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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