Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

It is dork-tastic and kind of stupid, but if you're a gamer, or now gamers or, you know, watch tv and movies, you'll love this comic. This art is a little unrefined, but I think that was sort of the point, and the manga style is spot on for this book.

The first volume in the Scott Pilgrim series introduced us to one of the most bizarre faux-anime concepts (and casts) ever conceived. Scott Pilgrim is the ultimate slacker: he is 23 years old, is between jobs, plays in a bad band, and was, until recently, dating a high school girl. He left the 17-year-old Knives Chau for the more age-appropriate Ramona Flowers, an Amazon.ca delivery girl. However, Scott soon learned that in order to keep dating Ramona, he would have to fight and defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. The fight against the first boyfriend was an over-the-top awesome fest of unrivaled proportions. So the question was, "Would the second volume, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World be as good?" Yes.
Scott and Ramona (who he refers to as "Rammy" sometimes) are still getting to know each other as Scott is forced to fight Lucas Lee, Ramona's second evil ex-boyfriend, who is also a pretty-boy movie star and ex-skater. But things get more complicated when Scott's ex-girlfriend Natalie "Envy" Adams threatens to come back into the picture. Best of all, Knives engages Ramona in a fight for Scott's heart that is even better than the fight against Matthew Patel in the first volume. There are plenty of other humorous moments, especially those involving Wallace, Scott's roommate, as well as a scene that plays like a cooking show.
If you are a fan of video games, anime parody, and sweet fights, you should definitely check out Scott Pilgrim. The humor is top-notch, and the story is great.

Looking at the shelves of my local comics shop, things are getting darker and darker. The shelves are littered with the misguided sons of Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, new comics that seem to eschew the philosophy that "gruesome and unpleasant" can mean the same thing as "mature." But while the Blue Beetle is taking one in the dome, while Batman is even grumpier than usual, while the Avengers are being torn apart by one of their own, and while the comics world gets darker and darker, Scott Pilgrim is in Canada, learning the bass line to Final Fantasy 2.

Through Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, Bryan Lee O'Malley manages to capture something essentially fun. He creates a world where the reluctance to let go of childhood, something most kids in our early twenties are going through, is celebrated instead of discouraged. From Scott being "between jobs," to his obsession with video games, to the high-school-drama style romance of the book, the series characters don't simply avoid putting away their "childish things" - they're trying to get the high score on them.

O'Malley saturates this fun into every aspect of the book, especially his pencils. The art is gorgeous, a mish-mash of manga and mainstream to create something wholly Mal. This reviewer isn't particularly fond of manga, and yet I was so taken by it that I own a page from Volume 1, and have one from Volume 2 on the way. His expression work is top notch, capturing on one page a character's true hurt, on another their true love, and on my favorite pages the blank stares of a confused Scott as he lays out another fantastic non-comeback ("I... but... you... you're not the boss of me?).

Why we care is the characters. O'Malley creates a dozen characters that get layers and layers as the story goes on, shining enough light on the ones we love from Volume 1 that we don't feel he's neglected anyone, and fleshing out the ones we don't love yet in Volume 2 so that we learn to. One character that didn't have much to do in Volume 1 gets so much attention and development that she's now one of my favorites.
Our protagonist, Scott, is the northern Every-Man. A complete lay-about who witlessly breaks hearts and sleeps until 2, but is so disarmingly innocent and charming that we root for him in almost every situation. He's dating a highschooler named Knives Chau, falls for a girl named Ramona Flowers, and has to fight her seven evil ex-boyfriends to win her hand. It's a premise that only works in O'Malley's world of video-game-logic (after defeating an Evil Ex, Scott is rewarded with coins, and if he's really lucky, an item!), but once you buy into these characters taking sub-space highways through each other's heads (not at all like in Super Mario 2), the more insane bits where a fight/dance number break out become your favorites.

Scott Pilgrim has something for everyone: if you're still kicking back with a SNES or Genesis controller it's for you. If you're into Manga, if you're into indie rock, if you just like Canada or have ever been in a relationship where you needed to prove yourself, this book is for you.

It's extremely tempting to just list all the things I love about the book, to recite each and every quote (as anyone who reads the book ends up doing in their day-to-day), and to talk about each and every character and their general awesomeness. I'd rather whoever reads this just go and buy the books, because with a story, with characters, with art and wit this good, I know you'll fall in love with it too.

My Scott Pilgrim Soundtrack - "WE ARE SEX BOB-OMB!"
1 Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes Remix) - Beck
2 Come On Home - Franz Ferdinand
3 5 Times Out of 100 - Hot Hot Heat
4 What Do I Get? - The Buzzcocks
5 Complete Control - The Clash
6 Korobeiniki (Theme From Tetris) - Ozma
7 Starman - David Bowie
8 Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - The Ramones
9 Debaser - The Pixies
10 Save it For Later - The English Beat
11 A Little More for A Little you - The Hives
12 Suspect Device (Album Version) - Stiff Little Fingers

But, seeing as you are obviously still reading this, I'll tell you why Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is such an awesome comic. If you read SP vol.1 then you should already have a pretty good idea what's in store, but new readers can probably pick this up and start reading (though why would you want to? Just read Scott Pilgrim vol.1!).

There's nothing else like Scott Pilgrim being published right now. Bryan Lee O'Malley draws influence from pretty much everything (manga, video games, comics, movies) to make something completely different. The art is cartoony and fun without being simple or complicated. It's fun to read SP just to notice smaller details in the story and art.

The plot has already been outlined in the editor's notes above, and even if it wasn't I'd be hesitant to say much about it. The less you know going into this series the better. Basically the world revolves around Scott Pilgrim a 23-year-old base player in a Toronto. Everything's going fine till he meets Ramona Flowers, an American delivery girl. In volume two Scott is finally going out with Ramona, who doesn't know that he's also dating a high school girl named Knives Chau. This would be bad enough except that Ramona has some troublesome ex-boyfriends who Scott must defeat in mortal combat order to continue dating Ramona.

The first book made it seem like Ramona's past boyfriends would be a big part of the series, but in volume two that doesn't seem to be the case. Scott has fought one ex per book so far, and the fight in volume two wasn't as climatic as the one from book one. The legion of ex-boyfriends is takes backseat to the day-to-day life of Scott and co, which is pretty off-the-wall and biazarre even without the super-powered beings showing up.

But what would a comic with a surreal slice of life/rock star plot and great, unique art be without good characters? Well, actually, it would still be pretty good, but the fact that Scott Pilgrim does have a fantastic cast is what pushes it into greatness territory. The people in this comic are by different degrees selfish, kind, funny, sincere and in Scott's case at least, in over their head. Everyone manages to be cool and interesting while still believable.

I could go on about Scott Pilgrim all day, but I'm hungry and must eat. For anyone looking for original and entertaining, Scott Pilgrim will not disappoint.

Scott Pilgrim Volume 2 has it all - dorky hats, gay roommates, skateboarding battles against evil ex-boyfriends, a slightly psychotic teenage girl called Knives out for chopsocky revenge and, if all that has left you tired and hungry, a recipe for vegan shepherds' pie. As you may have gathered, the second instalment of Bryan Lee O'Malley's series of graphic novels is quite unlike anything else on the market. The brilliance of the storytelling lies in the fact that O'Malley is able to deviate from the central storyline, playing with different genres and even breaking the 'fourth wall' to address the reader directly, whilst all the while keeping his eye fixed firmly on advancing the plot, so that these asides and deviances never slow down what is, in effect, a narrative told at breakneck speed. O'Malley's art is joyous and vibrant, but also capable of incredible subtlety, so that Scott and his friends - and, most especially his wronged ex-girlfriend Knives, come across as fully-formed characters whose stories carry real emotional weight. If you have not yet read Scott Pilgrim's adventures, I strongly advise you get in early so that you can follow the excitement of each new volume as it appears!