Kick-Ass #3 by Mark Millar, John Romita Jr., Peter Steigerwald, and John Workman introduces a deadly new supervillain and places Kick-Ass in her most dangerous situation yet.
Kick-Ass #3
Written by: Mark Millar
Art by: John Romita Jr.
Colors and Digital Inks by: Peter Steigerwald
Letters by: John Workman
Kick-Ass Created by: Mark Millar & John Romita Jr.
Patience Lee’s shaking up the city’s organized crime rings to feed her family and give stolen money back to the community. But the enemies she’s making have friends in low places, friends that will avenge their bosses come hell or high water. The city’s most violent offender is fresh out of jail, and he’s got Kick-Ass in his sights.
Writing
With Kick-Ass #3, Mark Millar finally introduces his nemesis for Patience Lee, the mob enforcer Violencia (Spanish for violence). And in typical Millar fashion, the villain is hyper-violent, over the top and completely entertaining to read. This chapter is almost an origin of Violencia, as Patience/Kick-Ass doesn’t even appear for a few pages. Instead, we a fantastic opener that gives the reader a clear picture of who/what Violencia is and what he is capable of. Millar creates a sense of real fear and danger with this character, elevating the stakes of the story to new levels.
We also finally get to see how closely connected Patience’s brother-in-law Maurice is to organized crime, as she finally crosses path with him in her Kick-Ass costume. That set-up creates a huge amount of tension that leaves the comic on it’s strongest cliffhanger yet.
Art
The art team here is just about perfect. John Romita Jr. and Peter Steigerwald combine their talents to create images that are at once gritty and sleek. It’s that duality that has always captured the simple brutality of a hard punch or a bullet to the head in a Kick-Ass book. You can honestly almost feel every impact. It’s a hard line to balance on because a lesser art team would simply allow it all to become way too over the top. Romita and Steigerwald manage to add a bit of elegance to the whole thing, which makes Kick-Ass unique.
Conclusion
With this third issue, the new Kick-Ass feels like it’s finally getting its own identity. It makes you realize that the concept originally created in Kick-Ass ( a more ‘realistic’ depiction of a costumed vigilante) is one that is extremely malleable and can create all sorts of interesting takes.
