Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe
In 2004, Bryan Lee O’Malley wrote and drew Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life. The graphic novel had the titular slacker from Toronto fall for Ramona
Flowers, an American delivery girl with a mysterious past. The main
hook was that in order to keep dating Ramona, Scott had to defeat her
seven evil ex-boyfriends. Along with an old school video game
atmosphere (for instance, Scott’s enemies burst into coins when he
defeats them) and a manga feel (the book was pocket-sized and
black-and-white), Precious Little Life was O’Malley’s breakout hit.
Five years and four volumes later, Oni Press has released Scott Pilgrim Vs. The
Universe($11.95). The timing couldn’t be better, especially with a feature film
version from Universal Pictures in the works, starring Michael Cera (Superbad, Juno, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist)as Scott. In the penultimate volume of the series, Scott’s life seems to be in order. He finally has a job, he’s moved in with Ramona, and he has only three ex-boyfriends left to fight. But the specter of Ramona’s past in New York looms large, as twin brothers Ken and Kyle come to taunt her and sic robots on Scott. Ramona has to deal with the news that Scott cheated on his last girlfriend with her. And then there’s the curious glowing from Ramona’s head.
For anybody new to the series, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe is not the best book for jumping on the bandwagon. While the book does entertain and deliver on the expected drama, comedy and action, there isn’t much backstory given for the supporting cast, particularly Kim, Scott’s girlfriend from high school. Readers can see how Scott takes her for granted, but they might not know how far back that goes. Newbies might also be puzzled by the references to video games and late-Eighties Uncanny X-Men, as well as meta jokes about the series itself, where characters confuse the elapsed time in our world for their time.
Fans of the series might be a little let down by Universe. Granted, it is hard to top scenes from the previous volume, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, such as the father of Knives Chau (the aforementioned ex-girlfriend of Scott) cutting a streetcar in half to get at Scott, or the battle between Scott and Ramona’s half-ninja ex-roommate. The characterizations are steady, as is the ongoing subplot of the development of an album of Sex Bob-Omb, which features Scott on bass and Kim on drums. While the final fight between Scott and the twins gets the well-deserved spotlight, Scott’s tussles with the robots mostly take place off-panel, as the scenes shift to Ramona. The big news is that two major players are taken off the board, and it leads to the first cliffhanger since the second volume, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.
As for Scott himself, he remains a somewhat endearing butthead. One can sense him wanting to chance, as emphasized in Gets It Together, but he manages to regress, becoming less of an adult in the process. When confronted by how bad he was in cheating on Knives, however, Scott comes the realization of how bad a person he can be, and is horrified at the prospect of becoming one more of Ramona’s evil exes To his credit, Scott does try to solider forth, not caring for what Ramona did in her shady past, but he winds gets knocked further back from where he started, making for a downbeat finish.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe isn’t a universal smash, but it will entertain its fanbase. Newcomers might want to start from the beginning and work their way forward. While it sounds like a chore, not only will they not be disappointed, but they’ll have the movie and the final book to look forward to.
-Jason Borelli
Flowers, an American delivery girl with a mysterious past. The main
hook was that in order to keep dating Ramona, Scott had to defeat her
seven evil ex-boyfriends. Along with an old school video game
atmosphere (for instance, Scott’s enemies burst into coins when he
defeats them) and a manga feel (the book was pocket-sized and
black-and-white), Precious Little Life was O’Malley’s breakout hit.
Five years and four volumes later, Oni Press has released Scott Pilgrim Vs. The
Universe($11.95). The timing couldn’t be better, especially with a feature film
version from Universal Pictures in the works, starring Michael Cera (Superbad, Juno, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist)as Scott. In the penultimate volume of the series, Scott’s life seems to be in order. He finally has a job, he’s moved in with Ramona, and he has only three ex-boyfriends left to fight. But the specter of Ramona’s past in New York looms large, as twin brothers Ken and Kyle come to taunt her and sic robots on Scott. Ramona has to deal with the news that Scott cheated on his last girlfriend with her. And then there’s the curious glowing from Ramona’s head.
For anybody new to the series, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe is not the best book for jumping on the bandwagon. While the book does entertain and deliver on the expected drama, comedy and action, there isn’t much backstory given for the supporting cast, particularly Kim, Scott’s girlfriend from high school. Readers can see how Scott takes her for granted, but they might not know how far back that goes. Newbies might also be puzzled by the references to video games and late-Eighties Uncanny X-Men, as well as meta jokes about the series itself, where characters confuse the elapsed time in our world for their time.
Fans of the series might be a little let down by Universe. Granted, it is hard to top scenes from the previous volume, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, such as the father of Knives Chau (the aforementioned ex-girlfriend of Scott) cutting a streetcar in half to get at Scott, or the battle between Scott and Ramona’s half-ninja ex-roommate. The characterizations are steady, as is the ongoing subplot of the development of an album of Sex Bob-Omb, which features Scott on bass and Kim on drums. While the final fight between Scott and the twins gets the well-deserved spotlight, Scott’s tussles with the robots mostly take place off-panel, as the scenes shift to Ramona. The big news is that two major players are taken off the board, and it leads to the first cliffhanger since the second volume, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.
As for Scott himself, he remains a somewhat endearing butthead. One can sense him wanting to chance, as emphasized in Gets It Together, but he manages to regress, becoming less of an adult in the process. When confronted by how bad he was in cheating on Knives, however, Scott comes the realization of how bad a person he can be, and is horrified at the prospect of becoming one more of Ramona’s evil exes To his credit, Scott does try to solider forth, not caring for what Ramona did in her shady past, but he winds gets knocked further back from where he started, making for a downbeat finish.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe isn’t a universal smash, but it will entertain its fanbase. Newcomers might want to start from the beginning and work their way forward. While it sounds like a chore, not only will they not be disappointed, but they’ll have the movie and the final book to look forward to.
-Jason Borelli
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|