Dave Lizewski is Kick Ass

Dave Lizewski, an otherwise ordinary New York City high school student and the child of Greg Willer, a loving single father, takes his interest in comic books as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. He assembles a suit and mask, which he wears under his normal clothing, begins exercising, and practices things like walking on roofs, satisfying his ambitions for a time. He eventually seeks to fight crime, with his first attempt leading him to receive a severe beating and stabbing by thugs, followed by his wandering into the street and being hit by a car.[1] He retains his secret identity by stripping off and hiding his costume before paramedics arrive.[2]

Telling his father he was mugged, he undergoes intense physical rehabilitation, including four operations. He is released weeks later, and as soon as he is off crutches dons the suit once more and goes on patrol. When he saves a man from a beating,[2] an onlooker records the incident and uploads it to YouTube, turning Lizewski into an overnight sensation dubbed with the name Kick-Ass.[3]

In school, the mugging excuse used to cover up his bruises spawns rumors Lizewski is a gay prostitute. Believing them, his longtime crush, Katie Deauxma, adopts him as a "gay best friend". Lizewski goes along with this in an effort to spend time with her. His father, worried about him, gives him a can of police-issue pepper-spray for protection.[3]

As Kick-Ass, Lizewski sets up a MySpace account, so people can contact him for help. The first such request he investigate a man called Eddie Lomas who has been harassing his ex-girlfriend, which leads him to an apartment of violent lowlifes who try to kill him. He is rescued by a costumed, sword-wielding young girl named Hit-Girl,[3] who kills all the attackers and then leaves to join a grown man named Big Daddy.[4] The two disregard Lizewski, who later learns that Kick-Ass has inadvertently inspired a subculture of people dressed in makeshift, original superhero costumes. Later, one such hero, the Red Mist, appears, and teams with Kick-Ass on street patrol. The two gain great public popularity after nearly being killed rescuing a cat from a burning building.[5]

Kick-Ass, at the behest of Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, accompanies Red Mist to meet the duo at an abandoned warehouse to strategize the take down of local drug kingpin John Genovese. There they find Big Daddy and Hit-Girl captured, and Red Mist reveals himself as Genovese's son, who had orchestrated this ambush.[6] The gang kills Big Daddy and tortures Kick-Ass, but fails to kill Hit-Girl, who escapes and returns to kill several of the gang members.[7] Afterwards, Hit-Girl kills John Genovese while Kick-Ass beats Red Mist into submission. Lizewski helps Hit-Girl go back to a normal, calm life with her mother and stepfather, Lizewski's own life is no better than before. He had told Katie Deauxma about him not being gay, and she shuts him out once again. When he comes home, he walks in on his father having sex with Eddie Lomas' ex-girlfriend Lucille. The main story ends with the superhero who tried to fly at the start of the story catching the elevator to the top floor of a building. The epilogue shows Red Mist at a computer in a different costume, swearing vengeance on Kick-Ass.

Promotion
Prior to the series, a viral campaign featuring a short video of the main character of the comic, Kick-Ass, being "caught on tape" performing a heroic act was uploaded to YouTube and spread around the Internet.[1] Later, a MySpace page was created, supposedly maintained by the character, where it was written that "Mark Millar [...] is doing a comic-book about me with [...] John Romita Jr."[8]

A charity auction was held to name the main character. The winner, Dave Lizewski, chose his own name.[9]

Each issue also singles out specific comic shops, crediting them for taking part in the "home-made effort" to promote the book and encourages readers to support them.

Film
Main article: Kick-Ass (film)Scriptwriting for the film adaptation started in May 2008.[10] The Hollywood Reporter said production would be fully financed by Matthew Vaughn's MARV Films, the script written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, and the movie directed by Vaughn.