Read This: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness

The final pages of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World set Scott up for his fight with Todd Ingram, the third “evil ex” Scott needs to defeat before he can become Ramona’s girlfriend, and that battle takes up most of Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness. That’s not all there is to this book, though: Bryan Lee O’Malley breaks up the fighting into several distinct stages, but he also weaves in an extended flashback that charts Scott’s previous relationship—the one he’d been moping about back when the story began—and brings a new layer of emotional depth to our hero. This is the point at which that level of storytelling seems to engage O’Malley more and more; yes, he still brings the awesome fight scenes with the shonen manga layouts (including, as always, some fab double-page spreads), but the “real world” is asserting itself in ways that will prove significant as the story continues to progress.

During one of the “serious conversations” leading up to the big battle, there’s a major clue that Scott’s video-game universe may not be as “real” (within the context of the story) as it seems—which might be at odds with the urban fantasy elements of Ramona’s life that are clearly intended to be “real,” not to mention Todd Ingram’s vegan psychic powers (which make him the deadliest of Scott’s foes yet). But we’ll get back to that…

16 August 2010 | read this |

Read This: Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World is the second volume of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s six-book series, and after the first volume started as romantic comedy then veered into megapop urban fantasy, it was worth asking: Could the story sustain that massive tectonic shift? Luckily, the answer was yes.

This installment actually starts out with a lengthy flashback which establishes some key relationship dynamics in the series while reinforcing the videogame elements of their world: Scott Pilgrim’s been defeating the bosses and rescuing the girl ever since school, and it’s just another part of life, not terribly remarkable in and of itself. When the story returns to the present, his developing romance with Ramona Flowers is shaped not only by the whole “defeat her seven evil exes” thing, but by his ex-girlfriend’s rapid transformation from slagging Ramona for being “old” and “fat” to launching a ninja attack at a public library—but still remaining true to her fundamental characterization as a jealous teenager. Meanwhile, there’s still plenty of “ordinary” scenes, although some of these are played for laughs, like the scene where Scott brings Ramona over to meet his bandmates, who share a recipe for vegetarian shepherd’s pie with the readers.

In fact, this volume is much more about character development than it is about the fight scenes: Scott can barely work up interest in training to defeat the latest ex, and he’s the first to admit that their fight is underwhelming. Meanwhile, the web of connections between the various characters grows tighter, and one of the major plotlines hinted at throughout the first volume—the mysterious girlfriend who broke up with Scott long before the story officially began—comes through in a way that perfectly sets things up for a massive blowout in the next installment.

13 August 2010 | read this |