Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass have an agreement. (See last issue.) She is training him to become a better super hero while he is training her to be a better tween girl. That means no more Fox News.

Hit-Girl is scary good at the heroics and runs Kick-Ass’ training like a drill sergeant forcing him to perfect the art of crashing through a window. Hit-Girl is more resistant to her training, balking at the cost of designer jeans and bristling at the thought of having to watch “vampire stuff.” Things take a turn when she realizes she is creating a secret identity and she sets a goal, to become the alpha female of her school.

Back at home, Mindy’s stepfather informs her that he knows about her “past” as Hit-Girl and warns her to leave that identity in her past. Of course she doesn’t. She and Kick-Ass set up some mobsters, but things don’t go well and much blood is spilled. There’s also a brief update concerning Red Mist.

This book is absolutely entertaining. If you love super hero comics, you have to love this book, which is seeped in comic book lore. At one point, Kick-Ass mentions that he is writing an article for CBR “on how few super heroes have been created in the last forty years compared to the previous four decades.” Hit-Girl freely references Thor, Spider-Man, Batman, and Superman. It’s all meta, in-jokey fun. At one point Kick-Ass debates what type of super hero he is, “I’m not an angst-ridden guy. I’m an old-school public service type.” At another point, they consider the copycat heroes that have popped up, arguing whether they were worthy of joining their cause and rejecting them for various reasons, from their costumes to their Facebook pages.

And the art is by John Romita Jr.  ‘Nuff said.

Verdict: Buy

HIT-GIRL #2
Written by Mark Millar
Art and Cover by John Romita Jr. and Tom Palmer