Best Seller Books: Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World Review

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World [Paperback]

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
10Save it For Later - The English Beat
11A Little More for A Little you - The Hives
12Suspect Device (Album Version) - Stiff Little Fingers

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Product Description:
Does Scott and Ramona's burgeoning relationship have a future? Isn't Scott still supposedly dating Knives Chau? Who is Ramona's second evil ex-boyfriend, and why is he in Toronto? Who are The Clash At Demonhead, and what kind of bizarre art-punky music do they play? Who's their hot girl keyboardist, and what is Scott's relation to her? Why are they Knives Chau's new favourite band? Fights! Drama! Secrets revealed! The answers to all these questions and more!

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