KICK ASS #2

Review by: Neb

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

441
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.1
 
Users who pulled this comic:


Size: pages
Price: 2.99

This week saw the release of the 2nd issue of, and I quote, “The Greatest Comic Book of All Time!”  After last month’s first issue, the iFanboy community fully supported that endorsement.  And I was among you, as I really enjoyed the first issue.  The dialogue was snappy, and it catered our fanboy thoughts and desires.  But how does this second issue fair?

Well, for me, it was, not so good.  I don’t know.  Maybe it just wasn’t what I wanted to read this week, or maybe, in comparison to all else that I read, it spoke to me the less.  That’s not to say that it’s a bad book.  It’s a well done piece of work.  But for me, this character is kind of a selfish dick.

Big words, right?  I know, I know, some of you are probably saying, “Well, duh, that’s the whole point!”  Characters of that nature just don’t speak to me.  When he’s sitting at home, crying about how much money and pain he’s just cost his father, we see a real character moment that shows some depth to the character.  But is his journey back to the suit as deep and meaningful.  Not really.  It takes just one panel to get him back into the suit, which makes me wonder, why is he doing that?  He calls it his need, his desire that keeps him back in the get up.  If this guy is supposed to be a hero, what’s his motivation for doing it?  Beyond the fact that he feels it’s his calling, why would he take so much with sacrificing so little?  If I were this guy, if I had the itch, I would have to take into consideration the fallout of being caught in the costume by my father, who’s already been through so much.

David, for me, has very little depth, and it seems that Millar is using him more as a spring board for crazy street fights that are fought by people who don’t know how to fight than as a character driving a unique story that I’m supposed to connect with.  So, while David lives out our greatest fantasy, I haven’t found much of a point to it in these first two issues.

I’m a huge fan of JRJR, and he delivers in this issue.  My only complaint about his art is this:  does blood seriously need to gush from every single hit…so much so that there are puddles everywhere.  I understand it’s supposed to be over the top, but even for that, I feel like there are limits.  And if hits are so devastating that people are bleeding, why do David’s foes keep standing up again and again?

I realize there’s a ton of people that pulled this book this week, and I’m sure they’re going to disagree with me.  Maybe I’m thinking too hard about the comic and should just take it at face value.  But is it too much to demand that I don’t feel like the comics I’m reading are dumb and tap into my primal urges? I don’t know.  Like I mentioned earlier on, this book just wasn’t what I wanted.

Story: 2 - Average
Art: 4 - Very Good

Comments

  1. Just because a character doean’t make the choices that you think are the right ones, it doesn’t mean that the character lacks depth.  You just don’t like him.  A book starring a character who’s ‘unlikeable’ is hard to warm up to, but hopefully Millar will give us the answers to the questions about David’s motivations that you’ve asked as the series progresses.  David appears to be searching for a purpose in his life after the death of his mother and that’s enough motivation to satisfy me for the time being.  I hope you’ll give Millar a little more time to give you what you want.

     

    As for the bloodiness, I assume that’s a deliberate choice.  Comic book fights are often portrayed as  ‘fun’ and without consequence.  The purpose of this book is to show how shocking real violence is.  Yeah, everyone seems to be taking more punishment that you would think that they could handle, but in real life people manage to survive lots of physical trauma.  In fiction, people get knocked unconscious way too easily.  In reality knocking someone out is a lot harder. 

  2. @ultimatehoratio~  You make a good point about my feelings about the book.  I guess I get the feeling that Millar is using this more as a vehicle to do over top, crazy shit than to tell an actual good story.  It’s just the vibe I’m getting from the book right now.  I’m not necessarily "off" the book, but I’m not as gaga over it as others.  I do hope that Millar will bring out some of these things later on.  As for the reality of the book, I think that some of the choices in the story take me into the reality of it while others take us out of the reality.

    But your points are very valid, and I appreciate the perspective.

  3. One of Millar’s primary weaknesses as a writer is that his characters are so thoroughly unlikeable.  He single-handedly ruined The Authority.  When you can out-asshole Ellis (in terms of writing characters), you’re really doing something.

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