Kick-Ass

One of my friends has been really hyperfixated on the Kick-Ass movies recently and this has now spread to me. I recently rewatched the Kick-Ass movies for the first time in years with them however this wasn't enough for me so I decided to check out the original comics especially since they have an actual ending. I'm only doing the original Dave Lizewski books along with the Hit-Girl book from Icon Comics so I'm not gonna be going over the Patience Lee books or the Hit-Girl books from Image Comics although I do want to read those at some point. There will also be spoilers for both the Kick-Ass comics and the movies. 

I just finished reading Kick-Ass and I think this is a good but flawed comic and like most Mark Millar adaptations, I think the movie is better however I do prefer some stuff in the comics. Right off the bat, this book is very edgy and a lot meaner compared to the movie which is to be expected since not only did this comic start in the late 2000s and end in the early 2010s but Mark Millar is also just a very edgy writer. He tends to write a lot of stuff for shock value. While edgy bullshit like having slurs be constantly used is juvenile and boring, I think it kinda works in some areas such as the torture scene and Big Daddy's death being a bit more graphic make those moments much more impactful and help sell the message of "Don't be a superhero. It'll just get you hurt and killed." a lot more although having them electrocute Dave's testicles and Red Mist say he jerked off to the thought of it does come off as Mark simply wanting to be edgy. I also prefer Big Daddy's origin in the comic. In the movie, he's an ex cop who was framed for being involved with drugs which resulted in his wife dying and him training Mindy to be a superhero to get revenge against Frank D'Amico when he got out of prison. In the comic, his origin is pretty similar with him being an ex cop who refused to be corrupt so John Genovese killed his wife and he went on the run with Mindy and trained her to be a superhero so they could avenge her but it's later revealed that this origin was a lie and he was really just an accountant who ran away with his daughter and trained her to be a superhero so they could have a more exciting life and that he was selling vintage comic books to fund their operation and that the reason they went after John Genovese was just because they needed a villain. I think this is much more interesting but also solidifies the fact that Kick-Ass is a story about people letting excessive media consumption warp their view of reality leading to them doing stupid and insane things which I think the movie failed to convey properly. I also like that Katie's reaction to Dave lying about his sexuality to get close to her is anger and having her boyfriend beat Dave up since that's much more realistic than her actually getting with him like in the movie. I also kinda like that Dave is much more of a piece of shit compared to his movie counterpart and think it results in a slightly more interesting character. I also prefer the timeline in the comic. The story takes place over six months resulting in a slower pace that allows us to focus more on certain things like Dave's recovery and we get to see how bad a stabbing along with a hit and run will fuck you up. The Tunk bit was also kinda funny. I also like Kick-Ass' mask more in the comic. I think having no mouth hole looks better but I get why the movie changed that since it would've caused audio issues. Overall if you can ignore the edgy bullshit, Kick-Ass is an enjoyable book with some cool themes and it's one of my all time favorite realistic superhero stories however I think I would probably point most people towards the movie. Next up is the Hit-Girl book since it's a prelude to Kick-Ass 2.