KICK-ASS 2 #1: Issue one just came out, and already I’m wondering if Mark Millar sold the movie rights to it. The man somehow manages to get movies made of his work before it’s even finished. Does he have a pact with the devil? Maybe, but regardless, he’s got a metric shit-ton of talent. If you’re reading this, you probably don’t need me to tell you that. Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl are back, and if you only know them from the movie, you need to pick up the books. They’re infinitely more fucked up, although their hearts are in the same place. Apparently, Dave Lizewski’s antics as Kick-Ass has garnered a lot of attention, and people are imitating him left and right. It only makes sense that a group of these imitators would eventually form a Justice League situation, and this seems to be the thrust of the new series. Aside from this, it’s a sheer pleasure to watch Hit-Girl beat the shit out of Kick-Ass before sending a team of “grown men with severe learning difficulties” after him . . . for training. The best part, though: Doctor Gravity’s explanation of his Gravity Pole. I’d tell you to buy this book, but you probably already have. (I could probably do without the tagline, though: “Taste the awesome!” I’d rather not, thank you.)
VERTIGO RESURRECTED #1: There isn’t a whole lot I could say about this issue. Most of it contains reprints from older Vertigo books, and honestly, I’ve reviewed them before, waaaay back when I was in college. The main purpose of this book is to finally release the HELLBLAZER story that got Warren Ellis fired from the book: “Shoot.” It was originally scheduled to be released around the same time that Columbine happened. Vertigo wanted to pull it, Ellis didn’t want to, so he was let go. Honestly, the story isn’t much at first. I can easily see why it was postponed (the first page depicts a teenager shooting another teenager in the face, after all), but the first half of the story is about the protagonist pondering about why someone would do something like this while listening to recorded footage of the Jonestown massacre. Nothing big in the realm of storytelling. However, the moment when John Constantine shows up in the protagonist’s office becomes a game changer. I won’t say how it changes (that would be criminal), but it is very, very shocking and intelligent stuff. The last panel is so chilling, I don’t have the words for it. This is what art should be, and Vertigo pussied out ten years ago. And they’re on the cutting edge of storytelling, in my opinion. Not as much as Avatar, perhaps, but they’re definitely risk takers. It says a lot that they didn’t run this tale. It’s a potent story, just make sure you stay with it.
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