I flipped through the book before I read it all the way through, and I happened to come across the scene of the sociopath formerly known as the Red Mist mowing down a group of children before breaking into Katie’s house, shooting her father in the face, punching her in the face, and saying “it’s time to see what evil dick tastes like.” I was disturbed. I felt incredibly uncomfortable. I simply couldn’t read the book. After seeing the debate on iFanboy about the depiction of violence in comic books, I decided I should read the whole issue. So I sat down this morning and read it. And I wasn’t quite as disturbed. That’s what upsets me. I’m not here to call out Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr for producing what essentially was an issue of torture porn (they had already done that in the last issue). At least they have the decency to label the book “Mature Content” and not “Teen.” I’m here to call myself out, for allowing myself to get desensitized to images of the brutal murdering and raping of children. There’s been talk about the other violent images in comics, but there are usually limits. Batman’s rogues gallery is full of sociopaths, and sure, they kill a lot of people, but the writers and artists generally don’t depict them crossing certain social taboos. Sure, Alan Moore alluded to Joker raping Barbara Gordon in The Killing Joke. But the emphasis is on alluded (and, for what it’s worth, it wasn’t a gang rape and Barbara wasn’t underaged). We never see the Joker and his henchmen pulling their pants up over the bloodied body of Barbara. We do see that in Kick-Ass 2. And the bloodied body in question is that of a child. I can’t think of many good reasons for depicting that. Frankly, I can’t think of any (there are a few panels of Craig Thompson’s Habibi that come close, though). More importantly, I can’t see why anyone would want to see that. I read comic books because they’re fun, they’re entertaining, and ultimately, I find them pleasurable. I’ll spare you the long discourse about the various cathartic pleasures derived from drama, violence, comedy, etc. But what I saw in Kick-Ass 2 simply didn’t provide any release for me. It simply wasn’t enjoyable anymore, and I’m worse off for having read it. Thanks, Mark Millar, I’ve enjoyed your work so far, and I’ll probably keep reading some things. But I’ve had my fill of this. Goodbye.