Wednesday 6 June 2012

So I Finally Read Scott Pilgrim


A 250 word (or less) review of the complete Scott Pilgrim series (Books 1-6)
By Bryan Lee O’Malley, Oni Press



Scott Pilgrim, written and drawn by Bryan Lee O’Malley is a pretty fun book. It’s kind of like a romantic comedy where aimless 20-something Scott Pilgrim attempts to date his dream girl1 Ramona Flowers by wooing her… and then defeating her 7 evil exes in fights to the death. Along the way Scott Pilgrim has to deal with real life problems like being unemployed, his own ex-girlfriends, and his mediocre band while living in a manga/videogame inspired world with ninja, robots, and EXP points. A central theme of the book is about accepting and getting over past romantic entanglements, and how forgetting or failing to deal with past feelings and events gets in the way of establishing new romantic connections. This gives some gravitas to an otherwise light story.  The real appeal of Scott Pilgrim for me is largely in the execution which is just plain charming. O’Malley’s writing is supremely readable, balancing melodrama and humour expertly. His art; this manga-infused, video game influenced, cartoony style; pops off the page with this energetic vitality and has a sort of cuteness to it that really endears Scott Pilgrim’s characters and lighter moments. If you are looking for a book that is unlike super hero comics (or anything else) that’s super charming and fun to read, I’d highly recommend Scott Pilgrim.  Also, it’s written by a Canadian and set in Canada so +500 EXP… although the setting is Toronto so -50 HP.

Word count: 240

1: This pun is only funny if you’ve read the book.

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