Only because you’ve all seen this one while I was away…

And to think I was talking about the first preview just over a year ago… and we’re still waiting for the KICK-ASS conclusion!  W00t!

What the hell is a “Kick-Ass” anyway?

It’s the newest Mark Millar book about a regular teen who decides, “Fuck it, today I’m gonna be a SUPERHERO!”

In my opinion, this is the best “superheroes-in-the-real-world” book out there.  No superpowers, nothing — just pure Kick-Assery.

Dave Lizewski wanted to be MORE.  More than school, more than crushes, more than a comicbook geek — he wanted to be a superhero.  During his first outing, he got stabbed.  After staying in the hospital for several weeks (he got hit by a car after getting stabbed) — he goes out and saves an innocent civillian.

Bystanders who’ve managed to capture him using their camera phones uploaded the video on YouTube, propelling him to instant stardom.  He’s even gone so far as to setting up a MySpace page for people in need of saving to get in touch with him.

(Sounds familiar?  Regular boy wants more in life?  Kinda like Wanted in reverse, huh?  This promises to stick closer to its comic book roots.)

With the viral marketing thing, it grounds Kick-Ass more into the present — using YouTube, MySpace, camera phones to mirror the world we currently live in — you do outrageous things, people take notice.  Not only that, but the real-life viral marketing has people producing the “video” to support their favorite comic.  In the MySpace page (which is rumored to be Millar-maintained, or at least the people who work for him) bands have even volunteered to include their songs in the comic’s soundtrack.  There’s also Millar’s shout-out to comicbook shops in every issue, prolly guaranteeing support on their end.

Fans are already pointing out that the movie costume, as faithful as it is, has a mouthpiece — which is comically inaccurate.  My concern is: issue 5 isn’t even out yet (was supposed to come out this week, delayed ’til Dec. 12) — so how would we know that the movie won’t spoil the comic?  Reverse-style, yow.

[images from Newsarama]