unless you read the first one first.
December 7, 2016
4.5 Estrellas.
Gracioso incluso en la tragedia.
Fav moments:
1.- Muerte del Coronel y Sofía/decapitación e intercambio de cabezas.
2.- Visita del Squad de The Motherfucker al barrio de Katie Deauxma/disparos a los niños.
3.- Ahorcamiento de James Lizewski.
4.- Decapitación de Mother Russia.
5.- Escape de Hitgirl/arresto.
"They killed your dad and they raped your girlfriend. Are you really going to sit here blubbing like a bitch at the Oscar's?" LOL
Gracioso incluso en la tragedia.
Fav moments:
1.- Muerte del Coronel y Sofía/decapitación e intercambio de cabezas.
2.- Visita del Squad de The Motherfucker al barrio de Katie Deauxma/disparos a los niños.
3.- Ahorcamiento de James Lizewski.
4.- Decapitación de Mother Russia.
5.- Escape de Hitgirl/arresto.
"They killed your dad and they raped your girlfriend. Are you really going to sit here blubbing like a bitch at the Oscar's?" LOL
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2023
There are some major changes to tone down some of the over the top graphic violence between the original Marvel edition and Image rerelease. I'm not a fan of Millar censoring himself even if the changes did make it a more palatable story. Overall it's still an interesting story, even neutered. Kick-Ass joins the first superteam while Hit-Girl tries to appease her stepfather and live a normal life. Red Mist starts gathering all of the bad guys in the New York area in order to cause mass chaos and destruction. This has some major ramifications that will lead into the last volume. Things get really bad for pretty much every character in the book. Everyone in this is pretty much a lost cause at this point.
June 24, 2012
David Lizewski/Kick Ass is being trained by Mindy/Hit Girl to become a better superhero but when Hit Girl is dissuaded from putting on her outfit and bloodying up criminals by her new step-father and recently re-united mother, Kick Ass sets off to meet others who are dressing up and fighting crime. And it turns out there's a few, so many that they wind up making the first "real-world" superhero team, Justice Forever. But things are about to get shaken up by Red Mist who is gathering an army to exact revenge on Kick Ass for his father's death.
I remember really enjoying the first book and Mark Millar is usually an interesting writer so I was surprised to find myself not falling for this book as completely as I did the first. It might be because of a couple of things: there's a lot less humour and fun in the book, and it's very dark. Whereas the first book contained some of the thrill of a buttoned-down boy finding freedom of self through a secret identity, here he is beset by tragedy again and again. Kick Ass learns that like many costumed vigilantes, he must endure great personal suffering for his choice of putting on a mask. And these tragedies are very dark and graphic so be warned; Millar has always had a tendency to shock and he doesn't pull his punches here.
I think the irony of the series is that Millar presented Kick Ass as a semi-plausible story of a young boy setting out to be a superhero without superpowers and thus becoming a different kind of "hero" journey not seen before, and yet time after time in this book the story falls back on comic-book archetypes and clichés. The way the hero loses close friends and family mirrors numerous superheroes; the way the bad guy plots to blow up the city and does any number of heinous things including murder and rape; the way the hero is perceived as a villain by those he protects; by the end of the book it's no longer a singular post-modern superhero story but just another superhero story, indistinguishable from a Batman or Spiderman book.
That said, while I found the plot a bit predictable, I began thinking about the meaning of the scenes and wondering why they were included. I think at its core, Kick Ass is a way of looking at superhero comics and their meaning on a broader scale. It could even be said of the world presented in Kick Ass that we are in the post-superhero age; where everyone wants to be and is a superhero but no-one truly is - at least not in the comic-book sense.
Millar makes a point of defining what he believes a superhero is: it's not just putting on a costume and beating up criminals (although that is part of it) but it could also be as simple as helping out at a homeless shelter or donating blood. The fact that they wear a mask when they do these things is irrelevant. In that definition, like many things in Kick Ass, Millar is saying we can all be superheroes if we want - a better world is within our grasp even if we need to re-phrase the actions with the help of colourful outfits.
I'm divided in my view of the book. On the one hand I feel the series has become a product of the thing he sought to parody and in the other I have the nagging suspicion that this is all designed to appear that way and that this is a truly post-modern superhero comic with many layers. On a purely superficial level, did I enjoy reading it? Sure, it's good, bloody, fun and while not all fans of the first book might like this second as much, there's enough here to make it worth your time and the fact that the book has left me pondering its meaning this much is something few comics manage. So I tentatively recommend it with the caveat that you go in with lowered expectations and with both eyes open for the meaning in the spaces in between the panels.
I remember really enjoying the first book and Mark Millar is usually an interesting writer so I was surprised to find myself not falling for this book as completely as I did the first. It might be because of a couple of things: there's a lot less humour and fun in the book, and it's very dark. Whereas the first book contained some of the thrill of a buttoned-down boy finding freedom of self through a secret identity, here he is beset by tragedy again and again. Kick Ass learns that like many costumed vigilantes, he must endure great personal suffering for his choice of putting on a mask. And these tragedies are very dark and graphic so be warned; Millar has always had a tendency to shock and he doesn't pull his punches here.
I think the irony of the series is that Millar presented Kick Ass as a semi-plausible story of a young boy setting out to be a superhero without superpowers and thus becoming a different kind of "hero" journey not seen before, and yet time after time in this book the story falls back on comic-book archetypes and clichés. The way the hero loses close friends and family mirrors numerous superheroes; the way the bad guy plots to blow up the city and does any number of heinous things including murder and rape; the way the hero is perceived as a villain by those he protects; by the end of the book it's no longer a singular post-modern superhero story but just another superhero story, indistinguishable from a Batman or Spiderman book.
That said, while I found the plot a bit predictable, I began thinking about the meaning of the scenes and wondering why they were included. I think at its core, Kick Ass is a way of looking at superhero comics and their meaning on a broader scale. It could even be said of the world presented in Kick Ass that we are in the post-superhero age; where everyone wants to be and is a superhero but no-one truly is - at least not in the comic-book sense.
Millar makes a point of defining what he believes a superhero is: it's not just putting on a costume and beating up criminals (although that is part of it) but it could also be as simple as helping out at a homeless shelter or donating blood. The fact that they wear a mask when they do these things is irrelevant. In that definition, like many things in Kick Ass, Millar is saying we can all be superheroes if we want - a better world is within our grasp even if we need to re-phrase the actions with the help of colourful outfits.
I'm divided in my view of the book. On the one hand I feel the series has become a product of the thing he sought to parody and in the other I have the nagging suspicion that this is all designed to appear that way and that this is a truly post-modern superhero comic with many layers. On a purely superficial level, did I enjoy reading it? Sure, it's good, bloody, fun and while not all fans of the first book might like this second as much, there's enough here to make it worth your time and the fact that the book has left me pondering its meaning this much is something few comics manage. So I tentatively recommend it with the caveat that you go in with lowered expectations and with both eyes open for the meaning in the spaces in between the panels.
December 23, 2018
So this series isn’t quite getting bad but downhill? Perhaps.
What’s it about?
In order to explain that I’d have to spoil stuff so skip.
Pros:
The story is interesting. It tries to take a more realistic(ish) approach on superheroes and it works fairly well.
The artwork is pretty good.
Most of the characters are interesting and well written.
I really like the action scenes in this. There are a lot of them and they are brutal as hell but fantastic!
This book is sometimes fairly humorous, not as humorous as the first Kick-Ass story or Hit Girl but funny.
This book is super unpredictable!
Some of the dialogue is great.
Cons:
I didn’t like how things happened. I know it’s more realistic but still... and I’m not just talking about the ending (though that is one of the things I’m referring to).
The villains are kinda lame. They’re not terrible but really, they’re just so typical it ain’t even funny. Also what sort of shitty villain name is The Motherfucker?
I didn’t like the ending, not just because of what happens but because it’s a depressing as fuck way to end a book, especially one that for the most part is meant to be fun like this one.
This last con is super spoilery.
Overall:
This book is good, not great. It’s interesting and very actiony. The problem is that there are a lot of things about this book I really didn’t like, but even then for the most part I understand why that stuff is there. This book is interesting and actiony, would recommend this series.
4/5
What’s it about?
In order to explain that I’d have to spoil stuff so skip.
Pros:
The story is interesting. It tries to take a more realistic(ish) approach on superheroes and it works fairly well.
The artwork is pretty good.
Most of the characters are interesting and well written.
I really like the action scenes in this. There are a lot of them and they are brutal as hell but fantastic!
This book is sometimes fairly humorous, not as humorous as the first Kick-Ass story or Hit Girl but funny.
This book is super unpredictable!
Some of the dialogue is great.
Cons:
I didn’t like how things happened. I know it’s more realistic but still... and I’m not just talking about the ending (though that is one of the things I’m referring to).
The villains are kinda lame. They’re not terrible but really, they’re just so typical it ain’t even funny. Also what sort of shitty villain name is The Motherfucker?
I didn’t like the ending, not just because of what happens but because it’s a depressing as fuck way to end a book, especially one that for the most part is meant to be fun like this one.
This last con is super spoilery.
Overall:
This book is good, not great. It’s interesting and very actiony. The problem is that there are a lot of things about this book I really didn’t like, but even then for the most part I understand why that stuff is there. This book is interesting and actiony, would recommend this series.
4/5
March 1, 2016
This is a difficult book to review. On the one hand, its art and its writing were impressive--especially the art. The colors were striking and the visuals arresting. This might be my favorite style of any graphic novel, though I can't say I'm particularly well-read in the genre. On the other hand, this book acts as if it's going to deal with the question of what a "real" superhero would go through. This is the story's excuse to make every possible misery happen to our protagonist and his loved ones. Vile things happen in this book. That isn't itself a bad thing. Vile things happen in life and should be reflected in art. But there's no reflection going on. The odious happenings in this book occur more or less for the sake of being edgy. The story doesn't feel like it needs these events--a character's gang rape is what sticks out most to me. The fact that this is hardly mentioned by the other characters, and that the victim is lost in the shuffle of the more "important" story, seems irresponsible and dangerous. I guess I just would expect more empathy from a group of people who deem themselves superheroes, or from any writer who decides to write about them.
May 9, 2020
Unnecessary violence, ludacris writing and inconsistent art makes this sequel fall far below the standard set by its predecessor.
March 14, 2013
I have a confession to make. I haven't read the first Kick-Ass book nor its follow up, Hit-Girl. To the best of my knowledge, the first movie pretty much nailed what went on in the first two hardcovers and by the looks of the for Kick-Ass 2, it's set to do the same. I can't imagine them losing anything in the transition from comics to film.. well, aside from one key factor: the violence.
Now, don't get me wrong, Kick-Ass was a violent movie. Any movie that depicts a gangster exploding inside of a giant microwave is plenty violent but even with THAT, I was not prepared for what lied ahead in Kick-Ass 2.
After her father's death, Hit-Girl is still seething with rage. However, with her new stepfather aware of her violent alter-ego, he forbids her from ever suiting up and fighting crime again. This becomes even harder to abide by when a new super-team is formed named, Justice Forever, bringing Kick-Ass into the fold.
While the group is working hard fighting crime and helping the needy, Kick-Ass' arch-nemesis The Red Mist, is putting together his own legion. When Red Mist takes out a member of Justice Forever, tensions escalate between the two factions. Can Kick-Ass and Justice Forever put a stop to Red Mist before he embarks on his most ambitious plan yet?
I'm a big fan of the characters Mark Millar has established. Dave Lizewski playing the lovable loser Kick-Ass along with a wise-beyond her years, Hit Girl, are one of my favorite duos in superhero fiction. Millar's writing is both emotional and hilarious with one line specifically that I can’t wait to hear Chloë Grace Moretz utter on the big screen. So on one hand, I loved this. On the other hand however, I couldn't get passed a few specific panels where violence seems to be used for the sake of violence.
I guess I should have expected what I was getting when I took on a Mark Millar graphic novel as I did just read a Wolverine book a few weeks ago but with characters and stories so compelling, I don't see the reason for the over-the-top gore at certain points.
That being said, I still really enjoyed reading this and am very interested in backtracking to the first two collections. There’s still two more hardcovers to be written and I’m certainly looking forward to it.
Now, don't get me wrong, Kick-Ass was a violent movie. Any movie that depicts a gangster exploding inside of a giant microwave is plenty violent but even with THAT, I was not prepared for what lied ahead in Kick-Ass 2.
After her father's death, Hit-Girl is still seething with rage. However, with her new stepfather aware of her violent alter-ego, he forbids her from ever suiting up and fighting crime again. This becomes even harder to abide by when a new super-team is formed named, Justice Forever, bringing Kick-Ass into the fold.
While the group is working hard fighting crime and helping the needy, Kick-Ass' arch-nemesis The Red Mist, is putting together his own legion. When Red Mist takes out a member of Justice Forever, tensions escalate between the two factions. Can Kick-Ass and Justice Forever put a stop to Red Mist before he embarks on his most ambitious plan yet?
I'm a big fan of the characters Mark Millar has established. Dave Lizewski playing the lovable loser Kick-Ass along with a wise-beyond her years, Hit Girl, are one of my favorite duos in superhero fiction. Millar's writing is both emotional and hilarious with one line specifically that I can’t wait to hear Chloë Grace Moretz utter on the big screen. So on one hand, I loved this. On the other hand however, I couldn't get passed a few specific panels where violence seems to be used for the sake of violence.
I guess I should have expected what I was getting when I took on a Mark Millar graphic novel as I did just read a Wolverine book a few weeks ago but with characters and stories so compelling, I don't see the reason for the over-the-top gore at certain points.
That being said, I still really enjoyed reading this and am very interested in backtracking to the first two collections. There’s still two more hardcovers to be written and I’m certainly looking forward to it.
August 28, 2013
I'm really really really upset that I've read this book. Let me tell you why. I don't mind violence, you know """justified""" violence, sometimes because the world is not totally black or white. But I can't stand books/comics/movies who makes situations like rapes, explosing fucking innocent children in the face like some funny jokes. There were two important deaths (it's a little a bit a spoiler), they were awfuly bring in the story, awfuly justified. Like the author wanted to give himself a genre "yeah I don't mind making my comic cruel and bloody this is so hardcore and if you don't feel well about these, you're a little pussy".
Also, I know that Hit-Girl is a badass because she's like a 9-years-old-ninja kicking more asses than Batman but she doesn't have to disrespect everything that is 'feminine'. If Kick-Ass is crying because of all the trauma he's been trough, she would tell him immediately that he is a "pussy, a lady".
You can be a strong women and be girly OK. There is nothing wrong with this (look Sansa in Game of Thrones, man)
According to me, Mark Millar wanted to add violence, blood, shitty language to fill the story's emptyness.
I don't know if I want to see the movie or read the next volume now, the first one wasn't bad.
Also, I know that Hit-Girl is a badass because she's like a 9-years-old-ninja kicking more asses than Batman but she doesn't have to disrespect everything that is 'feminine'. If Kick-Ass is crying because of all the trauma he's been trough, she would tell him immediately that he is a "pussy, a lady".
You can be a strong women and be girly OK. There is nothing wrong with this (look Sansa in Game of Thrones, man)
According to me, Mark Millar wanted to add violence, blood, shitty language to fill the story's emptyness.
I don't know if I want to see the movie or read the next volume now, the first one wasn't bad.
June 6, 2015
Just....no.
Too much, not an ounce of humour, just violence on top of violence and then some violence thrown in for good measure.
The novelty has worn off. Hit Girl swearing like a sailor isn't funny anymore, and a gang rape of a teenage girl, followed by the hanging murder of a character was enough. But then to have a bloodbath at the funeral? No.
I hope he's just taking the piss, but this felt more like the Fonz jumped over the Shark.
***I put it down right after the Funeral attack***
Too much, not an ounce of humour, just violence on top of violence and then some violence thrown in for good measure.
The novelty has worn off. Hit Girl swearing like a sailor isn't funny anymore, and a gang rape of a teenage girl, followed by the hanging murder of a character was enough. But then to have a bloodbath at the funeral? No.
I hope he's just taking the piss, but this felt more like the Fonz jumped over the Shark.
***I put it down right after the Funeral attack***
August 28, 2013
Maybe it was because I listened to Magma's Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh while reading this, but I was far too entertained by such an awful book. Unfortunately the music has ended and I now see the book in all its awfulness. Some spoilers to follow.
This sequel sees Kick-Ass join a superhero team, called Justice Forever, and we also see the formation of a supervillain team led by Red Mist, called Toxic Mega Cunts.
There's a lot more violence in this one, and not so much the fun kind, but more of a dark nature. Supervillains murder a superhero and his dog, cut off both their heads, and place the dog's head where his used to be. Kids likely still in Pull-Ups are brutally massacred en masse. A girl watches both her parents get killed right before she is raped by three different men. So on and so forth. The violence is definitely upped in here and given a bit of a darker tone. But it's not without good reason, you see it serves a purpose...well sort of. The book's not realistic, that's for sure, it's not as if its events are believable--they're really not--the comic just adds a lot of blood, violence, and curse words in there to make it seem like something new.
But it's clear that Millar was aiming for something a bit more serious here in way of writing. As I mentioned in , Millar often flirted with potential but never got quite close enough to even smell its perfume. The same flirtation is true for this sequel. We see Kick-Ass's world destroyed: his "girlfriend" is raped and has her parents killed by supervillains in search of him; his dad is murdered in prison after taking the blame for what he should have been arrested for; he gets little kids murdered; dozens of supervillains are rampaging the city, etc., etc.
Kick-Ass caused all this by simply putting on a mask. In attempting to create an ultimate good he also created an ultimate evil, for one cannot exist without the other. As you could imagine, Kick-Ass must bear a tremendous amount of guilt. After his dad dies he can barely even function--he doesn't want revenge, he just wants it all to be over. He wants the surreal nightmare of murderous costumed heroes and villains to be over. But does Millar ever explore this guilt? Nope. He implies it and even mentions it but only a page or so later abandons it with Hit-Girl calling Kick-Ass a "pussy" and throwing him back into costume to defeat evil, once again. Thus destroying all potential and removing any possible justification or purpose for such graphic violence.
A whole 15 issues later and ole' Dave Lizewski still has yet to evolve or come to any sort of revelation. All these things that happen to him seem to only affect him for a few panels before he's back doing the same exact thing he did beforehand.
Kick-Ass doesn't deal with the concept of superheroes applied to reality. That's just the excuse it uses to have page after page of graphic violence, profanity, and acts of tastelessness. It doesn't deal with "deep" topics or themes. We never see a commentary or any sort of character psychology. It doesn't know whether to condemn its delusional characters or to praise them, so it does neither well. It's a meaningless and mindless book.
In ignoring the potential to say something worthwhile or use its violence for serious reflection it becomes mindless. In becoming mindless it seizes to be realistic and instead becomes tasteless. In becoming tasteless it stops being fun. Simple as that. Mindless tastelessness without any fun. Oh, what a bore.
This sequel sees Kick-Ass join a superhero team, called Justice Forever, and we also see the formation of a supervillain team led by Red Mist, called Toxic Mega Cunts.
There's a lot more violence in this one, and not so much the fun kind, but more of a dark nature. Supervillains murder a superhero and his dog, cut off both their heads, and place the dog's head where his used to be. Kids likely still in Pull-Ups are brutally massacred en masse. A girl watches both her parents get killed right before she is raped by three different men. So on and so forth. The violence is definitely upped in here and given a bit of a darker tone. But it's not without good reason, you see it serves a purpose...well sort of. The book's not realistic, that's for sure, it's not as if its events are believable--they're really not--the comic just adds a lot of blood, violence, and curse words in there to make it seem like something new.
But it's clear that Millar was aiming for something a bit more serious here in way of writing. As I mentioned in , Millar often flirted with potential but never got quite close enough to even smell its perfume. The same flirtation is true for this sequel. We see Kick-Ass's world destroyed: his "girlfriend" is raped and has her parents killed by supervillains in search of him; his dad is murdered in prison after taking the blame for what he should have been arrested for; he gets little kids murdered; dozens of supervillains are rampaging the city, etc., etc.
Kick-Ass caused all this by simply putting on a mask. In attempting to create an ultimate good he also created an ultimate evil, for one cannot exist without the other. As you could imagine, Kick-Ass must bear a tremendous amount of guilt. After his dad dies he can barely even function--he doesn't want revenge, he just wants it all to be over. He wants the surreal nightmare of murderous costumed heroes and villains to be over. But does Millar ever explore this guilt? Nope. He implies it and even mentions it but only a page or so later abandons it with Hit-Girl calling Kick-Ass a "pussy" and throwing him back into costume to defeat evil, once again. Thus destroying all potential and removing any possible justification or purpose for such graphic violence.
A whole 15 issues later and ole' Dave Lizewski still has yet to evolve or come to any sort of revelation. All these things that happen to him seem to only affect him for a few panels before he's back doing the same exact thing he did beforehand.
Kick-Ass doesn't deal with the concept of superheroes applied to reality. That's just the excuse it uses to have page after page of graphic violence, profanity, and acts of tastelessness. It doesn't deal with "deep" topics or themes. We never see a commentary or any sort of character psychology. It doesn't know whether to condemn its delusional characters or to praise them, so it does neither well. It's a meaningless and mindless book.
In ignoring the potential to say something worthwhile or use its violence for serious reflection it becomes mindless. In becoming mindless it seizes to be realistic and instead becomes tasteless. In becoming tasteless it stops being fun. Simple as that. Mindless tastelessness without any fun. Oh, what a bore.
May 16, 2019
4,5/5
I can understand people finding this too much. I love it, just bursted out laughing sometimes with the ridicilous brutality.
I can understand people finding this too much. I love it, just bursted out laughing sometimes with the ridicilous brutality.
August 12, 2023
Absolutely brutal and brilliant sequel. Hit-girl shines and multiple storylines kept me guessing until the end. Millar really immerses you in his world.
August 27, 2013
I read this and at the same time....got them from the library. I was inspired to be the movie Kick Ass. I'd not seen it till the second one came out.
Oh and Kick Ass showed up on TV.
The general story of Kick Ass is about the same, book and movie. I can't speak for that here as I haven't seen the movie, but some of the same characters are the same.
I grew up in the '50s and '60s. This is what's generally called the "Silver Age" of comics (or comic books for the purist). Over time comic books have changed. They were originally about positive things (in general) at least Super Hero comics were. As the '70s advanced it became fashionable for comics to be as "Anti-idealistic" as possible. Ideals were fantasy, the world isn't that way, we're just showing realism.
In a superhero comic.
Here we build on the story set forth in Kick Ass. We get a "group" of super heroes. Obviously we're harkening back to the Avengers and the JLA (Justice League of America) etc. We also see the "rise" or "arrival" of the "super villain.
What we actually do is boil super hero confrontations down to a street brawl between gangs.
As I said I haven't seen the movie. As for the book, it's basically violence and again lots of blood and organs. We sort of lower everything to the lowest possible common denominator.
Read it if you want. I may see the flick as I thought the first was pretty good, but I plan to make this my last foray into Kick Ass the graphic novels.
Oh and Kick Ass showed up on TV.
The general story of Kick Ass is about the same, book and movie. I can't speak for that here as I haven't seen the movie, but some of the same characters are the same.
I grew up in the '50s and '60s. This is what's generally called the "Silver Age" of comics (or comic books for the purist). Over time comic books have changed. They were originally about positive things (in general) at least Super Hero comics were. As the '70s advanced it became fashionable for comics to be as "Anti-idealistic" as possible. Ideals were fantasy, the world isn't that way, we're just showing realism.
In a superhero comic.
Here we build on the story set forth in Kick Ass. We get a "group" of super heroes. Obviously we're harkening back to the Avengers and the JLA (Justice League of America) etc. We also see the "rise" or "arrival" of the "super villain.
What we actually do is boil super hero confrontations down to a street brawl between gangs.
As I said I haven't seen the movie. As for the book, it's basically violence and again lots of blood and organs. We sort of lower everything to the lowest possible common denominator.
Read it if you want. I may see the flick as I thought the first was pretty good, but I plan to make this my last foray into Kick Ass the graphic novels.
June 22, 2015
�The minute this got big, I read a hundred different articles, Psychologists asking why we did it every night. Were we mad? Were we lonely? Were we just obsessed with comic books?
The answer, Of course was a little of all three� but I also liked to ask why they didn’t chase their dreams� No it wasn’t normal� it wasn’t even close. But it was awesome, man�� Dave Lizewski, a.k.a Kick-Ass
With Kick-Ass 2, Mark Millar has raised the level of violence and raunchiness in a comic book to new heights. If Kick-Ass 1 was bleeding violence, then Kick-Ass 2 is pumping it out in ferocious intensity and great volumes. John Romita Jr’s crisp and superb artworks engulfs the reader in the extreme darkness and violence seeping out of each graphic frame. Bursting at the seams with a generously lenient extra servings of aggression, cuss-words, mayhem, carnage, brutal action and hacked and sliced body parts Kick-Ass 2 often borders on the realms of being quite repulsive and controversial at times. If you are not a fan of the Kick-Ass franchise and easily get offended or is a sensitive person then it will be prudent to stay away from this series as the level of violence depicted in these cartoon panels can literally shock you.
The answer, Of course was a little of all three� but I also liked to ask why they didn’t chase their dreams� No it wasn’t normal� it wasn’t even close. But it was awesome, man�� Dave Lizewski, a.k.a Kick-Ass
With Kick-Ass 2, Mark Millar has raised the level of violence and raunchiness in a comic book to new heights. If Kick-Ass 1 was bleeding violence, then Kick-Ass 2 is pumping it out in ferocious intensity and great volumes. John Romita Jr’s crisp and superb artworks engulfs the reader in the extreme darkness and violence seeping out of each graphic frame. Bursting at the seams with a generously lenient extra servings of aggression, cuss-words, mayhem, carnage, brutal action and hacked and sliced body parts Kick-Ass 2 often borders on the realms of being quite repulsive and controversial at times. If you are not a fan of the Kick-Ass franchise and easily get offended or is a sensitive person then it will be prudent to stay away from this series as the level of violence depicted in these cartoon panels can literally shock you.
February 27, 2022
4.5🌟
The most outrageous series I've read since Preacher. Give me some more pls.
The most outrageous series I've read since Preacher. Give me some more pls.
April 25, 2013
My love of the first volume of Kick-Ass is well documented. The perfect childhood fantasy made into a 'reality'. I mean, I had notebooks full of my own costume ideas and weapons I'd make once I finished college or came into money. Ok, I was eight years old, but still. Millar made our dreams come true on paper. Too damn good. But of all the things I thought about the idea of Kick-Ass, sustainable never came to mind.
I've heard people talk about what a fabulous liar Mark Millar is. Supposedly his tall tales are popular at dinner parties and bars all over the world. I don't doubt it. The man is a first class fantasist, even if his stories aren't all that witty, they are assuredly epic. Millar must think that bigger is better, because this far, the only even-keeled story of his I've ever read was 'American Jesus'. And this follows horror movie sequel etiquette in that there is more of everything- more blood, more swearing, more heroes, more villains, more more. What there isn't more of, though, is story.
For anyone thinking the first installment was gratuitous, heaven help you when you read this one. There isn't a single scene or idea in this book that doesn't fall under that header. I would have thought this was printed under the Avatar press publication for all of the gruesome shit that goes down. And none of it is warranted.
So none of the things I loved about the original book made it into this one. But I still liked it. I still enjoyed it. Even though everything about it was disposable, I was entertained for an hour or so and as always I appreciated the lack of pretense.
John Romita Jr's artwork is extremely weak here and looks thoroughly washed out in the post-production processes. Needed to have strong lines and traditional Romita dark black inks.
Writing: C
Art: C
I've heard people talk about what a fabulous liar Mark Millar is. Supposedly his tall tales are popular at dinner parties and bars all over the world. I don't doubt it. The man is a first class fantasist, even if his stories aren't all that witty, they are assuredly epic. Millar must think that bigger is better, because this far, the only even-keeled story of his I've ever read was 'American Jesus'. And this follows horror movie sequel etiquette in that there is more of everything- more blood, more swearing, more heroes, more villains, more more. What there isn't more of, though, is story.
For anyone thinking the first installment was gratuitous, heaven help you when you read this one. There isn't a single scene or idea in this book that doesn't fall under that header. I would have thought this was printed under the Avatar press publication for all of the gruesome shit that goes down. And none of it is warranted.
So none of the things I loved about the original book made it into this one. But I still liked it. I still enjoyed it. Even though everything about it was disposable, I was entertained for an hour or so and as always I appreciated the lack of pretense.
John Romita Jr's artwork is extremely weak here and looks thoroughly washed out in the post-production processes. Needed to have strong lines and traditional Romita dark black inks.
Writing: C
Art: C
August 19, 2013
At first I was liking where the story was going, all of Kick-Ass's talk about Justice Forever, and about why they were fighting crime got me excited and thinking maybe I was going to enjoy it more than the first one (also the fact that the art seems better this time around) but when I finished I was dissapointed and disgusted.
Yeah, I know Kick-Ass is a violent and gory comic-book but ugh this was so much worse than the first one in that aspect, AND FOR WHAT? The villain at the head of it all has a desire for vengeance (WE GOT THAT), and when he's finally confronting the "hero" of the story he says things like "what the hell are you doing", ARE YOU SERIOUS ? I thought all that crap before had a point ?! But no, we get mass murders, gang rape (wtf?!), kids being killed, a scene that made me think of the King in the North...and with no resolution and not even a commentary on all of it.
I'm impressed by art, but most of all I'm impressed by a story with substance not just mindless freaking violence, man.
I just...I don't even know what else to say but that this made me really uncomfortable, and I've read violent/gory/disturbing stories before, but wow.
*Also, all the homophobic, sexist, ableist language from the first book we see it again here, so there you go.
Yeah, I know Kick-Ass is a violent and gory comic-book but ugh this was so much worse than the first one in that aspect, AND FOR WHAT? The villain at the head of it all has a desire for vengeance (WE GOT THAT), and when he's finally confronting the "hero" of the story he says things like "what the hell are you doing", ARE YOU SERIOUS ? I thought all that crap before had a point ?! But no, we get mass murders, gang rape (wtf?!), kids being killed, a scene that made me think of the King in the North...and with no resolution and not even a commentary on all of it.
I'm impressed by art, but most of all I'm impressed by a story with substance not just mindless freaking violence, man.
I just...I don't even know what else to say but that this made me really uncomfortable, and I've read violent/gory/disturbing stories before, but wow.
*Also, all the homophobic, sexist, ableist language from the first book we see it again here, so there you go.
October 6, 2018
I was really enjoying this book, but I noticed that a few things just didn't seem to flow properly, so I went back and checked my old floppies, and this Image Comics printing is HEAVILY censored and changed. In the originals issues, Red Mist massacres a bunch of children, his crew rapes a girl and kills her family, there is a HUGE fight scene between Hit-Girl and Mother Russia that is totally missing here, Mother Russia murders a bunch of cops, also missing here, and there are also a ton of dialogue changes, and the whole meaning of the final battle is changed by altering the dialogue of the crowd. Millar, you sold out. And shame on Image for making such extensive changes and not letting fans and consumers know before they spent money on a watered down product. My opinion of Mark Millar, which was already not so hot, just went waaaaaay down. Sellout and corporate shill.
June 17, 2016
Another 'Kick-Ass' job by Millar. (HAHA,I crack my shit up). Ups the violence from the first volume, which is saying something, but still tells a good story. Now I just hope volume 3 isn't as disappointing as I've heard.
August 4, 2022
Pff, I'm conflicted on this one. It's funny at times, but not as funny as the previous two and the tone of the book is really inconsistent. So inconsistent that at times I was wondering, what Mark Millar was trying to say? Is he trying to say anything at all? Am I not understanding something?
I don't know, BUT, and there's a big big BUT here, I also kinda respect Kick-Ass 2. To me this book is about escalation and oh boy indeed it does escalate! When a creator tries to shock me I'm instantly indifferent to his/her efforts. Maybe it's my defense mechanism but I'm not easily impressed with shock value and initially I wasn't here too. But it kept going and going and I gotta respect a writer who sticks to his guns. That's all.
Final point, I just dislike Dave Lizewski. I simply don't like him and in this book we have more of his whiny bitch ass and less of Hit-Girl.
I don't know, BUT, and there's a big big BUT here, I also kinda respect Kick-Ass 2. To me this book is about escalation and oh boy indeed it does escalate! When a creator tries to shock me I'm instantly indifferent to his/her efforts. Maybe it's my defense mechanism but I'm not easily impressed with shock value and initially I wasn't here too. But it kept going and going and I gotta respect a writer who sticks to his guns. That's all.
Final point, I just dislike Dave Lizewski. I simply don't like him and in this book we have more of his whiny bitch ass and less of Hit-Girl.
February 22, 2018
And� It’s no longer fun.
When we started this journey with Kick-Ass, it was harmless fun. Sure, these people put on costumes and helped old ladies with their groceries and sure, things escalated with costumed villains rising up to fill the void and sure, there was a whole lot of murder, but all of that bad stuff happened to—you guessed it—bad guys.
This was different. This was dark and awful and uncomfortable to read.
Trigger Warning: Depictions of rape, torture and ultra violence.
The ‘villains� take it to a whole new world of despicable. What started off as harmless fun ended up costing our ‘heroes� more than they thought it would.
THIS was the point of the series. Trying to be good does not mean that good things would happen to you. Standing up against those who are evil could put you and your friends and family in a position that no one would ever want to be in.
It’s no longer fun and games.
This was not as funny or light-hearted as the first, and I was shocked by the level of violence. However, the storytelling was improved, the stakes were raised and� Isn’t this what happens in real life anyway? We know we don’t want this to be the case, but it is. Millar harshly gave me a reality check and I did not enjoy that.
(FYI, if you’ve watched the movie, then you’ll notice how they’ve skipped over the more disturbing elements of this story.)
When we started this journey with Kick-Ass, it was harmless fun. Sure, these people put on costumes and helped old ladies with their groceries and sure, things escalated with costumed villains rising up to fill the void and sure, there was a whole lot of murder, but all of that bad stuff happened to—you guessed it—bad guys.
This was different. This was dark and awful and uncomfortable to read.
Trigger Warning: Depictions of rape, torture and ultra violence.
The ‘villains� take it to a whole new world of despicable. What started off as harmless fun ended up costing our ‘heroes� more than they thought it would.
THIS was the point of the series. Trying to be good does not mean that good things would happen to you. Standing up against those who are evil could put you and your friends and family in a position that no one would ever want to be in.
It’s no longer fun and games.
This was not as funny or light-hearted as the first, and I was shocked by the level of violence. However, the storytelling was improved, the stakes were raised and� Isn’t this what happens in real life anyway? We know we don’t want this to be the case, but it is. Millar harshly gave me a reality check and I did not enjoy that.
(FYI, if you’ve watched the movie, then you’ll notice how they’ve skipped over the more disturbing elements of this story.)
September 25, 2012
Compared to the original Kick-Ass, which was awesome, this falls very, very flat on its face.
It's too violent. Yeah, I know it's supposed to be psychopathically gory, but this was just... painful. Pointless. Forced.
There's no story. If you emptied a couple of tankers of blood in a pre-school yard, you get the depth and complexity of the storyline and plot right there.
There are no interesting characters. Part 1 was brilliant because it gave us Kick-Ass, Red Mist, Big Daddy, and the one and only, the incomparable, Hit-Girl. Part 2 gives us... nothing. Even Mother Russia is a cardboard cutout character.
There's no inspirational takeaway message. You could empathize with the characters in the first, feel their pain, appreciate their emotions, and root for their kicking ass. Here, it's... dull. Empty.
Way too many civilian casualties eating up the landscape. Yeah, we get it. Innocent bystanders die. Needlessly and pointlessly. But this is.. just sad.
So yeah, this was... disappointing. Badly disappointing.
It's too violent. Yeah, I know it's supposed to be psychopathically gory, but this was just... painful. Pointless. Forced.
There's no story. If you emptied a couple of tankers of blood in a pre-school yard, you get the depth and complexity of the storyline and plot right there.
There are no interesting characters. Part 1 was brilliant because it gave us Kick-Ass, Red Mist, Big Daddy, and the one and only, the incomparable, Hit-Girl. Part 2 gives us... nothing. Even Mother Russia is a cardboard cutout character.
There's no inspirational takeaway message. You could empathize with the characters in the first, feel their pain, appreciate their emotions, and root for their kicking ass. Here, it's... dull. Empty.
Way too many civilian casualties eating up the landscape. Yeah, we get it. Innocent bystanders die. Needlessly and pointlessly. But this is.. just sad.
So yeah, this was... disappointing. Badly disappointing.
May 12, 2013
This is seriously good, the pace is akin to a juggernaut and the shock value rises dramatically. The story centres on the conflict between good and evil costume attired superheroes or more simply Kick Ass and Red Mist.
Red Mist comes back on the scene after a trip to Russia and he now has a gang of gruesome looking individuals and they want to start some shit but first he must avenge his father. First step change his name to Mother-fucker, second step attack all that Kick Ass holds dear and third step take down the justice league, Kick Ass's gang of good guys.
Vivid and brutal violence follows in abundance amid scenes of despair and heartbreak as the death toll rises.
The star of the first novel, Hit Girl is ordered to stay away from the superhero scene as she try's to settle into family life but in the end and against all best endeavours she is forced into joining the carnage as the battle between the two gangs results in a face off in Time Square.
The Ante has been sufficiently raised in Kick Ass 2.
Red Mist comes back on the scene after a trip to Russia and he now has a gang of gruesome looking individuals and they want to start some shit but first he must avenge his father. First step change his name to Mother-fucker, second step attack all that Kick Ass holds dear and third step take down the justice league, Kick Ass's gang of good guys.
Vivid and brutal violence follows in abundance amid scenes of despair and heartbreak as the death toll rises.
The star of the first novel, Hit Girl is ordered to stay away from the superhero scene as she try's to settle into family life but in the end and against all best endeavours she is forced into joining the carnage as the battle between the two gangs results in a face off in Time Square.
The Ante has been sufficiently raised in Kick Ass 2.
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