Now that I think of it, it’s a little strange that it took me so long to start reading the Scott Pilgrim comic series, because I distinctly remember enjoying watching “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”, even though I liked “Kickass” better. (They were both released in 2010)
Written and illustrated by Bryan Lee O’Malley, “Scott Pilgrim” is a world apart from his debut work “Lost At Sea”, which I assure you is a compliment! It’s funny how even before readers can see what the protagonist looks like, we are met with the declaration “Scott Pilgrim is dating a high schooler!”. Because apparently that’s the most interesting bit about the unemployed-immature-lazy-baby Scott, who is 23, but has chosen to be in a relationship with a 17-year-old kid called Knives Chau. But he makes sure he tells his friends that they haven’t even kissed, it’s supposed to reassure us that he isn’t a sleazy dude trying to ‘groom’ a young girl. Okay, then. But soon Scott falls head over heels in love with a mysterious pink-haired girl Ramona Flowers who appeared in his dreams before they actually end up meeting in real life. She is actually his ‘dream girl’. But to be with Ramona Flowers, Scott has to defeat seven of her “evil” exes (no reasons explained, not in volume at least) and more importantly – gather the courage to break-up with the moon-eyed Knives Chau.
Bryan Lee O’Malley quickly packs in a lot of stuff in his panels, we meet Scott, his gay roommate Wallace who owns everything in their shared flat, his band “Bob-omb”, girlfriend Knives and dream-girl Ramona, all in a matter of a few pages. It’s a fast-paced comic, the 175 pages are over before you know, all owing to the fun conversational panels, the exaggerated action scenes and Scott’s silly antics. Just like Bryan’s artwork in “Lost At Sea”, his illustrations in Scott Pilgrim are also simple, they are more like doodles from an artists sketchbook, even though he does add enough world-building and his characters don’t exist in a white room.
Volume one does little to explain what is ‘so cool’ about Ramona Flowers, except that she is a skater chick, or wait, I guess that’s enough for guys to find a girl cool. However, my favorite characters so far are Wallace and Scott’s younger sister Stacey, both of who are chatty little meanies and their mutual concern for Scott’s stupid ways makes their bond the strongest.
It’s a 4 on 5 from me.
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