Am I the only one who would be interested in seeing JRJ work with Grant Morrison?

Flat, predictable, pointless writing is not worth defending.

LX

Kick Ass was bloody AWFUL. The art is good, as one would expect from JRjr, but the writing is just apalling. The criticisms already aired here regarding the characterisation are more than valid; the fact that the protagonist's interests were cribbed from some real kid's profile would provide authenticity, if it didn't read that way. As it is, it's just plain bad writing. Also, the idea that this concept ("what if someone tried to be a super-hero in the real world?") is in any way new is just preposterous.

I have a couple of problems with it that haven't been mentioned here yet:

Page 9 is taken up entirely with Dave and his stereotype buddies ruminating on why no-one's ever tried to be a super-hero. So one can only assume that our geeky protagonist doesn't know how to use a search engine (and that Millar doesn't either), since ten minutes on google will tell you that actually, several people have. They usually turn up in the "and finally" jokey bit at the end of the TV news.

But my biggest gripe is about the fight scene at the end. Why, exactly, is Dave fighting with these particular youths? Are we supposed to sympathise with a guy who smacks someone in the face with a truncheon, drawing blood, apparently just for spraying graffiti? Seriously? What the fuck is up with that?

Good times.

-R

It’s not simply thrown in to link Millar to The Zeitgeist (like having celebrities guest appear in the Ultimates (though I’m not sure Freddie Prinze Jr was ever that kewl,and if he was, said kewlness had certainly died down by the time those issues of Ultimates came out), it’s establishing the character’s general normality.

Fine, it makes the character more authentic, but not the story. It reads more like a bullet-point list as part of a presentation on what this character likes instead of the character's inner monologue about the things he likes that identifies him as being like all the other kids who don't stick out as a school jock, clown, genius, stud, or whatever else. That's the criticism here, and it's valid.

It's not simply thrown in to link Millar to The Zeitgeist (like having celebrities guest appear in the Ultimates (though I'm not sure Freddie Prinze Jr was ever that kewl,and if he was, said kewlness had certainly died down by the time those issues of Ultimates came out), it's establishing the character's general normality.

...no?

Also, it’s worth noting that Dave’s profile, the bands and TV shows that he likes, were taken directly from Millar’s nephew (Goo Goo Dolls - I know…), so people commenting that the characterisation was off key for the character’s age group and 2008 just got owned.

But Andrew, that is the criticism. I didn't know that Millar literally DID just copy some kid's profile, but that's how it read - like he just threw in a bunch of pop culture references that a modern teen would be into.

It didn't read like it flowed with the story at all, and now, thanks to your info, we know that it WASN'T natural - it was just thrown in pop culture references via Millar's nephew.

For the most part the art was AMAZING. The detail and sense of movement in every panel, the facial expressions and distinctive appearances for each of Dave's friends. JRjr's best since... DD:Man Without Fear. For once, in a new comic, I noticed and appreciated the colours. The one bad mark, though, is a complaint I've heard before (not i nrelation to JRjr though): the thugs just don't look right. They're dressed like 90s stock "gang members" - this book is set today. A relatively small gripe.

The story? I enjoyed it. I don't agree that David is ensconsed in the world of the geek. He reads comics, sure, but nowadays that's not enough to get you bullied. He's un-noticed - like most people were, from my recollection of high school - and no indication's given that he's a Peter Parker style bookworm/science-guru/outcast.

This is meant to be a real-world take on a guy dressing in a costume and "fighting crime". Going by the 2nd scene (testicles) and the final page (CRUNCH), I'm baffled as to how one could lead to the other.

I'll certainly stick with it - 8/10. Enjoyed this far more than FF - much prettier too.

Also, it's worth noting that Dave's profile, the bands and TV shows that he likes, were taken directly from Millar's nephew (Goo Goo Dolls - I know...), so people commenting that the characterisation was off key for the character's age group and 2008 just got owned.

More to the point, does Millar really have nothing more interesting to say about superheroes than that they're pre-adolescent power fantasies that some people hold on to for too long? Because I feel that sentiment is a rather reductive one, for all that it may accurately describe the worst of the superhero comic readership.

Millar's an odd writer to me in that he's more interested in deconstructing his audience than in doing something new with the material itself. I find him tiresome and his cynicism unilluminating most of the time, and the solutions he proposes to the problems he raises are rather dull and sometimes genuinely objectionable. He's simply not that smart a writer.

(I'll dig around and make sure I didn't miss your e-mail; I don't recall anything turning up from you for some time, though.)

But given the publisher of this book and the bulk of its target audience, isn't this an accurate statement?

" Superhero comics for fans who want to pretend they’re hipper than the other superhero comics fans. "

It's not so much that those fans are elitist, but that most of superhero fandom is so insistent on staying in a state of arrested maturity, that any comic which even acknowledges the profound mess that franchise superhero comics have become will be appreciated.

I admit that part of why I loved Kick-Ass was because of this mission statement, but I also think it was a dramatic improvement over the start of Wanted ( same underlying message, much more advanced execution ). Best of both worlds, IMO...

( By the way, Omar, did you get my last email, many moons ago? )

But geeks ARE just like everyone else! It's just that their peers in high school don't see it that way. I don't think there was any contradiction there (though maybe the apparent contrast was intentional); it worked for me. But I understand what you're saying about the tone overall. I didn't read his statements about this being less cynical, so I was fully expecting classic Millar cynicism in full effect, and sounds like that's what he delivered. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
-r-

Just another preciously cynical Millar comic about how girls are mean to you because you're an unassertive loser and power fantasies are silly and why are you reading this comic anyway.

Superhero comics for fans who want to pretend they're hipper than the other superhero comics fans.

Probably Millar &/or Marvel were being, I dunno, ironic or something in going with it, but like I said, I guess I'm getting too old to get the true significance of the title.

Hey Marvel, get off my lawn!

I think Sue Storm, in either the 616 or Ultimate universe, may be his only consistently positive portrayal of a woman.

Stop trying to shock us, Mark. We know you can be a better writer than that.

i find it interesting that you feel the need to state you’re being objective in your review

It was something I was discussing the other day (in this entry), and I found it interesting that I found an example of it so soon after bringing it up (that is, a comic that I thought was good that I didn't particularly like).

I saw a quote somewhere where Millar wrote about how this title was specifically not a cynical comic book, and it had more warmth than a standard Millar comic, and it was all about a young man who just wants to do the right thing, no matter how much it may hurt him.

Millar must be mixing drinks again.

Walking Tall was a movie about a young man who just wanted to do the right thing, no matter how much it hurt.

Kick-Ass was just sad.

It reminded me of that time LUCAS quit the Football team to become a Super-Hero...

[Cue "FAMILY GUY" Movie-like Parody Sequence... NOW!]