The Kick-Ass team is getting back together, with prolific comic book scribe Mark Millar and artist John Romita Jr. reteaming for the new comic book Psychic Sam.
The book launches on Kickstarter today, and centers on a man who knows about murders before they happen, with a voice in his head telling him the name and address of future killers.
“It’s about a guy with a big gun who goes out and solves problems. He hears voices in his head that tell him to kill bad guys,” Millar says in a video announcing the comic. “The only trouble is, the bad guys haven’t done anything yet. But every time he ignores it, someone innocent dies. It’s only a matter of time before the bodies pile up.”
Millar and Romita struck gold 15 years ago with Kick-Ass, the comic that centered on a regular teenager who decided to become a vigilante, despite having no powers and no special skills. The zeitgeisty book spawned the hit 2010 movie that helped establish Mathew Vaughn as an in-demand director in the comic book space.
Now, the pair hope to repeat the success, with producer Ivan Atkinson coming aboard to develop Psychic Sam as a feature. Atkinson is known for his work with Guy Ritchie, producing films such as The Gentlemen and Wrath of Man. If the movie comes to fruition, it’d be the latest in a string of Millar titles to hit the big screen, with Wanted and Kingsman also on the list. Meanwhile, his genre-breaking 2000s work at Marvel on The Ultimates and Civil War helped inspire the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Psychic Sam is noteworthy for Millar, as it does not fall under Netflix, where he has been exclusive since 2017, when the streaming giant purchased his company Millarworld in a splashy deal that brought titles to the screen such as Jupiter’s Legacy and The Chosen One. Millar says Psychic Sam will not affect his output at the Netflix-owned Millarworld, with books still slated through 2026.
Millar says the desire to do Psychic Sam came after receiving offers from Marvel to do a big summer event series, ala Civil War, as well as from DC, to take on a big Superman project. Instead, he carved out 12 weeks at the end of last year to write the project.
With the Kickstarter now live, Millar and Romita are offering a number of incentives, including the chance to be drawn into the book. Said Romita in the video announcing the project: “I have to do justice to all of you.”
John Romita Jr.
