Kick-Ass
Encyclopedia
Kick-Ass is a creator-owned
comic book
series written by Mark Millar
and illustrated by John Romita, Jr.
It is published by Marvel Comics
under the company's Icon
imprint
.
It is the story of Dave Lizewski, a teenager who sets out to become a real life superhero. His actions are publicized on the Internet and inspire others. He gets caught up with ruthless vigilante
s Hit-Girl and Big Daddy who are on a mission to take down the gangster John Genovese.
The comic was adapted into a 2010 film of the same name
directed by Matthew Vaughn
, starring Aaron Johnson, Chloë Moretz
, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
, Mark Strong
and Nicolas Cage
.
high school
student and the child of Greg Willer, a loving single father, takes his interest in comic books as inspiration to become a real-life superhero
. He buys a wetsuit
from the website eBay
, which he wears under his normal clothing, begins exercising, and practices things like walking on roofs, satisfying his ambitions for a time. He eventually seeks to fight crime, with his first attempt leading him to receive a severe beating and stabbing by thugs, followed by his wandering into the street and being hit by a car. He retains his secret identity by stripping off and hiding his costume before paramedics arrive.
Telling his father he was mugged, he undergoes intense physical rehabilitation, including four operations. He is released months later, and as soon as he is off crutches dons the suit once more and goes on patrol. When he saves a man from a beating, an onlooker records the incident and uploads it to YouTube
, turning Dave into an overnight sensation dubbed with the name Kick-Ass. Local mob boss John Genovese is annoyed by Kick-Ass' appearance, as his business has been disrupted by other vigilantes.
In school, the mugging excuse used to cover up his injuries for a second time spawns rumors Dave is a gay prostitute. Believing them, his longtime crush, Katie Deauxma, adopts him as a "gay best friend". Dave goes along with this in an effort to spend time with her. The continued patrolling takes its wear on Dave, and his father, worried about him, gives him a can of police-issue pepper-spray for protection.
As Kick-Ass, Dave sets up a MySpace
account, so people can contact him for help. The first such request he investigates is a man called Eddie Lomas who has been harassing his ex-girlfriend, which leads Kick-Ass to an apartment of violent lowlifes who try to kill him. He is rescued by a costumed, blade-wielding young girl named Hit-Girl, who brutally kills all the attackers and then leaves to join a grown man, named Big Daddy and also wearing a superhero costume. The two disregard Dave, who later learns that Kick-Ass has inadvertently inspired a subculture of people dressed in makeshift, original superhero costumes. Later, one such hero, the Red Mist, appears. He partners with Kick-Ass on street patrol and the two happen upon a burning building. When a woman begs them to save her "baby", Kick-Ass drags a very reluctant Red Mist into the building, only to discover that the "baby" is actually a kitten. Although the two are nearly killed while saving the kitten, they gain great public popularity after the rescue.
Hit-Girl later insists to her father that they form a "super-team" with Kick-Ass and Red Mist, and Big Daddy reluctantly complies. Big Daddy is revealed to the reader to be "a good cop in a bad city", whose wife was killed because he would not accept bribes from criminals. He escaped with his baby daughter and plotted revenge, training his daughter to become a lethal crimefighter. At the behest of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, Kick-Ass accompanies Red Mist to meet the duo at an abandoned warehouse to strategize the takedown of John Genovese. There they find Big Daddy and Hit-Girl captured, and Red Mist reveals himself as Genovese's son, who had orchestrated this ambush. Hit-Girl is apparently killed after being shot multiple times and falling through a window. Tortured, Big Daddy reveals he is not an ex-cop at all but an accountant
frustrated with his marriage, who took his daughter and left his empty life to create a new one, financing himself through selling comic books. He chose Genovese as a target because he and Hit-Girl "needed a villain". The gang kills Big Daddy and tortures Kick-Ass. Hit-Girl, who is alive due to body armor, saves Kick-Ass.
Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass attack Genovese's headquarters. Hit-Girl kills most of the henchmen, while Kick-Ass beats Red Mist unconscious. Genovese and his remaining thugs manage to capture Hit-Girl, but Kick-Ass comes to the rescue armed with a gun and shoots Genovese's penis. Hit-Girl finishes off Genovese with a meat cleaver and guns down the remaining henchmen.
Dave helps Hit-Girl go back to a normal, calm life with her mother - who had never been murdered, unlike what Big Daddy had made her believe - and stepfather, but his own life is no better than before. He revealed to Katie Deauxma that he is not gay, confessing his love for her, but rather than return the feelings, she is outraged at him lying to her. In retaliation, Katie induces Carl, her new boyfriend, to punch Dave before sending him a picture of herself performing oral sex
on Carl. When he comes home, he walks in on his father having sex with Eddie Lomas' ex-girlfriend Lucille. Despite all of this, he remains optimistic, as he has gone from a loser to a cultural phenomenon over the course of the story.
The main story ends with a would-be superhero (who tried to fly at the start of the story) taking an elevator to the top floor of a building. The epilogue shows Red Mist at a computer in a different costume, sending a vengeful e-mail to Kick-Ass which quotes Jack Nicholson as the Joker
at the end: "Wait until they get a load of me".
He eventually manages to successfully defend a guy being attacked by a group of thugs. His actions are filmed and posted on YouTube and he becomes an overnight celebrity who eventually begins inspiring more people to do what he does. Although Dave is portrayed as naive and not particularly strong or athletic, he displays a great deal of courage and determination despite going through a huge amount of physical pain throughout the story. His only unusual ability is a relatively high tolerance to physical blows, due to both damaged nerve endings and the metal plates in his head. He is portrayed by Aaron Johnson
in the film adaptation.
Millar said that Kick-Ass "is probably as related to me as George Costanza
was to Larry David
, which is that all the worst aspects I remember from my memory I have taken and shoved into the story and then exaggerated them." Millar explained "the core is definitely there. Our backgrounds are really similar. The family setup is similar. All that is exactly the same. The only thing I didn't do was make the costume. I planned to. I went to karate and bodybuilding. My friend and I were absolutely going to do it. The one big difference between us is that Dave had the balls to put on the suit, and I didn't."
McCready / Big Daddy (given name unrevealed in the comic): Appears in Kick-Ass issue #4. A more professional crimefighter, he has been training his daughter Hit-Girl to become a lethal vigilante. He himself is quite adept at firearms though most of the missions shown to the reader are mainly accomplished by Hit-Girl, with Big Daddy providing armed support as a sniper
. In issue # 6, it is revealed that he and his daughter have been living on the run for years under many false identities, and that Big Daddy claims to be an ex-cop eager to avenge his wife's murder by the mob, a "secret origin" that Kick-Ass compares to Frank Castle
's . In issue # 7, it is revealed that Big Daddy, actually a comic geek just like Dave (who funded his operations by selling mint issues of comics on eBay), has lied about his origin, was never a cop, and has trained his daughter to fight crime so she would be "different" and "special".
In the film adaptation, Big Daddy is played by Nicolas Cage
. His full name is given as Damon MacCready, and Cage's portrayal of the character is much more eccentric and funny than the comic. His costume also differs from the comic, described in the dialogue as resembling Batman
's, and his purported origin as an ex-cop (and consequentially his motives for fighting crime) are genuine, but the comic Big Daddy's love of comics is still referenced in his drawing abilities and the use of comic references for tactical maneuvers. He is shown to be as effective as Hit-Girl, brutally accomplishing at least one mission by himself and possibly several more. Writer Mark Millar
considers that the plot twist
regarding Big Daddy's background would not have worked in the film adaptation, and would have "messed up the structure of the movie"
Mindy McCready / Hit-Girl: Debuts in Kick-Ass #3. Big Daddy's daughter, said in issue # 6 to be "age 10 and 1/4". A lethal martial artist and weapons expert, she has been trained to fight crime practically since her childhood. As she and her father are constantly on the run, Hit-Girl's upbringing and social life have been limited to her training and crime fighting. Unlike Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl is depicted as a very effective superhero, but saw that Dave had potential, while Dave describes her as resembling a mix between John Rambo
and Polly Pocket
. Hit-Girl has been convinced by Big Daddy that she is out to avenge her mother. She longs for her father and her to have a normal life as a "regular family" once her mother has been avenged. Artist John Romita, Jr.
commented about the character : "I think what's so badass is, how can a little girl become such a force? And I likened it to parents that turn their kids into super athletes. Even against their own will. They become unconscious athletes, almost to a fault. They become hardened. It kind of works the same way." In the film adaptation, Mindy is played by Chloë Moretz
, and as Hit-Girl, she wears a purple wig.
Chris Genovese / Red Mist: Appears in his real identity (unnamed) in issue #4, as Red Mist in issue #5. They are revealed to be the same person in issue # 7. Red Mist is initially presented as a superhero inspired by Kick-Ass. While Kick-Ass is initially jealous of the media attention that Red Mist receives, he quickly befriends him after they meet. While wealthy enough to afford a car known as the "Mistmobile", Red Mist shows no evidence of battle prowess, his crime fighting techniques being limited to calling the cops and directing them to crime operations. Red Mist is later revealed as a traitor. Chris Genovese is actually the son of mafia boss John Genovese : eager to win his father's esteem, he has been setting up a trap to capture Big Daddy and Hit-Girl. He also shows a deep loathing of Kick-Ass and revels in seeing him tortured. A comic-book fan himself, Chris genuinely enjoys the experience of masquerading as Red Mist, and finally he identifies himself as a supervillain
, wearing another costume. In the film adaptation, Chris is played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse
, unlike in the comics, the fact that Red Mist is the Mafia boss' son and not a genuine heroic character is revealed to the audience from the beginning; his costume has some shades of black, instead to be totally red, and wears a wig like Hit-Girl. Chris is also portrayed as a much more sympathetic and less mysterious character in the film, who actually likes Kick-Ass and is upset when his father decides to torture and kill him, rather than take pleasure in it.
John Genovese
(also known as Johnny G): An Italian-American New York crime boss. Appears in Kick-Ass #3. Although he finds it difficult to take them seriously, Genovese is bewildered and incensed that his operations are being disturbed by people costumed as superheroes. In the film adaptation, the character is renamed Frank D'Amico, and played by Mark Strong
. While in the comic-book, Genovese finds Kick-Ass merely ridiculous and correctly identifies Big Daddy and Hit-Girl as the source of his problems, D'Amico in the film develops an obsessive hatred for Kick-Ass. The film depicts D'Amico as being quite athletic and adept at martial arts, a trait not featured in the comic.
Katie Deauxma: A 16-year-old old high-school classmate of Dave's and his longtime crush. She initially does not like him and believes he is a stalker. After Dave is beaten up and found naked she believes rumors that he is gay and wants to take care of him and make him her "gay best friend". When Dave admits he is not gay, she has her boyfriend beat up Dave and later sends a picture to Dave's phone of her performing oral sex on her boyfriend. In the film adaptation Katie, played by Lyndsy Fonseca
, forgives Dave for pretending he was gay and starts a relationship with him.
comics, like Batman: Year One
. (...) We were so into it, we should have been studying for exams at the time. We wanted to become superheroes like Batman. It was pathetic. We were five years too old really to be doing this. The story was really about what would have happened if we hadn’t come to our senses and actually gone out and done this." Romita said that he decided to add personal touches of his own to the series when he found out that the series had a personal connection to Millar. Romita designed the neighborhood, schoolyard, setting, and clothes in a manner that evoked his neighborhood in Queens
, New York City
; most of the time the series is set in Romita's neighborhood.
page was created, supposedly maintained by the character, where it was written that "Mark Millar [...] is doing a comic-book about me with [...] John Romita Jr."
A charity auction was held to name the main character. The winner, Dave Lizewski, chose his own name.
Each issue also singles out specific comic shops, crediting them for taking part in the "home-made effort" to promote the book and encourages readers to support them.
DeCaro loves the work of Millar and his comic book. In one of his Twitter posts, he stated that he has love and admiration for the plot and character background that Millar created in Kick-Ass.
said production would be fully financed by Matthew Vaughn
's Marv Films, the script written by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman
, and the movie directed by Vaughn.
Millar revealed when he wrote the first set of comics, he also produced outlines for three books. The second book would involve criminals taking on supervillain personae to counter the superheroes, and Hit-Girl trying to lead a normal life.
The new comic was announced to have the working title of Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall.
Red Mist reappears, using The Mother Fucker as a new name, and leads a group of supervillains against Kick-Ass and Hit Girl.
The sequel ran in eight-page installments the UK magazine CLiNT
starting in August 2010. The first part showed Hit Girl attempting to train Kick-Ass to be a more competent superhero, with both intending to form a team with the other costumed heroes that were emerging. In her civilian life, her stepfather is trying to get her to stop being a superhero.
Creator ownership
Creator ownership is an arrangement in which the creator or creators of a work of fiction retain full ownership of the material, regardless of whether it is self-published or by a corporate publisher. In some fields of publishing, such as fiction writing, creator ownership is a standard arrangement...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series written by Mark Millar
Mark Millar
Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer, known for his work on books such as The Authority, The Ultimates, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Wanted, and Kick-Ass, the latter two of which have been adapted into feature films...
and illustrated by John Romita, Jr.
John Romita, Jr.
John Salvatore Romita, Jr. is an American comic book artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2000s...
It is published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
under the company's Icon
Icon Comics
Icon Comics is an imprint of Marvel Comics for creator-owned titles, designed to keep select "A-list" creators producing for Marvel rather than seeing them take creator-owned work to other publishers.-History:...
imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
.
It is the story of Dave Lizewski, a teenager who sets out to become a real life superhero. His actions are publicized on the Internet and inspire others. He gets caught up with ruthless vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
s Hit-Girl and Big Daddy who are on a mission to take down the gangster John Genovese.
The comic was adapted into a 2010 film of the same name
Kick-Ass (film)
Kick-Ass is a 2010 superhero comedy film based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The film was directed by Matthew Vaughn, who co-produced the film with actor Brad Pitt, and co-wrote the screenplay with Jane Goldman...
directed by Matthew Vaughn
Matthew Vaughn
Matthew Vaughn is an English film producer and director known for producing such films as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch and directing the films Layer Cake , Stardust and Kick-Ass...
, starring Aaron Johnson, Chloë Moretz
Chloe Moretz
Chloë Grace Moretz is an American actress, known for her role as Hit-Girl in the 2010 superhero film Kick-Ass. She also appeared in The Amityville Horror, Days of Summer, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Hugo, and portrayed Abby, the child vampire, in Let Me In.-Personal life:Moretz was born in Atlanta,...
, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse is an American actor known for starring in films such as Superbad, Role Models, Year One, and Kick-Ass.-Early life:...
, Mark Strong
Mark Strong
Mark Strong is an English actor, with a body of work in both films and television. He has performed in films as varied as Body of Lies, Syriana, The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes, RocknRolla, Stardust, and Kick-Ass...
and Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
.
Synopsis
Dave Lizewski, an otherwise ordinary New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
student and the child of Greg Willer, a loving single father, takes his interest in comic books as inspiration to become a real-life superhero
Real-life superhero
Real-life superheroes are people who engage in different forms of activism using the thematic device of the costumed superhero, many of them adopting pseudonyms and wearing custom-made outfits. They perform services that they believe benefit the community in a variety of ways, but which may be...
. He buys a wetsuit
Wetsuit
A wetsuit is a garment, usually made of foamed neoprene, which is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports, providing thermal insulation, abrasion resistance and buoyancy. The insulation properties depend on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material,...
from the website eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, which he wears under his normal clothing, begins exercising, and practices things like walking on roofs, satisfying his ambitions for a time. He eventually seeks to fight crime, with his first attempt leading him to receive a severe beating and stabbing by thugs, followed by his wandering into the street and being hit by a car. He retains his secret identity by stripping off and hiding his costume before paramedics arrive.
Telling his father he was mugged, he undergoes intense physical rehabilitation, including four operations. He is released months later, and as soon as he is off crutches dons the suit once more and goes on patrol. When he saves a man from a beating, an onlooker records the incident and uploads it to YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, turning Dave into an overnight sensation dubbed with the name Kick-Ass. Local mob boss John Genovese is annoyed by Kick-Ass' appearance, as his business has been disrupted by other vigilantes.
In school, the mugging excuse used to cover up his injuries for a second time spawns rumors Dave is a gay prostitute. Believing them, his longtime crush, Katie Deauxma, adopts him as a "gay best friend". Dave goes along with this in an effort to spend time with her. The continued patrolling takes its wear on Dave, and his father, worried about him, gives him a can of police-issue pepper-spray for protection.
As Kick-Ass, Dave sets up a MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
account, so people can contact him for help. The first such request he investigates is a man called Eddie Lomas who has been harassing his ex-girlfriend, which leads Kick-Ass to an apartment of violent lowlifes who try to kill him. He is rescued by a costumed, blade-wielding young girl named Hit-Girl, who brutally kills all the attackers and then leaves to join a grown man, named Big Daddy and also wearing a superhero costume. The two disregard Dave, who later learns that Kick-Ass has inadvertently inspired a subculture of people dressed in makeshift, original superhero costumes. Later, one such hero, the Red Mist, appears. He partners with Kick-Ass on street patrol and the two happen upon a burning building. When a woman begs them to save her "baby", Kick-Ass drags a very reluctant Red Mist into the building, only to discover that the "baby" is actually a kitten. Although the two are nearly killed while saving the kitten, they gain great public popularity after the rescue.
Hit-Girl later insists to her father that they form a "super-team" with Kick-Ass and Red Mist, and Big Daddy reluctantly complies. Big Daddy is revealed to the reader to be "a good cop in a bad city", whose wife was killed because he would not accept bribes from criminals. He escaped with his baby daughter and plotted revenge, training his daughter to become a lethal crimefighter. At the behest of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, Kick-Ass accompanies Red Mist to meet the duo at an abandoned warehouse to strategize the takedown of John Genovese. There they find Big Daddy and Hit-Girl captured, and Red Mist reveals himself as Genovese's son, who had orchestrated this ambush. Hit-Girl is apparently killed after being shot multiple times and falling through a window. Tortured, Big Daddy reveals he is not an ex-cop at all but an accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
frustrated with his marriage, who took his daughter and left his empty life to create a new one, financing himself through selling comic books. He chose Genovese as a target because he and Hit-Girl "needed a villain". The gang kills Big Daddy and tortures Kick-Ass. Hit-Girl, who is alive due to body armor, saves Kick-Ass.
Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass attack Genovese's headquarters. Hit-Girl kills most of the henchmen, while Kick-Ass beats Red Mist unconscious. Genovese and his remaining thugs manage to capture Hit-Girl, but Kick-Ass comes to the rescue armed with a gun and shoots Genovese's penis. Hit-Girl finishes off Genovese with a meat cleaver and guns down the remaining henchmen.
Dave helps Hit-Girl go back to a normal, calm life with her mother - who had never been murdered, unlike what Big Daddy had made her believe - and stepfather, but his own life is no better than before. He revealed to Katie Deauxma that he is not gay, confessing his love for her, but rather than return the feelings, she is outraged at him lying to her. In retaliation, Katie induces Carl, her new boyfriend, to punch Dave before sending him a picture of herself performing oral sex
Oral sex
Oral sex is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a sex partner by the use of the mouth, tongue, teeth or throat. Cunnilingus refers to oral sex performed on females while fellatio refer to oral sex performed on males. Anilingus refers to oral stimulation of a person's anus...
on Carl. When he comes home, he walks in on his father having sex with Eddie Lomas' ex-girlfriend Lucille. Despite all of this, he remains optimistic, as he has gone from a loser to a cultural phenomenon over the course of the story.
The main story ends with a would-be superhero (who tried to fly at the start of the story) taking an elevator to the top floor of a building. The epilogue shows Red Mist at a computer in a different costume, sending a vengeful e-mail to Kick-Ass which quotes Jack Nicholson as the Joker
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
at the end: "Wait until they get a load of me".
Characters
Dave Lizewski / Kick-Ass: A sixteen-year old comic book lover who is inspired to become a real life superhero due to feeling boredom and emptiness in his life, despite having no super-powers, minimal fighting ability, and very limited training. He buys a wetsuit on eBay and patrols the street in search for crime. After an unsuccessful attempt at stopping a group of graffiti artists gets him beat up, stabbed and run over, he spends a long period of time at the hospital where he has many operations including having metal plates placed inside his head. Despite his unfortunate start at being a real life superhero he feels like the whole experience is too exciting to give up and upon leaving the hospital and recovering from his injuries, starts up again.He eventually manages to successfully defend a guy being attacked by a group of thugs. His actions are filmed and posted on YouTube and he becomes an overnight celebrity who eventually begins inspiring more people to do what he does. Although Dave is portrayed as naive and not particularly strong or athletic, he displays a great deal of courage and determination despite going through a huge amount of physical pain throughout the story. His only unusual ability is a relatively high tolerance to physical blows, due to both damaged nerve endings and the metal plates in his head. He is portrayed by Aaron Johnson
Aaron Johnson
Aaron Johnson is a professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...
in the film adaptation.
Millar said that Kick-Ass "is probably as related to me as George Costanza
George Costanza
George Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...
was to Larry David
Larry David
Lawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...
, which is that all the worst aspects I remember from my memory I have taken and shoved into the story and then exaggerated them." Millar explained "the core is definitely there. Our backgrounds are really similar. The family setup is similar. All that is exactly the same. The only thing I didn't do was make the costume. I planned to. I went to karate and bodybuilding. My friend and I were absolutely going to do it. The one big difference between us is that Dave had the balls to put on the suit, and I didn't."
McCready / Big Daddy (given name unrevealed in the comic): Appears in Kick-Ass issue #4. A more professional crimefighter, he has been training his daughter Hit-Girl to become a lethal vigilante. He himself is quite adept at firearms though most of the missions shown to the reader are mainly accomplished by Hit-Girl, with Big Daddy providing armed support as a sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
. In issue # 6, it is revealed that he and his daughter have been living on the run for years under many false identities, and that Big Daddy claims to be an ex-cop eager to avenge his wife's murder by the mob, a "secret origin" that Kick-Ass compares to Frank Castle
Punisher
The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...
's . In issue # 7, it is revealed that Big Daddy, actually a comic geek just like Dave (who funded his operations by selling mint issues of comics on eBay), has lied about his origin, was never a cop, and has trained his daughter to fight crime so she would be "different" and "special".
In the film adaptation, Big Daddy is played by Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
. His full name is given as Damon MacCready, and Cage's portrayal of the character is much more eccentric and funny than the comic. His costume also differs from the comic, described in the dialogue as resembling Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
's, and his purported origin as an ex-cop (and consequentially his motives for fighting crime) are genuine, but the comic Big Daddy's love of comics is still referenced in his drawing abilities and the use of comic references for tactical maneuvers. He is shown to be as effective as Hit-Girl, brutally accomplishing at least one mission by himself and possibly several more. Writer Mark Millar
Mark Millar
Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer, known for his work on books such as The Authority, The Ultimates, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Wanted, and Kick-Ass, the latter two of which have been adapted into feature films...
considers that the plot twist
Plot twist
A plot twist is a change in the expected direction or outcome of the plot of a film, television series, video game, novel, comic or other fictional work. It is a common practice in narration used to keep the interest of an audience, usually surprising them with a revelation...
regarding Big Daddy's background would not have worked in the film adaptation, and would have "messed up the structure of the movie"
Mindy McCready / Hit-Girl: Debuts in Kick-Ass #3. Big Daddy's daughter, said in issue # 6 to be "age 10 and 1/4". A lethal martial artist and weapons expert, she has been trained to fight crime practically since her childhood. As she and her father are constantly on the run, Hit-Girl's upbringing and social life have been limited to her training and crime fighting. Unlike Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl is depicted as a very effective superhero, but saw that Dave had potential, while Dave describes her as resembling a mix between John Rambo
John Rambo
John Rambo is an iconic fictional character and the basis of the Rambo saga. He first appeared in the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell, but later became more famous in the film series, played by Sylvester Stallone...
and Polly Pocket
Polly Pocket
Polly Pocket is a toy line of dolls and accessories. The name comes from the fact that many of the original Polly Pocket dolls came in pocket-size cases. The current Fashion Polly dolls sold by Mattel differ significantly from those originally sold by Bluebird Toys. The original Bluebird dolls...
. Hit-Girl has been convinced by Big Daddy that she is out to avenge her mother. She longs for her father and her to have a normal life as a "regular family" once her mother has been avenged. Artist John Romita, Jr.
John Romita, Jr.
John Salvatore Romita, Jr. is an American comic book artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2000s...
commented about the character : "I think what's so badass is, how can a little girl become such a force? And I likened it to parents that turn their kids into super athletes. Even against their own will. They become unconscious athletes, almost to a fault. They become hardened. It kind of works the same way." In the film adaptation, Mindy is played by Chloë Moretz
Chloe Moretz
Chloë Grace Moretz is an American actress, known for her role as Hit-Girl in the 2010 superhero film Kick-Ass. She also appeared in The Amityville Horror, Days of Summer, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Hugo, and portrayed Abby, the child vampire, in Let Me In.-Personal life:Moretz was born in Atlanta,...
, and as Hit-Girl, she wears a purple wig.
Chris Genovese / Red Mist: Appears in his real identity (unnamed) in issue #4, as Red Mist in issue #5. They are revealed to be the same person in issue # 7. Red Mist is initially presented as a superhero inspired by Kick-Ass. While Kick-Ass is initially jealous of the media attention that Red Mist receives, he quickly befriends him after they meet. While wealthy enough to afford a car known as the "Mistmobile", Red Mist shows no evidence of battle prowess, his crime fighting techniques being limited to calling the cops and directing them to crime operations. Red Mist is later revealed as a traitor. Chris Genovese is actually the son of mafia boss John Genovese : eager to win his father's esteem, he has been setting up a trap to capture Big Daddy and Hit-Girl. He also shows a deep loathing of Kick-Ass and revels in seeing him tortured. A comic-book fan himself, Chris genuinely enjoys the experience of masquerading as Red Mist, and finally he identifies himself as a supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
, wearing another costume. In the film adaptation, Chris is played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse is an American actor known for starring in films such as Superbad, Role Models, Year One, and Kick-Ass.-Early life:...
, unlike in the comics, the fact that Red Mist is the Mafia boss' son and not a genuine heroic character is revealed to the audience from the beginning; his costume has some shades of black, instead to be totally red, and wears a wig like Hit-Girl. Chris is also portrayed as a much more sympathetic and less mysterious character in the film, who actually likes Kick-Ass and is upset when his father decides to torture and kill him, rather than take pleasure in it.
John Genovese
Genovese crime family
The Genovese crime family , is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The Genovese crime family has been nicknamed the "Ivy League" and "Rolls Royce" of organized crime...
(also known as Johnny G): An Italian-American New York crime boss. Appears in Kick-Ass #3. Although he finds it difficult to take them seriously, Genovese is bewildered and incensed that his operations are being disturbed by people costumed as superheroes. In the film adaptation, the character is renamed Frank D'Amico, and played by Mark Strong
Mark Strong
Mark Strong is an English actor, with a body of work in both films and television. He has performed in films as varied as Body of Lies, Syriana, The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes, RocknRolla, Stardust, and Kick-Ass...
. While in the comic-book, Genovese finds Kick-Ass merely ridiculous and correctly identifies Big Daddy and Hit-Girl as the source of his problems, D'Amico in the film develops an obsessive hatred for Kick-Ass. The film depicts D'Amico as being quite athletic and adept at martial arts, a trait not featured in the comic.
Katie Deauxma: A 16-year-old old high-school classmate of Dave's and his longtime crush. She initially does not like him and believes he is a stalker. After Dave is beaten up and found naked she believes rumors that he is gay and wants to take care of him and make him her "gay best friend". When Dave admits he is not gay, she has her boyfriend beat up Dave and later sends a picture to Dave's phone of her performing oral sex on her boyfriend. In the film adaptation Katie, played by Lyndsy Fonseca
Lyndsy Fonseca
Lyndsy Marie Fonseca is an American actress known for playing Colleen Carlton on the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and The Restless, Dylan Mayfair on the ABC series Desperate Housewives, and Ted Mosby's daughter on How I Met Your Mother. She also played Katie Deauxma in the 2010 superhero film...
, forgives Dave for pretending he was gay and starts a relationship with him.
Development
Mark Millar has called the idea behind the series "very autobiographical": "When I was 15, my best friends and I were reading Frank MillerFrank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
comics, like Batman: Year One
Batman: Year One
"Year One", later referred to as "Batman: Year One", is an American comic book story arc written by Frank Miller, illustrated by David Mazzucchelli, colored by Richmond Lewis, and lettered by Todd Klein...
. (...) We were so into it, we should have been studying for exams at the time. We wanted to become superheroes like Batman. It was pathetic. We were five years too old really to be doing this. The story was really about what would have happened if we hadn’t come to our senses and actually gone out and done this." Romita said that he decided to add personal touches of his own to the series when he found out that the series had a personal connection to Millar. Romita designed the neighborhood, schoolyard, setting, and clothes in a manner that evoked his neighborhood in Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; most of the time the series is set in Romita's neighborhood.
Promotion
Prior to the series, a viral campaign featuring a short video of Kick-Ass, the main character of the comic, being "caught on tape" performing a heroic act was uploaded to YouTube and spread around the Internet. Later, a real-life MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page was created, supposedly maintained by the character, where it was written that "Mark Millar [...] is doing a comic-book about me with [...] John Romita Jr."
A charity auction was held to name the main character. The winner, Dave Lizewski, chose his own name.
Each issue also singles out specific comic shops, crediting them for taking part in the "home-made effort" to promote the book and encourages readers to support them.
Domestico and Kick-Ass
In early 2007, an Argentinian comic book was created by Sebastián DeCaro, Diego Greco and Catriel Tallarico named Domestico, which tells the story of a 20 year old boy who wants to be a superhero and win the affect of his platonic love. There are similarities are present in both comics books: the main character's costume and the story at the beginning. The character's destiny is uncertain at the end.DeCaro loves the work of Millar and his comic book. In one of his Twitter posts, he stated that he has love and admiration for the plot and character background that Millar created in Kick-Ass.
Film
Scriptwriting for the film adaptation started in May 2008. The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
said production would be fully financed by Matthew Vaughn
Matthew Vaughn
Matthew Vaughn is an English film producer and director known for producing such films as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch and directing the films Layer Cake , Stardust and Kick-Ass...
's Marv Films, the script written by Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman
Jane Goldman
Jane Lauretta Anne Goldman is an English screenwriter, author, model and television presenter. Between 2003 and 2004 she fronted her own paranormal series, Jane Goldman Investigates, on the channel Living.-Personal life:...
, and the movie directed by Vaughn.
Kick Ass 2
On 16 March 2010, Mark Millar said he would begin writing a sequel comic book in April.Millar revealed when he wrote the first set of comics, he also produced outlines for three books. The second book would involve criminals taking on supervillain personae to counter the superheroes, and Hit-Girl trying to lead a normal life.
The new comic was announced to have the working title of Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall.
Red Mist reappears, using The Mother Fucker as a new name, and leads a group of supervillains against Kick-Ass and Hit Girl.
The sequel ran in eight-page installments the UK magazine CLiNT
CLiNT
CLiNT is a monthly British comic magazine launched in September 2010 by Kick-Ass creator Mark Millar, and published by Titan Magazines. As well as comics from Millar it also includes those written by celebrities like Jonathan Ross and Frankie Boyle....
starting in August 2010. The first part showed Hit Girl attempting to train Kick-Ass to be a more competent superhero, with both intending to form a team with the other costumed heroes that were emerging. In her civilian life, her stepfather is trying to get her to stop being a superhero.
External links
Reviews
- Best Shots Round Table: Kick-Ass #1, NewsaramaNewsaramaNewsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
, March 26, 2008 - Best Shots Extra: Kick-Ass #2, Newsarama, April 1, 2008
- Kick-Ass #2, Comic Book ResourcesComic Book ResourcesComic Book Resources, also known as CBR is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book-related news and discussion.-History:Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1996 as a development of the Kingdom Come Message Board, a message forum that Weiland had created to discuss DC...
, April 2, 2008