Graphic Novel Review: HIT-GIRL IN HOLLYWOOD by Kevin Smith / Pernille Orum

HIT-GIRL IN HOLLYWOOD by Kevin Smith, writer;Pernille Orum, artist; Francesco Francavilla, cover artist. (Image Comics, June 2019) Trade paperback, 112 pages. ISBN # 1534312250/9781534312258. 

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . . 

HIT-GIRL: THE GOLDEN RAGE OF HOLLYWOOD. The adolescent assassin tears Tinsel Town a new one when she realizes her life's being dramatized for the silver screen. Hit-Girl storms sets, wages war on fat-cat movie bosses, and lures old enemies out of hiding in this kamikaze Californian bloodbath.

Collects Hit-Girl Season Two #1-4.

My Three-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . .

     I’m surprised that this barely received an average of Three Stars by Goodreads reviewers. I liked this, although it's not even close to the premium quality that Kevin Smith is capable of (apparently when he wants to). But it's purely Kevin Smith's style, so my expectations were met. 

     Much of the disgruntlement and outrage seems to be centered around the first issue, although that's not the full extent of it. Issue #1 relates a high school shooting, for which many readers/reviewers called out Smith for insensitivity in featuring it. It's a risky choice, but I wasn't offended and didn't see it as unsympathetic on Smith's part. After all, the high school student shooters are foiled after only two victims (but more than enough blood) by our hero - - Hit-Girl. It serves as the rationale for the rest of the four-issue series, as Hit-Girl knocks over a library bookshelf on one of the shooters and discovers a non-fiction work about her (Heretofore Hit-Girl) that she was completely unaware of. 

     This annoys Hit-Girl enough that she makes a trip to Hollywood, where the book has been optioned for a movie by current celebrity actor Juniper Florence. Hit-Girl meets Florence, whose prep for the movie includes method-acting by roleplaying as a superhero in her own right: The Dick-Taker who brings justice to a score of Hollywood producer/execs engaged in sexual predation. 

     There's some clever nods to the excesses of both Hollywood and the Me-Too Movement along the way, all in fun and not necessarily trying to make a statement. 

     HIT GIRL IN HOLLYWOOD is a fast-paced and fun read, a bit of fluff to enjoy and then forget about it. Thanks, Kevin!  For the most part, I think you hewed closely to the Mark Millar canon on Hit-Girl. The art is just this side of Archie comics wholesomeness in a perhaps intentional contradiction, until the bloody scenes.