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Scott Pilgrim wants YOU to read these comics.
O'Malley, Bryan Lee. Scott Pilgrim. 6 vols. Portland, OR: Oni Press, 2004-10.
Scott Pilgrim is a twenty-something slacker living in Toronto with his circle of friends, who are all generally trying to figure out what the hell to do with their lives post-college post-adolescence. Scott, who recently lost his job at an awesome Nuevo Mexican eatery, finds himself dating a high school student, one Knives Chau, after he picks up her books on the bus. Things seem perfect, in a precarious way, until he starts dreaming of the mysterious, probably American Ramona Flowers, a girl his own age who may be out of his league. But they start dating, and then things get interesting: in order to officially be Ramona's boyfriend, he has to defeat her seven evil exes. And they're not the only things that stand in the way of Scott getting it together…
Like just about everyone else, I loved these comics; they're pretty damn awesome, particularly if you're a member of its 20-something geek target market and grew up playing video games, watching anime and re-enacting Star Wars in the backyard. I think I actually liked volumes 5 and 6 best, though I think the earlier volumes are the funniest; after the slackerdom and the easy victories, I thought 5 and 6 were an awesome, hilarious take on grappling with becoming--gasp!--an adult in some sense of the word.
It took me at least a volume to realize that the comics are actually a video game, and I think it would be really interesting to try to read them as a text-based RPG, in which the reader is the player and Scott is the player character. Aside from video games, I was also reminded a bit of the webcomic Megatokyo, not because of any "anime" elements but because both MT and SP take a fairly relaxed view on what constitutes reality. Subspace highways, Sony ninja death squads: it's all good.
Scott and Ramona are cool, but I found myself liking a lot of the supporting characters best, particularly Scott's gay roommate Wallace Wells and his ex Knives Chau, who grows up fast, as well as Kim Pine, the drummer in Scott's band and his high school girlfriend. (Also, Scott/Ramona/Kim OT3, y/y? That scene in volume 5 at the end, OMG.) I also liked Gideon and Envy Adams as antagonists, particularly Gideon with his triforce T-shirts and his Utena-inspired nightclub and evil plots. So, yeah. If you haven't read it, and you like comics or video games or Toronto or being in your 20s, you totally should read it, you will not be sorry.
Scott Pilgrim is a twenty-something slacker living in Toronto with his circle of friends, who are all generally trying to figure out what the hell to do with their lives post-college post-adolescence. Scott, who recently lost his job at an awesome Nuevo Mexican eatery, finds himself dating a high school student, one Knives Chau, after he picks up her books on the bus. Things seem perfect, in a precarious way, until he starts dreaming of the mysterious, probably American Ramona Flowers, a girl his own age who may be out of his league. But they start dating, and then things get interesting: in order to officially be Ramona's boyfriend, he has to defeat her seven evil exes. And they're not the only things that stand in the way of Scott getting it together…
Like just about everyone else, I loved these comics; they're pretty damn awesome, particularly if you're a member of its 20-something geek target market and grew up playing video games, watching anime and re-enacting Star Wars in the backyard. I think I actually liked volumes 5 and 6 best, though I think the earlier volumes are the funniest; after the slackerdom and the easy victories, I thought 5 and 6 were an awesome, hilarious take on grappling with becoming--gasp!--an adult in some sense of the word.
It took me at least a volume to realize that the comics are actually a video game, and I think it would be really interesting to try to read them as a text-based RPG, in which the reader is the player and Scott is the player character. Aside from video games, I was also reminded a bit of the webcomic Megatokyo, not because of any "anime" elements but because both MT and SP take a fairly relaxed view on what constitutes reality. Subspace highways, Sony ninja death squads: it's all good.
Scott and Ramona are cool, but I found myself liking a lot of the supporting characters best, particularly Scott's gay roommate Wallace Wells and his ex Knives Chau, who grows up fast, as well as Kim Pine, the drummer in Scott's band and his high school girlfriend. (Also, Scott/Ramona/Kim OT3, y/y? That scene in volume 5 at the end, OMG.) I also liked Gideon and Envy Adams as antagonists, particularly Gideon with his triforce T-shirts and his Utena-inspired nightclub and evil plots. So, yeah. If you haven't read it, and you like comics or video games or Toronto or being in your 20s, you totally should read it, you will not be sorry.
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In terms of people.....I love Kim Pine. And volume-6!Knives was flippin' sweet.
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re/the Utena-inspired nightclub.
So I *wasn't* the only one to notice/think that!
I'm still not sure what I'll think about the movie. For me, it comes down to the fact that, yeah, most of the people who read this - and who've watched the thing - do seize on the videogaming bits, but for me, those really are the most boring parts. Hilarious in of themselves as stand-alones, and definitely *necessary* as metaphor...but they only work because the rest of the story is so strong.
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Based on the trailer I think I will like seeing the video game bits be more video-ish (the comics really are a sequential art-based RPG). It'll be interesting to see how they portray the rest of it, subspace tunnels and such.
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Also I am obsessed with Utena's influence.