Kick-Ass

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This article is about the comic book series. For the collection of Carl Hiaasen columns, see Kick Ass.

Creative team
Kick-Ass
Cover to Kick-Ass #1 Art by John Romita, Jr. and Klaus Janson
Publisher	Icon
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing
Publication date	April 2008 - Present
Number of issues	3
Main character(s)	Dave Lizewki
Writer(s)	Mark Millar
Artist(s)	John Romita, Jr.
Inker(s)	Tom Palmer
Colorist(s)	Dean White
Creator(s)	Mark Millar John Romita, Jr.
Editor(s)	John Barber

Kick-Ass is a ongoing, creator-owned, American comic book series written by Mark Millar with artist John Romita, Jr.. It is published by the Marvel Comics as part of that company's Icon imprint.

The series, which is told through flashbacks from an unspecified point in the future,^[1] features a 15-year-old boy attempting to become a real-life superhero, despite having no powers or any of the stereotypical reasons for choosing to fight crime.

1 Story
2 Promotion
3 Film
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links
- 7.1 Reviews

[edit] Story

Dave Lizewski, an ordinary high school student with an interest in comic books, decides he wants to become a real-life superhero. He puts together a suit and mask, which he wears under his normal clothing, puts on muscle and practices things like walking on roofs, which sates that desire for a while. When that wears off, he graduates to fighting crime, the first attempt at which leads to him getting a severe beating, wandering into the street, and hit by a van, whose driver drives away.^[1] He's able to keep his secret identity, though, stripping off and hiding his costume before paramedics arrive.^[2]

Claiming he was mugged, he spends the next few months in St. Vincent's Hospital undergoing four operations and being put through counseling and physical rehabilitation. When he's released he swears off of hero work, seeing how it's hurting his father and putting a strain on their finances, only to don the suit and go on patrol as soon as he is off of the crutches. On a "patrol" he saves a man from a beating, fighting off a group of people attacking him with wild abandon.^[2] An onlooker catches the scene on his cell phone's camera and uploads it to YouTube, turning Lizewski into an overnight sensation, even being christened with the name Kick-Ass.^[3]

In school, the mugging excuse used to cover up his bruises spawns rumors Lizewski is a gay prostitute. Believing them, his long time crush Katie Deauxma adopts him as a "gay best friend," which he doesn't deny in an effort to spend time with her. His father, worried about him, gives him a can of police issue pepper-spray to protect him.^[3]

As Kick-Ass, Lizewski sets up a MySpace to allow people to contact him asking for help. The first such crime he goes to investigate, a man making prank phone calls to his ex-girlfriend, turns out to be an apartment full of people who do not hesitate to fight him when he shows up. As he's losing the fight, however, a costumed nine-year-old girl wielding a sword saves him, killing two of the attackers right away and challenging the others, saying: "Okay you cunts, let's see what you can do."^[3]

[edit] Promotion

Prior to the series launch a viral campaign featuring a short video of the main character of the comic, Kick-Ass, being "caught on tape" performing a heroic act was uploaded to YouTube and spread around the internet.^[1] Later, a MySpace page was created, supposedly maintained by the character, where it was written that "Mark Millar [...] is doing a comic-book about me with [...] John Romita Jr.".^[4]

A charity auction was held to name the main character. The winner, Dave Lizewski, chose his own name.^[5]

Each issue also singles out specific comic shops, crediting them for taking part in the "home-made effort" to promote the book and encourages readers to support them.

[edit] Film

A film version is in pre-production, fully financed by Matthew Vaughn's MARV Films, written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, and directed by Vaughn. There is no distributor lined up at this time.^[6]