Mark Millar has announced a new Kick-Ass comic, with a new hero taking Dave Lizewski’s place and costume. Last week, the Scottish comic book writer teased “big news” regarding the two main characters from the Kick-Ass comic series: Dave Lizewski aka Kick-Ass and Mindy McCready, alias Hit-Girl.

Millar teased this news with pictures from the Kick-Ass films, which made us wonder if the big announcement would be related to the long-awaited third film. The comic series concluded back in 2014 after three series and a Hit-Girl spinoff set between the first and second Kick-Ass comics. Now, Millar will continue the Kick-Ass universe with a fourth series, a new hero under the mask, and Image Comics as publisher.

Related: Mark Millar Teases ‘Big’ Kick-Ass News

EW revealed the cover and a preview of the early pages of the new Kick-Ass series, which will introduce Patience Lee, a black military veteran with two young kids who will put on the green-and-yellow Kick-Ass costume to fight crime in New Mexico. Take a look in the gallery below:

[vn_gallery name="Mark Millar’s New Kick-Ass Comic Preview" id="1115151"]

The first Kick-Ass series was published in 2008, and this new story will arrive in time for the 10th anniversary of the series, reuniting Millar with legendary artist John Romita Jr. Millar explained:

“When we sold Millarworld to Netflix, two properties weren’t part of the deal. Kingsman and Kick-Ass both had unique arrangements with Matthew Vaughn and it made sense for these to continue, so in the year or so where we were preparing the sale I came up with this great idea for a whole new take on Kick-Ass. The entire story was all completely written in that year and it’s a monthly book, launching in February for the title’s 10th anniversary. It’s crazy to think that in the 10 years since it was created, Kick-Ass has spawned two Hollywood movies, video-games, toys, key-rings, PEZ dispensers, and even an upcoming board game. So the idea of it lying dormant was just insane and to be honest it’s the most fun I’ve ever had writing anything. I really love that world.”

Back in August, Netflix acquired Millar’s publishing powerhouse Millarworld with the purpose of bringing his work to life through films and series available exclusively on the streaming service. Although Kick-Ass and Kingsman were not part of the deal as Millar explains, there was a slight ray of hope that they could come to an arrangement to bring the Kick-Ass world back with a third film or a TV series. Still, a fourth comic series comes as great news for fans of the series who will get to know a new hero in a different city.

Kick-Ass 2

Speaking about Patience Lee, Millar shared he loves “mom heroes” and that he doesn’t think he has “ever created a better character,” adding that he is fascinated by legacy characters who inherit the mantles of predecessors, taking a cue from series like Doctor Who and The Flash:

“The original four volumes of Kick-Ass, the Dave Lizewski story, got tied up a couple of years ago and this is a brand new character. I’d always wanted to do what Doctor Who or The Flash does and create a legacy character, Kick-Ass being designed for that. The idea is that he inspires other people to do what he did, just putting on a costume and cleaning up their neighborhood, and that’s what happens here. I wanted to shake up the setting a little and shifted the whole thing to New Mexico. The lead is a woman this time, a mother in her early 30s with two young kids. She’s also a military vet who came home to find her life in a completely different setting from the way it was when she went to Afghanistan so the actual dynamic of the book is really different, but at the same time the flavor is identical.”

Kick-Ass followed teenager Dave Lizewski (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the cinematic adaptation) who reinvents himself as a superhero despite his lack of superpowers and fancy gadgets. Still, after making a costume out of a wetsuit bought on eBay, Dave takes the name ‘Kick-Ass’ and starts fighting crime in the streets of New York City. He then meets the father/daughter vigilante team Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), who are looking to avenge the murder of their wife/mother by the mob. Kick-Ass becomes a viral phenomenon so it’s not strange that he would inspire a young woman from New Mexico to fight crime on her own.

The comic series is mostly remembered for its copious amounts of violence and blood, and it looks like this new series will follow this line as well. There’s no word on whether Hit-Girl will make an appearance in this new story but hopefully she will be included one way or another, even if just as another inspiration for Patience Lee.

Next: Can Netflix Adapt Kick-Ass Into An Original TV Series?

Kick-Ass will hit stores on February 14th, 2018.

Source: EW