Graphic Novel Review: ‘Kick-Ass 3’
Written by Mark Millar | Art by John Romita Jr. | Published by Titan Books | Format: Hardback, 232pp
When Kick-Ass was introduced to the world by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. not only were we introduced to that him as a character, but more importantly Hit-Girl. Dave Lizewski aka Kick Ass wasn’t a real superhero, Hit-Girl was, and she made Kick-Ass into everything he was destined to be. Now we are at Kick-Ass 3 is Dave finally a fully fledged superhero, or still a comic book obsessed wannabe?
Kick-Ass 3 starts with a shocker, Hit-Girl is arrested and stuck in a maximum security jail. Leaving instructions for Kick-Ass on how to break her out she waits for the day he finally rescues her. The only problem is he has other things on his mind, mainly a new girlfriend and the Justice Forever team which is fragmenting, and his focus is on everything but being a superhero. With once exiled mafia boss Rocco Genovese moving into the power vacuum left by Hit-Girl’s attack on the mafia now is the time that Kick-Ass should be at his best, yet Hit-Girl is still in jail. Without Hit-Girl to keep things together, this could be the end of Justice Forever and death for anyone in a mask.
Now that we are into the third Kick-Ass graphic novel which includes the eight parts of the story you would expect the so-called superheroes to have more of a grasp on the reality of the violent world they are in. Something annoyingly though they tend to grab onto comic book storylines and use them as their inspiration for their superhero career. This living in make-believe could be of course the fact that they don’t have Hit-Girl, the real hero to give them direction. It comes as no surprise though that the real interesting side of Kick-Ass 3 is once again Hit Girl as we get a glimpse further into her past.
Seeing how Big Daddy shaped a little girl into a psychopathic killer is a chilling read, but it explains in a way just how she is such a good killer. Hit-Girl aka Mindy McCready was once a little girl who quite reasonably flinched at the thought of killing people until Big Daddy pushed her to the extremes and finally helped her cross that line to cold-blooded killer. To create a Hit-Girl there has to be moments in her past to create the monster inside her, just like with Batman, Spiderman and other superheroes. It’s no wonder that Kick-Ass and his friends look to her as their idol, she is everything that they will never be.
Kick-Ass 3 is a graphic novel that is blood soaked and heavy on the violence which should come as no surprise to the fans. Rocco Genovese is the real deal when it comes to psychotic killers, he is arguably one of the most dangerous enemies that Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl have faced. The fact he was exiled for being too violent is the hint at just how dangerous. Perfect you could say for the story that is seen as the conclusion to the Kick-Ass story.
Kick-Ass 3 is good and as always the most interesting elements mostly feature on Hit-Girl. The other wannabe superheroes are fairly annoying with their obsession with comic books, but it is nice to see that Dave Lizewski (Kick-Ass) finally grows up and we do get a conclusion to his story. With an open-ended story arc for Hit-Girl though at least there is a way paved for more stories focusing on her. Will Kick-Ass 3 ever get made into a movie? Well that’s another story entirely.
***** 5/5
Kick-Ass 3 by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., is available in the UK now from Titan Books.