Bryan-Lee-O'malley

I read Scott Pilgrim in its original manga-sized, black and white form when it first came out. With the final volume of the color version coming out this year, I thought it would be a great time to revisit the story as well as looking at how the addition of color changes things. I’ll be exploring the story and themes volume by volume. This time,we reach the conclusion with Volume 6. At this point, it appears that everyone has grown up except Scott Pilgrim. Nowhere is this more apparent than his misguided attempt to figure out if any girl who’s ever shown an interest in him will sleep with him. Of course, in this volume we finally learn why Scott Pilgrim has been such a dummy for the past five volumes - he purged himself of any self-reflection and memories of anything that ever went wrong. In one of the many Gen X/Y references, this is personified by Nega-Scott. Until Scott completes the metaphor by merging with Nega-Scott, he cannot grow up. Because no one can be a true adult if they don’t ever deal with anything they ever do wrong.

I read Scott Pilgrim in its original manga-sized, black and white form when it first came out. With the final volume of the color version coming out this year, I thought it would be a great time to revisit the story as well as looking at how the addition of color changes things. I’ll be exploring the story and themes volume by volume. This time, volume 5. For the most part, everyone’s era of extended adolescence is coming to an end. Some of the blame for this development can be laid upon the shoulders of Stephen Stiles; the longer the band goes without practicing, the more adrift the characters feel. They start looking for other things to bring meaning to life and that includes growing up and realizing the dream of the band is mostly over. Kim Pines decides to move back to her hometown. Even Scott Pilgrim declares he’ll be the best 24 year old ever. His only lacking trait in this volume seems to be his inability to remember the key to his apartment. By the end, his parents have even helped him get his own place.

I read Scott Pilgrim in its original manga-sized, black and white form when it first came out. With the final volume of the color version coming out this year, I thought it would be a great time to revisit the story as well as looking at how the addition of color changes things. I’ll be exploring the story and themes volume by volume. This time, volume 4. As far as their extended adolescence goes, this volume represents a major shift for a lot of the characters. This volume is when we realize that we’re seeing the end of something that’s been going on almost since high school when it comes to friendships and patterns. Perhaps at least partially from getting caught by Scott Pilgrim in the middle of an intimate moment, Wallace suggests it’s time for Scott to find his own apartment - or at least stop sleeping on the floor, sharing a sleeping bag with a gay man (which whom he is not involved). Stephen Stills has a complicated journey in this volume as he outwardly seems transfixed on getting Sex Bob-omb’s album recorded by Joseph. However, he stops holding band practice and has been turning away gigs, perhaps because recording the album has made him realize the futility of his band ever getting anywhere, and wanting to move on. There’s also the reveal about why he’s gotten so close with Joseph which will either happen in the next volume or the last one. Kim finally moves out of the apartment she shares with women she hates and at the very least this represents her refusal to remain in a crappy situation.

I read Scott Pilgrim in its original manga-sized, black and white form when it first came out. With the final volume of the color version coming out this year, I thought it would be a great time to revisit the story as well as looking at how the addition of color changes things. I’ll be exploring the story and themes volume by volume. This time, volume 3. This volume is the culmination of all that’s come before - a lot of Scott insecurities hinge on his relationship to Envy and this volume is mostly about their relationship. There aren’t any real new examples of the main characters’ extended adolescence. Knives, on the other hand, continues her personal growth. This volume begins with her unable to contain herself in front of her fashion and music idol and then being unable to contain the fact that she must be so cool by association as both she and Envy have kissed Scott Pilgrim.

The concept behind Seconds is not original. I’ve read and seen similar stories ( The Butterfly Effect) - I even saw a trailer for a new movie in that vein (although my Google-Fu is failing me in finding the title right now). The execution, however, was deeply personal and remained rooted in the character of Katie. Unlike the gravity behind the changes in The Butterfly Effect (child abuse, etc), Katie’s changes are personal and somewhat petty. Or rather, petty to the outsider. To her, they are nearly as important as life itself because she sees her life slipping away. Bryan Lee O’Malley is almost the same age as I am. So we have a lot of the same cultural touchstones and a lot of the same life worries. O’Malley and I are already in our thirties, so Katie’s story is a bit more resonant with me than it might be if I were younger. And, perhaps the same way my wife and I saw Ariel from Disney’s Little Mermaid as misunderstood when we were kids and a spoiled brat now, I may have different feelings about Katie when I’m older.

I read Scott Pilgrim in its original manga-sized, black and white form when it first came out. With the final volume of the color version coming out this year, I thought it would be a great time to revisit the story as well as looking at how the addition of color changes things. I’ll be exploring the story and themes volume by volume. This time, volume 2. Beginning by revisiting the themes from last time, there is again the theme of extended adolescence. O’Malley does not add much to this over the last book. Nearly all of the characters are in the same place as they were before. O’Malley adds a few more examples of Scott’s extended adolescence and immaturity in this volume. Last time I wrote about how his dating of Knives Chau was a prime example of how he didn’t want to grow up after his last breakup left him devastated and against being an adult in relationships. Unfortunately for Knives, he meets Ramona soon thereafter and begins cheating on her. In this book Wallace once again tells him to breakup with Knives. He declines saying he doesn’t want to “because it’s hard”. He only finally agrees to break up with her when Wallace threatens to tell Ramona about Knives if Scott doesn’t do it. As I mentioned before, while there are adults that don’t want to deal with the pain of breakups and sometimes just let relationships drift into nonexistence, it is still a sign of immaturity. Scott needs to think about others, particularly the young and vulnerable Knives who he will hurt more the longer the charade goes on.

I read Scott Pilgrim in its original manga-sized, black and white form when it first came out. With the final volume of the color version coming out this year, I thought it would be a great time to revisit the story as well as looking at how the addition of color changes things. I’ll be exploring the story and themes volume by volume. I’d like to start by taking a look at how the conversion to color has affected the story-telling. Scott Pilgrim is an example of manga coming full circle. Osamu Tezuka, the originator of manga, was originally inspired by early Walt Disney. In turn, my generation has been influenced by manga as we create our comics. The original volumes went with manga’s small-size and black and white “coloring” both for authenticity reasons and for practical reasons - coloring and color printing is expensive. In a CBR interview O’Malley says, “Initially, I was resistant to color because the books were always intended for black and white. That was part of the manga aesthetic I was going for.” But manga-inspiration is not the only reason for black and white in comics. Robert Kirkman has stated that Walking Dead wouldn’t have the same impact as it does if it were in color. It’s better for the mind to fill in the gory details. In a strange way, even though O’Malley’s art is already manga-cartoony, the colored version definitely feels less “real” to me. With my look into East of West I spent some time talking about how colors can affect the mood of a book and how Hickman has two very different color schemes in East of West and Manhattan Projects. So I feel as though the colors in this version somewhat rob some of the reality from this admittedly fantastical story.