Kick-Ass #1 Review: Rock Bottom

By Nolan P. Smith

As the ultra-popular Millarverse from Mark Millar went to Image Comics, so did one of his most successful properties: Kick-Ass. With four trade paperbacks, spin-offs, and two feature films to the comic’s name, Kick-Ass is something fans have been wanting more of. With this new debut issue, we get someone else behind the mask, and I am not complaining.

From the team of Millar and artist extraordinaire and co-creator of Kick-Ass, John Romita Jr, comes a new chapter in the Kick-Ass mythos. One of the main draws of Kick-Ass is the main character didn’t really know how to be a hero or even fight for that matter. But with the new lady behind the mask, we get someone who can handle her own business. Patience is an Army veteran who fought overseas, only to come home to a life in shambles. Her husband left her, as well as left a mounting amount of debt to her name, all while trying to take care of her daughter. What’s a single mom to do in a situation like this? Kick-Ass.

Millar creates a new chapter in this universe, with a heroine completely capable of taking down the unsavory characters looming around. This issue shows us a glimpse of the hell Patience went through in the war, but also in her personal life, reaching a breaking point that caused her to don the all too familiar green and yellow garb. Romita, what can I say about Romita’s art? I have loved his style for about as long as I have been into comics, and it seems like he keeps getting better every year.

This is a great jumping on point for new readers, and a great story for those craving more real human superheroes like we have seen in the past from Millar. Pick up Kick-Ass and get ready for a new brand of justice.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.