Mark Millar impressed the hell out of me with his Ultimates run. It was rich in detail, firmly set in the real world and the art was impressive. Everything that the Ultimates was, Kick-Ass is not. Details are sketchy (a 12-year-old girl can flush out every known high-end organized crime guy? And they're all in the same city?), it's nowhere near the real world (yes, there's mention of Twitter and various movies, etc, but again, she has full run of a prison, including death row?) and the art...well, the art is by John Romita Jr. which always fails to impress me.

Still, the story is stupid, violent fun and it never tries to be anything more than that, but as I read this stuff, I just can't help think that Mark Millar is now trying to out-Millar himself with over-the-top storylines, while at the same time chasing that Ultimates/Civil War dragon of huge sales. It feels a little forced and a lot empty. ( )

Disturbing. (Duh.) I found it a better read than the first book, possibly because Hit-Girl is simply way more interesting than Kick-Ass can ever be. She's completely messed up -- but how do you call her "damaged" when her abilities have rendered her virtually invulnerable? Sure, she takes down a mob boss -- and several dozen of his closest associates -- and, okay, the entire population of death row (she was in the neighborhood, so she figured she'd "save the tax-payer a little cash"). But she also conquers the female population of *middle school.* Using pretty much the same skill set.

I guess I'd have to call her my favorite right-wing extremist. ( )

I just absolutely love Millar's writing in the Kick-Ass series. It's relentless, brutal, profane, and flat out entertaining. Unfortunately with the films having been made, this makes it a popular title with teens when in all actuality no one under the age of 18 should ever pick this book up. Talk about intense visuals and language... all coming from main characters that are children not old enough to drive a car. ( )

Hit-Girl is an interlude in the Kick-Ass series by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. It’s set between Kick-Ass and Kick-Ass 2.

Plot:
Mindy, formerly known as Hit-Girl, now lives with her mother and her step-father. She promised him that Hit-Girl was a thing of the past and that she’d do everything to be a normal high school student. But that’s not exactly true. While she does struggle with being as normal as possible, she also trains Dave aka Kick-Ass and does everything to break up the Genovese-led Mafia. At the same time Chris Genovese gives up being Red Mist to become the world’s first super-villain.

I enjoyed Hit-Girl. I’m still not a big fan of Romita Jr.’s art, but I like the characters and the story is fun. I did have a couple of issues, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Read more on my blog: http://kalafudra.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/hit-girl-mark-millar-john-romita-jr/ ( )