First point of contention with the Kick-Ass review; this is a very cynical comic, even when compared to Millar's other works. I don't see Dave as a good citizen, and he's not doing good for the sake of it. It struck me that he's really just troubled, alienated, and naive enough not to think about the consequences of enacting his power fantasies.
That said, I also thought that Kick-Ass started out very strong, which brings me to my other point of contention-- an inciting event wouldn't work here. In superhero comics, traumatic motivation ( or " traumotivation ", as it's been called ) is a very simple and effective way of giving a character a reason to fight evil. In this comic, the only traumas that Dave has endured aren't things that he can physically fight; he's just gotten to the point where he's delusional enough to pretend he can.
I really liked the review, as I always do, but this book can't really be read as a superhero comic and work. It seems like at this point, Kick-Ass is more an examination of an emerging subculture than anything else.
I Millar's angle is that, like most adolescents, the lead of Kick-Ass lacks a defining traumatic event but possesses plenty of free-floating ennui. His lack of defining trauma is a source of personal frustration, as he is mediocre even in his suffering; he doesn't even have an interesting tale of woe. Of course personal traumas are usually accompanied by bracing doses of wisdom and lessons on reality, and hero lacks the benefits of those as well.
In other words, if our hero had a traumatic origin story, he would likely also have too much sense to go slip into a wetsuit and start fights with gangbangers.
In the above post I omitted the words "think" and "our." Guess where!
KICK-ASS SPOILERS!
After the final scene in Kick-Ass, I'm wondering if the entire story will end up being just the fanciful imagination of the main character. I mean, if this is indeed the "real world" and he suffers the injuries that we see him suffer, man, your crime fighting days will be put on the shelf for years, if not permanently. Not to mention that his "secret identity" would be shot. 'Stabbed boy wearing a wetsuit severely injured in hit and run' is bizarre enough to make the 11 o'clock news and the papers.
Still, I enjoyed the comic. I don't really see the kid as being particularly honorable; I think he wants to to be a superhero for the same reasons I would want to be one: because it would be fun to beat people up in really cool ways. Everybody would love to be Spider-Man or Batman, regardless if their parents or uncle were brutally murdered or not.
How awesome are those Bullpen bits Giarusso has in the back of X-Men First Class? Really, there should be another one-shot of stories for Chris G. I have not read any negative reviews of them since they began in 2000-ish.
Anyways, I liked Legacy. I was expecting not to, since it would be a rehash, but I can't help but feel as though Carey is going to do it justice, and not screw over the past for the sake of getting a "fresh new angle" at the X-Men's history. The only thing that could go wrong with it, possibly, is Carey taking a cue from Millar's Ultimate X-Men work and is including a fear that the Professor is controlling the minds of his students to a degree.
Paul- While I don't know if Millar was inspired by this, two years ago, two kid started dressing up as super-heroes of their own creation, Mr. Silent and Doctor DiscorD, and patrolling their neighborhood. People first heard about them on Warren Ellis' message board and then later Rich Johnston interviewed them in his Lying In The Gutter column. The point I'm getting to though is that neither of them seemed to have traumatic inciting incident either so maybe Millar's take isn't too far-fetched (god, I never thought I'd ever type that).
The interview is here:
http://www.caseymaloney.com/?p=87
I'm struck by how much Legacy resembles a story JRJr did with Lobdell in the mid-90s - also a Xavier flashback story focusing on the days just prior to the formation of the X-Men, featuring Amelia Voght prominently, and depicting Xavier as doubtful about the saintliness of his own motivations. So there's very little that's new about this comic, but it's well done and I'm interested enough to keep reading...
That'd be uncanny 300 you're refering too..... I think.
Uncanny X-Men #309, actually :
http://thexaxis.com/indexes/unca...nnyxmen/
309.htm
And gee, notice who the artist is...
As I said, a story JRJr did with Lobdell...
Ahh... I was thinking of the conversation with Moria about the 2nd genesis team being revealed that he had his eye on them all along.
#309 is a favourite of mine. I read it so much as a kid.
So, speaking of Indexes... updates?
So, on the latest Secret Invasion, they show off a book called Captain Britain & MI:13. Is that the book Paul Cornell is doing?
Probably not the ideal place to ask this but... I was reading over the Uncanny indexes on the x axis and came across this gem in uncanny #374;
"This issue also features the first of the "Fast Lane" inserts, a string of anti-drug comics which appeared in all Marvel comics around this time. Thanks to "Fast Lane", we learned important morals such as "Don't do drugs, because you might find yourself in a van suspended from an electromagnetic crane, and fall to your death while reaching for your drug paraphernalia." Up to 20,000 Americans die every year from crane-suspended bong-reaching, and we should all be grateful to Marvel for flagging up this very real danger from evil, evil drugs."
If someone can gimme a link or something so I can actually read this pile of dung it'd be much appreciated.
Anonymous, yes, Captain Britain & MI-13 is Paul Cornell's new title. Apparently, the continuation of Excalibur was just a ruse.
What's more likely is that even Marvel realised that New New Excalibur was stupid and only just came up with a new title.
I liked Kick Ass. I think that the main character doesn't really need a traumatic origin story. He's just a big kid. His motivation is the realisation of his fantasy. Of all the people who'd have his particular fantasy, 99.99% would not attempt to realise it, but this kid is supposed to be the one who doesn't.
He reminds a little of the kind of kids who run off to join armies because they think that it's going to be like some old war movie, or the many young idiots who imagine drug dealing to be glamorous and decide to get in on the game.
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