Kick-Ass Compendium

by Mark Millar, John Romita Jr. (Illustrator)

Genres: Comics

720 pages, Paperback

Expected publication September 8, 2026

About the author

Mark Millar is the New York Times best-selling writer of Wanted, the Kick-Ass series, The Secret Service, Jupiter’s Legacy, Jupiter’s Circle, Nemesis, Superior, Super Crooks, American Jesus, MPH, Starlight, and Chrononauts. Wanted, Kick-Ass, Kick-Ass 2, and The Secret Service (as Kingsman: The Secret Service) have been adapted into feature films, and Nemesis, Superior, Starlight, War Heroes, Jupiter’s Legacy and Chrononauts are in development at major studios.

His DC Comics work includes the seminal Superman: Red Son, and at Marvel Comics he created The Ultimates – selected by Time magazine as the comic book of the decade, Wolverine: Old Man Logan, and Civil War – the industry’s biggest-selling superhero series in almost two decades.

Mark has been an Executive Producer on all his movie adaptations and is currently creative consultant to Fox Studios on their Marvel slate of movies.

Reviews

[Juniper L.H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tricky one to review. You see, Kick Ass is awesome and deserves 5 stars. THIS version of Kick Ass however, does not.

Kick Ass is a great graphic novel. Somehow both very realistic and also comic-book fantasy at the same time, it is a wonderful blend. The story is relatively simple but satisfying. Great action, great characters….all around a good graphic novel. I recommend it to anyone who likes the genre.

I was excited to see a release that combined the whole series into one go. Unfortunately I realized part way through that it appears to be edited down and changed from the original version. There are sections, sometimes multiple pages, that have been cut and as a result the story sometimes doesn’t make sense. Important (or at least memorable) details have been cut and I cant imagine why because this version is worse. There are also some things that were changed; it was truly noticeable after one scene where in the original version the crowd was cheering for the protagonist, but in this version everyone is angrily blaming them and calling for them to be punished. Strange edits, I don’t like it….. though mostly I don’t like that it wasn’t indicated anywhere I could see that there were changes so a reader wouldn’t know! Its possible this has something to do with the fact I was reading an ARC copy, but who knows.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free ARC. This honest review was left voluntarily.

[Jin · Rating 3 out of 5]

---English Version---

Note: I received a digital review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

~Plot~
Dave Lizewski is an ordinary New York City teenager obsessed with superheroes. But one day, he takes the plunge, dons a costume, and begins prowling the streets of his city to protect the innocent. He soon realizes, however, that the danger is far more real than what he reads about in comics.

This is the complete collection of all four volumes of the original series.

~Review~
Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass is a deconstruction of the superhero genre, exploring the logistical and physical challenges faced by an ordinary teenager attempting to dispense justice as a vigilante in the real world. The narrative revolves around a cast of deeply flawed and socially and emotionally damaged characters, including Kick-Ass, Big Daddy, Hit-Girl and Red Mist. Rather than serving as role models, these individuals are explicitly designed to subvert traditional heroic tropes. The comic’s central thematic thread focuses on how their actions, though driven by good intentions, remain deeply naive and ultimately generate a cycle of chaos, trauma and fatal consequences for themselves and those around them.

The story combines a classic coming-of-age journey with the stark contrast between profound naivety and the sheer brutality that characterize the cast’s choices. The comic benefits from not taking itself too seriously, which balances the overall tone. Nevertheless, it contains an undeniable boldness and certain narrative elements that may not have stood the test of time perfectly. Although some consider the series to be a lesser version of Garth Ennis’s style, Kick-Ass demonstrates superior structural execution compared to the comic book version of The Boys.

For readers moving from the screen to the page, the contrast is stark. The feature film is notably toned down compared to the original volumes. In the vein of deconstructive works, the graphic depiction of violence here is raw and grounded, standing out sharply from traditional, sanitized mainstream superhero stories without crossing into the territory of pure horror or extreme gore. The text, too, makes extensive use of explicit, adult language to reinforce this gritty reality.

Visually, the series sees John Romita Jr. return to the art, with the illustrations further enhanced by colourist and inker Peter Steigerwald. The artwork is well executed, particularly in the action scenes.

Although the underlying concept of the story and characters is solid, the execution of the final product reveals clear structural limitations. The narrative pace proves effective during the high-intensity, action-packed sequences, delivering several high-quality fight scenes. However, this rapid pace means that character development is sometimes neglected, preventing key plot events from conveying the intended emotional weight. Character interactions and situations also occasionally fall into stereotypes.

~Other Information~
Author: Mark Millar
Artist: John Romita Jr.
Publisher: Image Comics
Page Count: 720 pages

~Rating~
Overall Rating:★★★½

~Link~
Buy on Amazon
Buy from Publisher


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---Italian Version---
Nota: Ho ricevuto una copia gratuita da NetGalley in cambio di una recensione onesta.

~Trama~
Dave Lizewski è un normale adolescente di New York ossessionato dai supereroi. Ma un giorno decide di fare il grande passo, indossa un costume e inizia a vagare per le strade della sua città per proteggere gli innocenti. Ben presto, però, si rende conto che il pericolo è molto più reale di quello di cui legge nei fumetti.

Questa è la raccolta completa di tutti e quattro i volumi della serie originale.

~Recensione~
“Kick-Ass” di Mark Millar è una decostruzione del genere dei supereroi, esplorando le conseguenze logistiche e fisiche che un normale adolescente deve affrontare nel tentativo di esercitare la giustizia da giustiziere nel mondo reale. La narrazione ruota attorno a un cast di personaggi profondamente imperfetti e socialmente ed emotivamente danneggiati, tra cui Kick-Ass, Big Daddy, Hit-Girl e Red Mist. Anziché fungere da figure a cui aspirare, questi individui sono esplicitamente concepiti per sovvertire i tradizionali tropi eroici. Il filo conduttore tematico del fumetto si concentra su come le loro azioni, sebbene animate da buone intenzioni, rimangano profondamente ingenue e finiscano per generare un ciclo di caos, traumi e conseguenze fatali per loro stessi e per chi li circonda.

La storia unisce un viaggio di formazione classico al contrasto tra la profonda ingenuità e la pura brutalità che caratterizzano le scelte del cast. Il fumetto trae vantaggio dal non prendersi troppo sul serio, il che bilancia il tono generale. Ciononostante, contiene un’innegabile audacia e alcuni elementi narrativi che potrebbero non aver resistito perfettamente alla prova del tempo. Sebbene alcuni considerino la serie come una versione minore dello stile di Garth Ennis, Kick-Ass presenta un’esecuzione strutturale superiore rispetto alla versione a fumetti di The Boys.

Per i lettori che passano dallo schermo alla pagina, il contrasto è netto. Il lungometraggio è notevolmente attenuato rispetto ai volumi originali. Sulla scia delle opere decostruttive, la rappresentazione grafica della violenza qui è cruda e realistica, distinguendosi nettamente dalle tradizionali storie di supereroi mainstream, edulcorate, senza però sconfinare nel territorio dell’horror puro o del gore estremo. Anche il testo fa ampio uso di un linguaggio esplicito e per adulti per rafforzare questa realtà cruda.

Dal punto di vista visivo, la serie vede il ritorno di John Romita Jr. ai disegni, con le illustrazioni ulteriormente valorizzate dal colorista e inchiostratore Peter Steigerwald. I disegni sono ben realizzati, in particolare nelle scene d'azione.

Sebbene il concetto alla base della storia e dei personaggi sia solido, la realizzazione del prodotto finale mostra evidenti limiti strutturali. Il ritmo narrativo si rivela efficace durante le sequenze ad alta intensità e ricche di azione, offrendo diverse scene di combattimento di alta qualità. Tuttavia, questa rapida accelerazione fa sì che, a volte, lo sviluppo dei personaggi venga trascurato, impedendo agli eventi chiave della trama di trasmettere il peso emotivo previsto. Anche le interazioni tra i personaggi e le situazioni cadono occasionalmente in stereotipi.


~Altre informazioni~
Scrittore: Mark Millar
Disegnatore: John Romita Jr.
Editore: Image Comics (Panini Comics per l'edizione italiana)
Numero Pagine: 720 / 768 pagine

~Valutazione~
Voto:★★★½

~Link utili~
Compra su Amazon (in inglese)
Compra su Amazon (Omnibus in italiano, versione 2023)

[Hone · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Review copy courtesy of Image Comics, Mark Millar, and NetGalley.)

3⭐

I read the first third of this series well over a decade ago, maybe closer to two, so picking it back up now was a strange experience. Obviously, I’m older, for one thing. But I also think I originally engaged with (enjoyed?? I honestly can’t remember now) the material on a surface level the first time around. This reread gave me a lot more to chew on.

The art is incredible. I mean… obviously? John Romita Jr. is prolific, distinctive, and enormously skilled, but more than that, this is one of those writer/artist pairings that feels seamless. The visual style and storytelling are synchronized in the same bloody, fucked up dance.

The part I kept tripping over was the satire. Sometimes this collection 100% reads like satire. Then I’d sit with it for a second and think, wait, but is it? I’ve said this before, but you have to be able to get your fingernail up under the edge of satire for it to work. Not even peel it all the way back. Just enough to know for sure what you’re engaging with.

I never could quite suss this one out.

In a lot of ways, Kick-Ass feels like part of that wave of people taking new angles on the superhero genre. What if superheroes, but not really superheroes? What if people in our world put on costumes and tried to do good things? But also… maybe not good things. Maybe self-serving things. Maybe violent things. Maybe things that only look cool until you look again.

There is a line between “let’s draw this little girl cutting dudes’ heads off because it looks cool and weird” and making a statement about drawing a little girl cutting dudes’ heads off because it looks cool and weird.

I was never fully sure which side of that line the book fell on. And that’s a large part of why this landed at three stars for me. The other part is Dave himself. He was a lot worse than I remembered. He stands on this strange line between “is this guy just an incel?” and “is there some part of him that is actually good?” And I just don’t fucking know.

📌 TL;DR: Stunningly illustrated and deeply uncomfortable in ways I could not always tell were intentional. It gave me a three-star existential crisis about the nature of satire.

[Stephen Reyes-Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read this ever since I saw the movie and found out it was a comic, so I'm really glad this compendium came out so I could finally check out the whole series in one go. I was actually really surprised at how similar the first two volumes are to the two movies. The first movie and the first book even have literally the exact same ending line and everything. That's a surprise because I always heard about how much more disturbing and violent the comics were. I will say that this is definitely an edited version, though. There are a couple of infamous scenes that were cut. I don't mind that to be honest. I'm ok with missing out on child murder and sexual assault, but the thing is that those scenes are still referenced several times throughout the rest of the book, so it sort of feels like a plot hole as is. Still, I overall did enjoy this book. It's a lot more realistic and down to earth than I was expecting for sure. Yeah, it's still over the top, but it definitely does play with the idea of what superheroes would be like in the real world pretty well. Like, there's a scene where there's this big street brawl between the villains and heroes and the cops just arrest everyone, because they're still just random people being violent whether they've deluded themselves into thinking they're actually superheroes or not. It was pretty solid storytelling. It just felt like it was missing something. It dragged quite a bit in big sections towards the back half and something about the ending was a little wonky. Again, it's overall pretty good. I just think I might have hyped it up in my mind a bit too much. The art was the best part for me. That was just solid front to back. I would definitely give this 3.5 stars and might even go up to 4 after sitting on it for a bit, but I'm really glad I finally got to read the whole thing either way.

[Lukasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kick-Ass is one of the most over-the-top comics I've ever read. It's violent, crude, and completely unhinged. Somehow, despite all that, or maybe because of it, I had a good time.

It asks a question of what if an ordinary teenager decided to become a superhero? The answer is obvious: he gets beaten to a pulp. Repeatedly. But things quickly escalate once Hit-Girl enters the picture, and from that moment on the series rarely stops.

Hit-Girl is a lot. Watching a twelve-year-old girl slice people apart, blow them up, and casually rack up a body count is... a lot. The violence is so excessive that it occasionally crosses the line from shocking into almost absurd. Add plenty of tragedy, grief, and characters having spectacularly miserable lives, and this definitely isn't light reading.

Still, it works if you're willing to accept the comic on its own terms. Mark Millar isn't aiming for realism or subtlety. He's trying to make every chapter bigger, bloodier, and crazier than the last, and more often than not, he succeeds. John Romita Jr.'s artwork fits the tone perfectly, making every punch, explosion, and ridiculous set piece hit with maximum impact.

It's certainly not for everyone, and I won't pretend it's high art. But if you enjoy unapologetically violent, outrageous comics that smash every line of good taste, Kick-Ass is ridiculously entertaining. Even if sometimes it really is a bit much.

ARC through NetGalley

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wild, gore-filled, revenge-ridden, blast of a comic. I had a ton of fun with this one.

First off, the art in Kick-Ass is great and fits the material really well. John Romita Jr. is a master and that mastery is on full display here. The writing is also great and Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl are really fun to follow around as the two main characters. Also, killer premise. What if random, everyday people started putting on costumes and pretending to be superheroes? Well, it works out just about how you'd expect, with a bunch of people who maybe sometimes mean well trying to meet out vigilante justice and actually just causing a ton of chaos and death.

There's a bit of a hopeful message here about learning/accepting who you are, doing what you can to help those around you, etc., and it's a coming-of-age story, which is nice, but also lies in stark contrast to the sheer brutality and naivete of the cast and their actions by design. The book clearly doesn't take itself too seriously, and I like that about it.

I'd say my only real negative opinion is that the story kind of lags in the latter 3rd-ish up until the final climax and resolution. It's still interesting, but that whole "arc" I guess felt a little flat in contrast to the rest of the comic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for the ARC!

[Thomas Kiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had watched both Kick-Ass movies a bunch when they came out, but never go around to reading the comics, so it was gun to go back and read these stories. Kick-Ass has a great premise of what if a teenager just decides to become a superhero and playing out the game from there, with violence and death aplenty. Then you get to people with real training, and team ups, and mob bosses, etc. Over the four volumes of the Dave Lizewski years is a great story of superheroes and crime.

John Romita Jr.'s art is fantastic, and Mark Millar gives each volume a really great arc that gets bigger and bigger while remaining character driven. Mindy McCready is a great character and her trying to balance being a teenage child with being a killer is a great inversion of the normal balance these stories have. My only drawback is that Dave Lizewski is a teenager in 2008 and while the dialogue feels so reflective of those times its wild how terribly it and his initial character has aged (not that he would be any better in modern times, but the book is a wild time capsule). Kick-Ass got adapted so quickly for a reason and Image did a good job collecting the initial volumes into one set.

Thank you to Image Comics and NetGalley for a copy of Kick-Ass Compendium in exchange for an honest review.

[DollarBin ComicWin · Rating 5 out of 5]

You like Invincible? Then, why haven’t you read this??
Instead of insane biological powers, Kick-Ass is just a kid in a costume. It’s so real-to-life that it hurts to read at times. It’s a tough pick, but this may be Mark Millar’s magnum opus. John Romita Jr’s art is iconic, but truly begins to feel like it belongs solely to this book. This book is graphically violent and never goes the way you expect. It’s full of trauma, grief, and nudity. If you want a taste of the later 2000s, this is full of nostalgia. MySpace is mentioned a LOT, especially in the beginning. It’s definitely part of its time and doesn’t handle homosexuality well. It’s a bunch of nerds who try their best to sound big and bad, which tracks. Dave (Kick-Ass) and his friends are comic nerds and play Xbox all night. However, if you like Punisher or Rorschach, then Hit-Girl is the next best thing. The twists are hard to see coming and the story is definitely worth the read. The compendium is coming out soon!

[Chuu · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when a kid with no superpowers whatsoever decides to be a superhero? You get "Kick-Ass", and boy it is an interesting and hyper-violent formula. Repeatedly, you see Kick-Ass and his comrades getting brutally beaten up by villains and even hospitalized. But you also see what the core of a real superhero is: someone who doesn't give up on justice despite overwhelming odds. This compendium is well worth adding to one's physical (or digital) collection, but be warned, it can get really violent and gruesome compared to most other mainstream superhero comics.

4 stars, but only because the violence got a little too much for me in certain portions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

#KickAssCompendium #NetGalley

[Christine Craft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kick-Ass Compendium was such a gory, violent, and action-packed superhero satire read! I never finished the series originally, so reading the complete set this time was an absolute thrill. The story is phenomenal, the pacing is perfect, and the art style is incredible with easy-to-follow paneling. I also loved the brutal fights, assortment of characters, and that the conclusion resolved in a satisfying manner.

Overall, if you want epic, bloody fights and a compelling twist where ordinary citizens become superheroes, I highly recommend you read this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Image Comics for the ARC(advanced reader copy) in return for an honest review.