REVIEW: ‘Kick-Ass #1’ Chronicles the First Test of Patience
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The new Kick-Ass #1 from Mark Millar, John Romita Jr., and Image Comics re-introduces the title character, but not exactly in a familiar way. No longer the alter-ego of one Dave Lizewski, the mantle of Kick-Ass is now helmed by Patience Lee, a former soldier and a mother of two from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Right off […]
The new Kick-Ass #1 from Mark Millar, John Romita Jr., and Image Comics re-introduces the title character, but not exactly in a familiar way.
No longer the alter-ego of one Dave Lizewski, the mantle of Kick-Ass is now helmed by Patience Lee, a former soldier and a mother of two from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Right off the bat, it’s easy to tell that Patience’s personality is a lot different from Dave’s. While Dave had zero fighting skills when he first donned the green spandex, he had the heart a superhero needed to get the job done and try to make the world a better place. His experience as Kick-Ass and training under Hit-Girl eventually led him to join the NYPD after deciding to hang up his gear.
On the other hand, Patience isn’t exactly out to do the right thing, as this issue displays. Upon her return from her eight-year service in the Middle East, Patience goes through a string of dead-end jobs and incurs massive debts owed by her estranged husband. With nowhere else to turn to, she resorts to robbing the crime kingpins in her neighborhood as Kick-Ass in hopes of erasing any trace of evidence leading back to her. In effect, the streets in her neighborhood become cleaner. And given her military training, Patience is miles ahead of Dave if you’re comparing their first “mission” as Kick-Ass.
As the prologue for a brand new series, Kick-Ass #1 doesn’t hold back in setting itself apart from “The Dave Lizewski Years”. Millar makes it clear that this is not the Kick-Ass you know. His writing, along with JRJR’s illustrations, gives the series an overall darker and grittier tone compared to the first run. If anything, the writing is more akin to another Millarworld classic, Wanted.
While many questions remain unanswered, such as where this fits in the continuity of the series’ first run, why Bronco was the first kingpin Patience robbed, or if Dave returns in a later issue to see a different and quite possibly more experienced Kick-Ass, one can only look forward to what’s in store for the rest of the new Kick-Ass series.
Emjay Lapus
