Each of the participating writers/reviews of Comic Bastards will give the issue a score of: Buy, Borrow or Pass along with a short reason for the score. Here’s a blurb about the issue from Dynamite before we begin: If Kick-Ass and Deadpool had a baby, it would be Bad Ass! The only difference being that Dead End is a villain through and through with no intentions of serving anyone. What makes Dead End so great is his self-aware humor and biting sarcasm - the mark of a true evil genius. Hard to hate and even harder to kill, Dead End is an eloquent psychopath who fights for something better than justice: himself.
Dustin: BUY
I think the description of Kick-Ass and Deadpool having a baby is a terrible one since I don’t like either of those series. To me Bad Ass was a romp. It was funny and yet well written. The opening page with its great narrative describing our main character’s view of the world was poetic. It was even more poetic when he said he hated everything that he described.
Maybe it’s just my fucked up view on life, but I loved Dead End the main character of this book. He was funny and his reverse luck type powers were awesome. He flips a coin and not only takes a dudes eye but causes a car crash and kills a bunch of innocent people. It was awesome and he only got better from there. His back story is interesting and I loved the build up for the final section of that as well.
The art was definitely a plus as well. Bruno Bessadi’s style is very detailed, but maintains this great look for the story. The character designs were freaking cool and even though I was more than a little confused when a talking Dragon showed up, I still thought he was cool looking. I guess you could say this comic was right up my alley. It was fun as shit and entertained me from beginning to end. I’ll definitely be back for more.
Samantha: PASS
While the concept of Bad Ass, focusing on the anti-hero, is a great idea, I felt lackluster when reading this comic. The anti-hero, Dead End, first shouldn’t be called a bad ass. When most foul mouth people use this word, we use it with positive notations. Dead End isn’t positive. He is downright evil.
The action supplied some entertainment for the issue. Dead End seems to be skilled when uses small devices, such as money or cigarettes. Using these small objects adds some allure to the overall fight scene focusing in on minute details. I also liked his look; a suit with Chucks. Very classic. So the images and action all work. It was the story that lacked some grip.
I don’t really get his purpose in being so bad. We flash back to him getting tortured as a kid, so maybe he focuses only on bullies. But the way he treated the young kid at the restaurant, I would say that isn’t the case. Maybe his motivations will be more clear in the following issues, but the first one didn’t grab my attention or sympathy for his adult lifestyle. Not to mention a Mozart-cat-women purrs her way into the picture. What is that about?
Steve: PASS
After reading the first five pages of Dynamite’s Bad Ass #1 - most of which had been released previously - I was properly psyched for this book. It looked bold, brash and most of all new. Unfortunately, the end product came across as just another Deadpool knock-off, but less funny. In fact, this book expends a lot of effort trying to fit into that “cool anti-hero” mode, apparently just for the sake of doing so.
The flashback scenes of an outcast life were tired and worn and his motivations (presumably chaos) are done better elsewhere. His power set is fairly interesting, sort of like an Amadeus Cho-meets-Bullseye, and while watching him fuck up a city block with a quarter and light up suckers with a single cigarette was fun, it also wasn’t anything I haven’t experienced before; nor was his voice, which was peppered too liberally with generic, sneering tough talk.
The art on the other hand is clean, tight and entertaining, and was the best part of the book for me. If only its levity could have been translated into the narrative, this would have stood a chance, but as it stands, it’s just your bog standard hard-ass story about a guy who apparently really likes the Miami Heat for some reason. I wouldn't say Bad Ass is ... bad, and I get that it plays off a one-note joke, but if that's all you want, you may as well just read Deadpool and be done with it.
Score: 2 Passes and 1 Buy!
Writer: Herik Hanna Artist: Bruno Bessadi Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 1/22/14