Dave Lizewski aka Kick-Ass and Mindy McCready aka Hit-Girl succeeded in bringing down local mob boss John Genovese. In retaliation, John's brother Ralphie wants their secret identities in order to have them killed from within prison. Ralphie's gangs are killing costumed heroes at random to smoke them out. Meanwhile, Mindy is gathering up her plans to smash all the local mobs despite her stepfather/police officer Marcus fully aware of her being Hit-Girl. -summaryFor those whom may not know, Kick-Ass is a superhero series set in the real world with real people donning costumes in hopes of doing good. Dave Lizewski believed he was the first to attempt trying out being a superhero until he ran into the real deal which happened to be the costumed vigilantes, Hit-Girl and her father Big Daddy, these two were so real that they were actually brutally killing criminals. They ended up joining forces and their antics angered John Genovese which resulted in Big Daddy's death. Hit-Girl helped avenge her father and now she chooses to continue what he started. Written by Mark Millar, Kick-Ass 2 Prelude: Hit-Girl takes place between the first and second books focusing more on Hit-Girl.The truth is that this book is nothing more than a cash grab meant to take advantage of Hit-Girl's popularity which is all too obvious. She's the central character with Millar focusing on her psychotic behavior, that although it can be fun to watch, it's pretty obvious that at this point Millar's commentary on taking comic books way too far in real life is long gone. For the record though, at least he returned the series to its roots with the third and final sequel. This TPB collects Hit-Girl 1-5.The plot not only follows Hit-Girl and Kick-Ass attacking the mafia relentlessly in hopes of decimating their cash flow; Hit-Girl also wants to train Dave into a better fighter, therefore he can teach her how to fit in with the other students in school. Mindy's portion of the story is written with lots of wit and even a bit of charm, because it's possible to feel for her knowing that Big Daddy pretty much ruined her life. Unfortunately, Millar gets so out of hand with that over the top violence, it becomes a little difficult to relate to this walking slaughterhouse. He even name drops the Punisher at least once; well, the Punisher actually has a reason for going over the edge because his family was murdered. Big Daddy and Hit-Girl attacked the mafia because they just needed an arch nemesis and read way too many comic books. Punisher lost faith in the justice system, Hit-Girl is just crazy. I do not see the connection at all.Genovese's son Chris aka Red Mist, makes an appearance and I believe his injection here is the only thing worthwhile in this prequel. He chooses to use his wealth overseas to learn from kung-fu masters in order to kill Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl. This portion has moments of intentionally being funny and Millar nails it. There are plenty of story elements introduced that are left opened but they're all cleared up in Kick-Ass 2.The artwork by John Romita Jr. is every bit as dark and gritty the series has already been known for. The character designs are done nicely, but Mindy's head seems way too big for her body nearly through out the book. The carnage is well captured with Mindy dealing out death in many ways. She is clearly a corpse-grinder on a mission as she decapitates, grinds criminals into ground beef, stabs in the balls; I mean the action freak and gore hound will find a lot of enjoyment here, and if this book is read immediately before Kick-Ass 2. Then the brutal entertainment value will seem endless.Kick-Ass 2: Hit-Girl may fool some people into thinking there's something deep here, but like its main sequel this is Millar showing us what he can get away with. It's clearly not something to be taken serious and that's a problem for me when considering the ground work laid out by Kick-Ass 1. Overall this book really isn't essential unless you're a hardcore fan of the series. If you read the other three books and they left you wanting more, then this will help satisfy your appetite. If you're satisfied with what you already got from the main series and simply don't want anymore then skip this story.Pros: Lots of action and some funny dialogCons: A shameless money grab