In a Deadline exclusive, Mark Millar unveiled the first cover and details of Kevin Smith’s Hit Girl: The Golden Rage of Hollywood.
Popularized by Chloë Grace Moretz’s portrayal of the uber-violent, ass-kicking heroine in Matthew Vaughn’s movie adaptations of Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass comic books, 12-year old Hit Girl is a bloodthirsty hero who knows how to use a blade and isn’t afraid to drop an F-bomb or two. In The Golden Rage of Hollywood, Smith writes a new adventure with art from Pernille Orum that takes place in modern-day Tinsel Town. The cover, which can be seen below, was drawn by artist Francesco Francavilla.
The story finds the justice-seeking adolescent super-assassin storm movie sets and wage war on Hollywood predators — a story that couldn’t be any more timely. The title is set to launch in January 2019. The new series will feature some familiar faces from the original Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl series by Millar and John Romita Jr., and each issue is a tribute to a different era of American cinema. Jeff Lemire and Eduardo Risso have also written an arc for Hit Girl. Hit Girl and Kick-Ass will be released monthly by Image Comics.
“I wrote most of The Golden Rage of Hollywood Hit-Girl arc while recuperating after my health scare, so it was Mindy McCready and her bloody thirst for justice who helped me mend my broken heart,” Smith said of writing the arc. “Telling tales with Mark’s toys was an absolute pleasure, but having Pernille bring it all to life makes this a must-read for me! Pernille’s style is like hot cocoa for the eyes and soul, so I’m ecstatic she opted to lend it to our pint-sized, pre-pubescent Punisher!”
“Kevin is one of my favorite people in Hollywood,” said Millar. “He writes dialogue the way I wish people talked, and his intelligence and humor fits into this world just so perfectly.”
He continues, “I wrote him a fan letter over twenty years ago asking to see his Superman script and I was there when Clerks was screened in Scotland even before that, so you can imagine how delighted I am to be somewhere on the same credit page as this guy.”
Netflix recently bought 17 franchises in Millar’s Millarworld, but Hit Girl, Kick-Ass,and Kingsman were not part of the sale. Millar still owns the three franchises that were made into films directed by Matthew Vaughn. While he is working full time at Netflix he tells Deadline he has “brilliant” people like Smith and Lemire coming in to take the writing reins and blowing him away.
The first installment of the Golden Rage of Hollywood begins with issue 13, following Hit-Girl’s misadventures in Rome with Rafael Albuquerque and Rafael Scavone.
Smith announced his involvement in the Hit Girl arc in May saying, “I just finished my final #HitGirl comic book script for the 4 issue mini-series I’m doing for @mrmarkmillar! Had a blast writing it! After the @JeffLemire story set in Canada, I get to take Hit-Girl to Tinsel Town in a story I’m calling HIT-GIRL: THE GOLDEN RAGE OF HOLLYWOOD!
In a tweet recently, Kevin Smith stated: I just finished my final #HitGirl comic book script for the 4 issue mini-series I’m doing for @mrmarkmillar! Had a blast writing it! After the @JeffLemire story set in Canada, I get to take Hit-Girl to Tinsel Town in a story I’m calling HIT-GIRL: THE GOLDEN RAGE OF HOLLYWOOD!
Judging by the artwork and premise, this comic is going to kick ass.
