We haven't seen much of Mindy aka Hit Girl since she was arrested at the end of Kick Ass 2 and sent to a maximum security prison where she's been ever since. Issue #3 catches us up with what she's been doing in prison - and it turns out she had a harder time in high school than she's had in prison! As badass as Hit Girl is, Dave aka Kick Ass is the total opposite, dating the girl he met in the last issue and slowly falling for her. Meanwhile Chris aka Red Mist aka The Motherf**ker has gotten out of hospital and away from the police and his creepy Uncle Rocco has thrown him a big welcome home party, as the Genovese crime family begins its amalgamation of the East Coast gangs. And Kick Ass and Justice Forever are about to crash Chris' party - Batman: Year One-style! It's really great seeing Mindy back especially as she's basically the star of the book. Even in prison she hasn't changed her ways and continues to do what she believes are the right things for her fellow prisoners to keep them on the path to rehabilitation while picking up habits most teen girls develop like smoking, drinking and... Hello Kitty cards(!). Chris, despite relieved to be free of the cops, is understandably a bit shaken after the events of the last issue. I won't spoil them here if you haven't read it but you'll notice his ma is noticeably absent from his welcome home party. Plus his uncle is a pretty intense dude whose attitudes towards sex are an interesting way of looking at how mafia guys who depend on their reputations for survival frame homosexuality in their minds. Dave's plan, like a lot of his plans without Hit Girl, goes belly up but once again we see him able to handle himself admirably against a cadre of armed goons like, as one of said goons notices, a real superhero. And while he's not able to perform the Year One scene he'd like, he does pull off a couple of very Batman-esque moves. Dave might view himself a bit Peter-Parker-y under the mask, but he's actually become a very capable fighter, and, coupled with his strong sense of honour, makes him a lot more like Batman than he realises. John Romita Jr as usual brings his A game to the issue and does some stand up work in this issue, nailing Millar's humour perfectly. Kick Ass's expression - told only through his eyes - when he whispers to Valerie his name is Dave, trying to be coy and mysterious, is so funny, as are the bus passengers' expressions when they see Kick Ass clinging on for dear life and instead of trying to help him they get out their phones to take pictures! And of course JRJR does action superbly as the fluid fight sequence in this issue shows.
In these first three issues, Mark Millar's done an excellent job of catching us up with the characters while laying the groundwork for this series. As these issues have shown, without Hit Girl, Kick Ass and Justice Forever will always be low-rent "superheroes" but with Hit Girl, the stakes raise instantly and they step up their game. So with Mindy on her way out and Uncle Rocco about to execute his plan of regenerating the Genovese family's power, the series is well placed to develop into the epic finale it looks like it'll turn out to be. Kick Ass 3 is one of the best original comics being published today and looks set to be one of the most entertaining books of the year. Kick Ass 3 #3 is another first class comic in this fantastic series - check it out today!
Kick Ass 3 #3 by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr is out now