Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, Bryan Lee O'Malley

"The full-color remastering of the Scott Pilgrim epic continues! It's summertime, but who can relax? Scott's relationship with Ramona Flowers is sweeter than ever, but he's still got girl troubles, seven evil ex-boyfriends still want to kill him, and worst of all, now Ramona wants him to get a job! Kicks, punches, rock & roll, subspace, half-ninjas, experience points, samurai swords, girly action, and laughable attempts to seek gainful employment are all that stand in the way of Scott Pilgrim getting it together! Includes previously unpublished extras, deleted scenes, and exclusive bonus content, all in glorious color!"









This book is where the film really began to diverge from the original story, consolidating the plot into a simpler narrative that fits a bit better for a 90 minute comedy. It does make this a weird book to look back on, as for every great scene that made it in there are two or three that didn't.

Adaptation is a difficult process, and I would be the first to admit that I love the faithfulness of Edgar Wright's movie, but there's a lot cut there that detracts from the overall story, especially Scott's journey towards being less of an ass.

So this is, in essence, an extended cut of the film, even if it was here first. Wright captured the tone admirably which means that the changes he made fit with the characters and situations in the book even if they don't exactly correspond. Basically, Scott Pilgrim vs the World is the anti-Watchmen; thematically consistent, if sometimes removed from the original plot.

Anyway, in conclusion, the book is good, and the film of Watchmen is not.

Also try:

Bryan Lee O'Malley, Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Brian K Vaughan, Runaways
Kieron Gillen, Young Avengers
Matt Fraction, Hawkeye

Scott Pilgrim And The Infinite Sadness, Bryan Lee O'Malley

"The full-color, completely remastered, utterly astounding republication of the Scott Pilgrim epic continues! This new 6"x9" hardcover presents Scott's run-in with Ramona ex, Envy boy toy, and The Clash at Demon Head with bassist Todd Ingram as you've never seen it before - in full-color! Plus, previously unpublished extras, hard-to-find short stories, and exclusive bonus materials will make you see Scott Pilgrim in a whole new light!"












Oh man, I just love these books. Everything about them is totally gorgeous, and this third volume, featuring Envy Adams and some of the best battles of the Scott Pilgrim series is a real joy. As soon as I saw it on release I bought it, and read it that evening.

This is a fantastic collected edition, I mentioned in previous reviews how nicely put together they are, and there's not really much to hard. It's of good stock, handsomely coloured and printed on nice thick paper. They look great on my bookshelf, and I'm really pleased that there's another one of these out later in the year.

The colour editions have added a lot to what was an already great story. There are couple of tongue in cheek jokes about the reworking that are excellent - in particular one about Ramona changing her hair colour, with an acknowledgment that it worked better in the (black and white) original. It's not often that a comic makes me laugh out loud, but this did.

Unfortunately it's one of the less immediately comprehensible books, so as well as the usual great dialogue and awesome fights, there's a plot that jumps between multiple time periods and starts out of nowhere. It's easy enough to get caught up but certainly doesn't make it easy for a reader coming in blind.

Still, get round that small issue and you'll find you've got a book that rewards multiple readings - there's little that you'll find that enhances the story, but it's certainly worth doing just for how well done these books are. And if you're going to do that you would be mad not to invest in these books.

Also Try;
Bryan Lee O'Malley, Scott Pilgrim
Kieron Gillen, Young Avengers

Scott Pilgrim vs The World - Colour Edition; Bryan Lee O'Malley

"SCOTT PILGRIM

has two girls on the go. When he's with Knives Chau, he feels he can erase the past and start over. When he's with Ramona Flowers, he's ready to accept all that and grow up. But Ramona comes with baggage - SEVEN EVIL EX-BOYFRIENDS, each eager to challenge Scott for the right to date her. What happens when Knives and Ramona meet? Which girl will he choose? And why, oh why, can't the past stay past?"





Having read the first of these updated colour editions I was sufficiently impressed to immediately go and buy the second volume. The slow schedule of these releases mean it will be the end of 2014 before we get the complete set (quite a while to wait for material that's just being coloured) but these volumes are handsome enough that I have no problems letting the anticipation build.

As well as the four colour treatment there's a selection of extra's at the back, including character design sheets and an excellent section on how O'Malley used photoreferenced buildings to create the look of Scott Pilgrim's Toronto. Whilst it's nothing like the extra's put into any one of Kirkman's Invincible omnibuses it does add something to be able to see the creative process in action, especially in the character designs.

O'Malley has often spoken about how bemused he is that his art style is so lauded when it's just drawn that way because he can't draw it looking like anything else, but there's a clean, childlike glee to his drawings. His backgrounds and clothing are the most focussed parts of his images (like a manga-inspired James McKelvie) so it's wonderful to get a sense of how these aspects of his craft develop.

The story itself is wondeful, more divergent from the film, especially in creating a true ensemble with Scott at the centre, rather than simply a Scott focussed book. The development of Stacey, Knives and Kim in particular helps, and this is a book full of strong female characters in both supporting and starring roles.

Also Try:
Kieran Gillen, Phonogram
S. Steven Struble, Li'l Depressed Boy
Grant Morrison, Kill Your Boyfriend

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life - Colour Edition, Bryan Lee O'Malley

'SCOTT PILGRIM

is dating a high schooler, but when Ramona Flowers starts skating through his brain, everything changes. While Scott pursures Ramona, someone else has their sights set on Scott; HER SEVEN EVIL EX-BOYFRIENDS. If he wants this relationship to work, he needs to defeat them all - but even that herculean task might not be enough!'






Scott Pilgrim vs The World is one of my all time favourite films, a wonderful distillation of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Oni Press series. The modest success of the film, along with the enduring cult status of the original books, have led to this sumptuous rerelease - a hardback colour update for the pocket sized original.

Aesthetically, its a wonderful book. The hardcover is a sturdy volume that sets it up as part one far more than the previous books did (the inclusion of the question marked boss fight section on the back is excellent), but it's the interior where the majority of work has been done. Nathan Fairbarn colours extensively for the big comic publishers, notably on Batman, Inc and for various X-Men titles, and his colouring here is excellent.

Colouring is an underrated skill, and one that's shown off to its best be updating an original black-and-white graphic novel to full colour. Considering that the movie went a long way towards creating the definitive pallette for the books it's great to see how well this fits in with both art from O'Malley and the film. It would have been easy to recolour this very differently, but it ties in as a very friendly readaptation (of the film of the book).

The colours pop of the page and serve O'Malleys exaggerated, cartoony art. The fight (and romance) scenes in particular give Fairbarn an opportunity to unleash, but the real skill here is in maintaining an interestingly coloured book in the more mundane parts - something which is integral to Scott Pilgrim, the most mumblecore of semi-mainstream original graphic novels.

It's this familiarity which ultimately elevates the story of Scott Pilgrim after all. Scott truly is an everman - a selfish, needy, idiotic, very humanly flawed individual firmly rooted in a specific place - early adulthood. This is the perfect way to enjoy Scott's adventures from the beginning, again.

Also Try:
Bill Watterson, It's a Magical World (Calvin and Hobbes)
Tsugumi Ohba, Deathnote
Bryan Lee O'Malley, Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (OGN)