Scott Pilgrim, volumes 1 and 2

The Scott Pilgrim graphic novels, volumes 1 and 2 (Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, respectively) by Bryan Lee O’Malley were books number 39 and 40 in my fifty book challenge for the year.

Scott is a 23 year old slacker who has no job, is in a band, and lives in a tiny apartment in Canada with his gay roommate Wallace. Scott has struck up a romance with 17 year old Knives Chau, a girl he met on the bus. Subsequently, though, he sees a girl in person who he recognizes; she’s been skating through his dreams. He introduces himself to the girl, Ramona Flowers, at a party, and their romance begins, though he hasn’t yet broken things off with the increasingly crushed-out Knives. Volume 1 ends with a hilarious Hong Kong movie-ish fight between Scott and an ex-boyfriend of Ramona’s. In Volume 2 Scott must face the second of Ramona’s evil ex-boyfriends, and we get more backstory on the girl that left Scott heartbroken before Knives. There’s also another Hong-Kong movie-ish fight, this time in a public library, during which we learn why Knives has such an odd name.

These are funny, weird and exceptionally charming books. They are teen fiction with magical realism, distinctive manga-inspired art, engaging characters and some drop-dead funny panels. I’ve also liked O’Malley’s previous work on Lost at Sea and Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero, which is written by Jen Van Meter, who is married to comics and mystery writer Greg Rucka.

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