OneMetal.com book REVIEW:
Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie

You’ve probably read OneMetal staffer Dave Convery’s lukewarm review of the highly anticipated Kick-Ass flick, but some of us are still drooling over its upcoming, mainstream release. Surely the folks at Titan Books could sense our excitement because they’ve sent us a tightly bound companion book that documents the hot-selling story’s origins. Unlike many works of its kind, Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie honors both the printed and on-film renderings by chronicling one surreal phenomenon. With the comic’s issues hitting stands during the film’s ongoing production, this brightly colored tie-in thoroughly explores Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.’s innovative world of Kick-Ass. Fans rejoice, for these glossy, high-quality pages deliver not only eye-popping flash and bang, but also fascinating insight and notes.

Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie begins where all legendary comics do: with a superhero. In this case, an unlikely teenage boy named Dave Lizewski (actor Aaron Johnson) accepts that responsibility, garnering Youtube fame and wincing through more pain than his homemade green and yellow costume can withstand. Mark Millar discusses his unusual creative process while he praises Kick-Ass for its spectacular ability to evolve in a way that his other comics fail. The book’s visuals support the writer’s words with each turn; readers can visibly witness Millar’s wild imagination erupt, peppering countless notebook pages with seemingly nonsensical Kick-Ass mischief. From these table-top scraps we arrive at director Matthew Vaughn’s entrance. Fueling the project with his own money, Vaughn collaborated early with Millar. Their wall-bouncing ideas eventually spurned a comic and movie that were directly and smartly correlated. John Romita, Jr.’s artistic contributions only strengthened their culminating efforts.

With the actors (Aaron Johnson, Chloë Moretz aka Hit-Girl, Nicolas Cage aka Big Daddy, Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka Red Mist, etc.) voicing their share, these key figures—along with screenplay co-writer Jane Goldman, costume designer Sammy Sheldon, and production designer Russel De Rozario—piece together the inner workings of Kick-Ass. Highly organized sections clarify a potentially muddled comic-film relationship, and the editors generously supply readers with plenty of insider photos and first-hand material. Readers can step onto a very tangible movie set, filled with the actors’ stories and burning with fanboy type devotion. The book addresses many of the film’s changes, detailing stylistic choices that affect outfits, set design, and hair. Teasing pockets of the script, this indulging edition matches dozens of over-sized comic panels with countless movie stills.

Of course, those who haven’t caught up with the comic issues would probably appreciate a fat spoiler warning, inconveniently absent from this book’s cover. All those twists you adored in the comics are virtually shouted from these pages. Overall, Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making definitely succeeds and will delight a vast range of fans. The downside, you ask? Why so little love for actress Lyndsy Fonseca, who plays Dave’s love interest Katie Deauxma?

Bottom Line

Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie, well, kicks major ass. This companion book earns its keep on your bookshelf.