2. Theres No Reliable Team Of Costumed Heroes As Back-Up
Kick-Ass 2 significantly expanded Kick-Ass world by giving him a whole team of crime-fighting costumed vigilantes to pal around with, Justice Forever; as well as a team of costumed villains to fight against. While that may have made for an extravaganza of action and blood-and-guts fight scenes, it moved the story far away from the concept that made the first series so fresh. Watching a whole team of costumed heroes face off against a team of costumed villains may deliver some excitement but its the kind of excitement you can find in almost any mainstream comic book. In Kick-Ass 3 however, the Motherf-cker and his hired band of villains are nowhere to be found and Justice Forever does little more than think up ways to honor the still-imprisoned Hit-Girl and occasionally go on patrol. One of the members (who bears a striking resemblance to Kevin Smith) cant even be bothered to do that much which triggers the only thing resembling a battle for Kick-Ass this issue: trying to convince the guy to stop slacking. With no badass Mother Russias or Colonel Stars around to wreak comic-book-style carnage against one another, reality intrudes on the comic book reality in the most banal way possible and Kick-Ass is reduced to being an office manager. Its a great scene reminiscent of the best moments in the first series precisely because its so familiar to our understanding of what happens in the real world and yet foreign to what we expect to see from a mainstream superhero comic.