Kick-Ass
Straight for the art | Michael Cho’s Kick-Ass cover for The Village Voice
From Michael Cho's "Kick-Ass" illustration for The Village Voice
Cartoonist Michael Cho took on the film adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Kick-Ass for the cover of the Village Voice Spring Arts Guide 2010. “I don’t really know much about the movie,” Cho writes, “but it was fun to draw an action scene for a magazine cover.”
See the full cover and a related spot illustration on Cho’s blog or at The Village Voice website.
(via Super Punch)
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Akira, Vol. 1
Publishing | When Japan’s largest publisher, Kodansha, set up shop in the United States last fall, many expected a major shake-up in the North American manga market. But so far, Kodansha USA Publishing and Kodansha Comics have been awfully quiet, re-releasing only the first volumes of Akira and Ghost in the Shell. So Gia Manry goes to the source, the general manager of Kodansha USA, and learns … not a whole lot, actually. Except that the manga giant plans to create a website. [Anime Vice]
Publishing | Comics publishers are generally tight-lipped when it comes to sales figures — unless, of course, those numbers are really, really impressive. That’s the case with the hardcover collection for Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Kick-Ass, which Marvel reports has shipped nearly 100,000 copies since its release on Feb. 17. Almost 40 percent of those has gone to the direct market. [press release]
WonderCon | Convention-exclusive posters for Iron Man 2, Kick-Ass
WonderCon-exclusive "Iron Man 2" poster
WonderCon kicks off Friday in San Francisco, and movie studios and television networks will be there, promoting spring and early-summer projects like Doctor Who, Happy Town, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time — and, oh, yeah, Iron Man 2 and Kick-Ass. Those latter two bring with them convention-exclusive posters.
The first (available at Booth #242) is a mini-poster spotlighting Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. It’s nothing spectacular — just a straightforward shot of the actress in costume — but it’s an improvement over the pretty-awful domestic poster for Iron Man 2.
The second, which you can see after the break, concludes the series of Kick-Ass character posters inspired by World War II propaganda imagery. The previous three are so-so, with only the one for Red Mist actually clicking. But the con-exclusive poster for Big Daddy, with its slogan of “He’s Watching You,” is pretty creepy, and calls out for a “Ceiling Cat”-style meme.
Yeah, that’s right, Nicolas Cage is watching you, um, doing whatever you’re doing. And he’ll be available to sign the poster on Saturday.
Is Mark Millar sexist and racist?
from Kick-Ass by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.
According to blogger Erin Polgreen, the answer is yes. Making the case at (of all places) Spencer Ackerman’s national-security blog at the progressive website FireDogLake, Polgreen alleges that in books ranging from Superman: Red Son to Wanted to Kick-Ass, Millar portrays even strong female characters like Lois Lane, Wonder Woman and Hit Girl as inveterate second bananas to their books’ male protagonists. She also gets some shots in at what she sees as the dubious racial politics at play in Wanted and Kick-Ass, where the ethnicity of various non-white minor characters is played as a punchline.
It’s interesting to see an argument against Millar’s treatment of “minority” groups (women are, of course, the majority, but you wouldn’t know it from comics) hinging on something as comparatively innocuous as his female heroes not proving as heroic as his male ones, given the far more violent and ignominious fates he frequently doles out to his characters. For example, if I were in one of his comics, I’d take out a big fat life insurance policy on any gay and/or black people I knew in-universe the second he came aboard. And with regards to women specifically, you’d think the treatment of rape in books like Wanted and Ultimate Comics Avengers would have at least raised Polgreen’s eyebrows, if not her ire. But hey, we report, you decide.
Mask up, bitches: Kick-Ass tears through South by Southwest
Red Mist
This past weekend South by Southwest in Austin hosted the premiere of Kick-Ass, the movie adaptation of the comic by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The film was accompanied by a panel featuring both creators and members of the cast … and a trio of really cool retro posters that attendees received. Above is one featuring the Red Mist, and you can also check out the ones featuring the title character and Hit Girl.
Reviews of the film have also started to pop up around the web, on sites like io9 and Reuters, among many others. Millar and Romita also spoke with the Wall Street Journal about the film.
New outdoor posters released for Kick-Ass
"Kick-Ass" outdoor posters
Ahead of the movie’s world premiere on Friday at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Lionsgate has released outdoor posters for Kick-Ass, Matthew Vaughn’s adaptation of the Icon comic series by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.
The film, which stars Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloe Moretz, Mark Strong and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, will be released on April 16. You can see the individual character posters after the break.
Straight for the art | Mr. Kick-Ass and Little Miss Hit
Mr. Kick-Ass and Little Miss Hit, by Steven Anderson
Artist Steven Anderson depicts characters from Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Kick-Ass in the style of children’s book illustrator Roger Hargreaves (author of the Mr. Men and Little Miss series). Anderson’s Flickr account features similar takes on Red Mist, Wolverine, The Hulk, Nick Fury and numerous other comic-book characters.
(via Super Punch)
Red marker for simulated blood not included
"Kick-Ass" paper toy
Nothing says “hyper-violent superhero comic” quite like this adorable paper toy from Cubeecraft, based on the title character from Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Kick-Ass. The toy is available for free download here; assembly required. (There’s also a Dick Tracy figure.)
The eighth issue of Kick-Ass is due from Marvel’s Icon imprint in January. Matthew Vaughn’s film adaptation is set to open on April 16, 2010.
(via Super Punch)
Nicolas Cage reportedly sold comics collection to stop financial bleed
Nicolas Cage in "Ghost Rider"
Remember back in 2002 when actor Nicolas Cage auctioned off his comic collection for a cool $1.6 million but never said why? Well, now we may know.
Last month the star of Ghost Rider and the upcoming Kick-Ass sued his former business manager for $20 million, blaming him for financial problems that include more than $6 million in tax liens. However, in a countersuit filed last week, Samuel J. Levin claims that by the time the actor hired him in 2001 Cage “had already squandered tens of millions of dollars he had earned as a movie star.”
Levin asserts that he advised Cage he would need to earn more than $30 million to maintain his lifestyle, and persuaded him to sell a dozen automobiles and his comic-book collection, which included copies of Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #1 and All-Star Comics #3.
But by the time Ghost Rider was released in 2007, Cage reportedly had fallen back into his old habits: Levin contends that in that year alone the actor purchased three homes worth more than $33 million, 22 cars, 12 pieces of expensive jewelry and 47 pieces of artwork. Within a year, Cage’s tally of homes had reached 15. He also owned an island in the Bahamas, four yachts and a Gulfstream jet.
No wonder he’s so eager for another Ghost Rider movie.