Kick-Ass #3 - Taking Comics Too Far

Kick-A** #3 – JUST FROM THE LAST PAGE and having not read the book. IF YOU ARE BUYING IT, YOU SHOULD CANCEL THIS BOOK. Note this book is an Icon book and contains a mature label.

One of the themes that I noticed running through my comments over time is that I want heroes to be heroes. They can be flawed, they can kill if needed, but at their core they still need to be heroes. It is disturbing when Jonah Hex, a classic anti-hero has more heroic characteristics then many of the so called heroes in some comics. The recent spate of books where the X-Men are going off killing people is one area that highlights that type of negative behavior to me.

Maybe that is a reason why Marvel will remain number one in the market place as it plays to the lowest common denominator more then DC. I’m not campaigning for a return to code approved books, but how far are we willing to go with out comics for shock value.

Recently some fellow comic fans talked about Kick-A** #3 from Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. They were laughing and saying how cool it was that at the end of the story some nine/ten year old little Ninja girl showed up and stabbed some guy with her sword and then chopped someone else’s head in half from ear to ear.

I stopped reading this piece of crap after issue #1. I was curious so I flipped through the book at the comic store and the last panel is a full page shot of a little girl covered in blood saying something along the lines of “What else have you c**** got”. This is on the main comic rack of your new comics this week and this has long time comic readers laughing and enjoying it for its absurdity. Is this a group I want to be a part of?

I understand that my friends are laughing at this because it is absurd, but we are going over lines that do not to be crossed. Would we laugh at rape scenes, violence against blacks or gays, pedophile scenes, bestiality? When would you decide that a comic has gone too far? Isn't a nine/ten year old little girl covered in blood and shown as a cold blooded killer and cursing like a drunken sailor going over that line? Tell me I'm missing the point and then tell me what you would make you every stop reading a book. How bad does it have to get before you so enough is enough.

Within the context of reading a horror comic or a Punisher Max type book too far is a different line, but I think Marvel needs to drop publishing Kick-A** as DC did with the Boys. The CBLDF will be very busy defending a lot of retailers if the wrong crowd heard about this book.

I originally had this as an end piece to my Best to Worst of Last Week but decided it deserved it's own post.

A final note check out what I do read, I'm certainly not just reading Johnny DC or Marvel Adventure books, I'm reading Locke & Key, Punisher Max, Northlanders, Criminal, Zombie Tales, Wormwood and more. So this view point is from someone who is willing to accept a lot in graphic fiction, but there still has to be limits.