Manchu wrote:
-Loki- wrote:Also, it's a central part of his post-CCA character.
Batman stopped killing people less than a year after his first appearance. That was 14 years before CCA censorship. So for eleven months out of 74 years, killing was a part -- and mind you not even a central part -- of the character. I can see why you don't want to get into an argument about Batman ...
-Loki- wrote:You also ignored the bulk of my post that was on topic, which is fun.
Your initial premise -- that Kick Ass is heroic because he stands up to criminals -- is false. What follows is not worth treating. Yes, I understand he suffered nerve damage. But that's not much of a power unless you are in the first place getting into dangerous physical altercations. You say that KA is no more about the decision to be violent than any other comic because of this. Again, it's simply false. Because there is nothing beyond violence in KA.
The counterpoint is Batman. Batman is about psychological tension. Bruce Wayne's emotional growth was stunted by the trauma of seeing his parents murdered. He is a violent vigilante who justifies his criminal behavior by stopping short of killing. With Batman, the questionable nature of his morality is always present in serious treatments. In KA, the issue is dismissed. The line is obliterated. Nothing is real; everything is permitted. You mentioned the Punisher. Frank Castle has never been a hero. But Millar says his Kid Punishers are. What separates them from the "villains" however is just authorial fiat. That's why I call it exploitation.
Not having read the first Batman runs, I think that you're playing up a lot of the more adult aspects of Batman which came about in part because the fans and authors have had 74 years to justify their unhealthy fascination with a rich weirdo who goes around beating people up in gray bulletproof pajamas with a sidekick who pretty much screams probable cause.
I bet you a dollar a dime that if you gave MLP fans 74 years and multiple iterations and generations of both material and fans that they would manage to come up with a justification just as adult and profound as the one you just espoused, and the same can be said of the Kick Ass franchise.
That said, I think the Character of Kick Ass is very abnormal in that he does stand up to crime even when the possibility of his death is very real. The nerve endings bit just does away with what stops most people from interrupting a regular crime in process.
