Scott Pilgrim

Scott Pilgrim is something of a triumph for my generation. The humor is basically what anyone currently between the ages of 15-25 absolutely thrives on, what with the video game references, the variety of characters, and the general kookiness of the plot. I'll recap, even though it's kind of unnecessary thanks to the movie version: Scott Pilgrim falls head over heels for the new girl in town, Ramona flowers, and decides that he will do anything to date her. It turns out that's a tall order when Ramona has seven evil ex-boyfriends (one of them is actually an ex-girlfriend) who have formed a league out to destroy her love life and anyone else who might attempt to date her. It's a new twist on the classic "boy must fight for girl's love," except in this case, the girl is a lot cooler than the bumbling idiot of a hero and also the heightened stakes make for absolutely ridiculous circumstances.

The way Scott Pilgrim uses pop culture is brilliant. Some are simple ways that merely help expand on the character's personality, like when Ramona constantly changes her hair color, very counter-culture/hipster/artsy, because of how fickle she is. Often, it's simply for humor, like when Matthew Patel, the first evil ex, attacks Scott with "demon hipster chicks," or when one of the evil ex's is presented as having magical powers since he's vegan, or when a rival band member turns out to be robotic. The world Bryan Lee O'Malley creates is just bursting with these kinds of references. The video games element is amazing within the series and is utilized in so many different ways:
~the fights themselves, with each battle getting progressively harder than the last and building up to the big Boss battle at the end.
~video game style mechanics, like earning lives and leveling up to get better weapons.
~my personal favorite touch, the coins left after each ex is defeated. The literally turn into a pile of pocket change.
~the use of graphics (simulated perfectly within the movie) very similar to the UI of fighter games.

The style the comic is drawn in makes is really easy to like the characters, they're very simple, yet given distinct personalities. My personal favorites are Wallace, the gay roommate who is absolutely brilliant and practically magical in his meddling in Scott's life, and Kim, who delivers lines with such a perfect deadpan. While I realize that this post is meant to focus on the comic, I really do have to mention how happy I was with the casting and handling of this movie; Wallace was almost even more brilliant in the film. One problem, however, that I had with both versions was Ramona. She didn't seem worth all the fighting to me, especially in the film. In the comic, her past and personality are explored in much more depth than the movie, obviously for time constraints, but taking those parts away from her make her....eh, not so compelling. In a way, I can accept it knowing her backstory from the comics and also because part of the purpose of this story seems to be breaking down the illusions of "the perfect love interest" and "the perfect hero," since both Scott and Ramona are deeply flawed characters.

Overall, I love this series, even the movie version! I'd really love to read more from Bryan Lee O'Malley.