Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe (Bryan Lee O'Malley)

The penultimate volume!

::SPOILER ALERT::

Synopsis

Happy birthday, Scott Pilgrim! On Scott's 24th birthday, he vows to be the BEST 24-YEAR-OLD EVER! His year gets off to a terrible start, though, when he's ambushed at a party by the twins Ken and Kyle Katayanagi, Ramona's next two evil ex-boyfriends, and their killer robot. Scott easily dispatches the robot, but Ramona doesn't seem impressed. Back home at Ramona's apartment, it becomes more evident that Scott isn't carrying his weight in the relationship. Uh-oh. Meanwhile, Sex Bob-omb takes a break from recording to rehearse for their upcoming gig. Too bad they suck now. Scott, Kim Pine, and Stephen Stills are all nervous and freaking out leading up to show time, but their only option is to play. While waiting for the band to start, Ramona is confronted by Knives in the bathroom. Ramona is snarky; Knives tries to drop kick her. Ramona whoops Knives' ass, but not before Knives unleashes a painful truth on Ramona: Scott and Knives were still together when he met Ramona. They leave the bathroom to find that the Sex Bob-omb gig is already over, as it was really just a set up to get Scott to fight another killer robot.

Armed with the knowledge that Scott is a liar and a cheat, Ramona tells her boyfriend that he should probably stay somewhere else for a few nights. After two consecutive couch surfing evenings—the first with Wallace Wells, Scott's old roommate, the second with Kim Pine—, Scott and Kim plan a way to get Scott and Ramona back together: Kim and Ramona meet for lunch and Scott just happens to show up. It works, but during the ensuing conversation, Ramona's head starts to glow in a way that it hasn't in several volumes. Kim comments on the glow, but Ramona dismisses her completely. What's the deal? Why's your head all glowy, Ramona? With Scott and Ramona back together, the three decide to attend another party, and Scott is forced to face yet another killer robot. Ramona, still angry with Scott, gets the glowy head thingy again, but Kim manages to take a picture this time. After Scott beats the robot, the three get wasted on tequila and things calm down for a few hours.

After the party, though, Kim is abducted by the twins, oh no! Ramona and Scott, who have no idea, head home for some make up sex and drunk sleep. Except Ramona can't sleep. Still too worked up about the fact that Scott cheated on Knives, she confronts him, going so far as to label him a future evil ex-boyfriend. He begs her not to break up with him, but then passes out, completely wastey-face. Scott wakes up in the morning to find Ramona gone, and freaks out for a bit until he realizes she's just in the shower. He then receives a text message from Kim Pine, alerting him to the fact that she's been abducted. He yells through the bathroom door to Ramona that he's going off to save Kim, but Ramona doesn't hear him and has no idea where Scott has gone when she gets out of the shower. This clearly pisses her off. She removes a towel from her head and reveals that she's cut her long hair, which Scott told her he liked, and has gone back to the hairstyle she had when she was with Gideon.

Scott heads to the abandoned building where Kim is being held captive and challenges the twins to a final battle. He quickly starts to lose ground, however, and the twins take this opportunity to reveal a few more terrible things about Ramona. Scott finds out how she cheats on everyone she dates, but is a horrible hypocrite who can't stand being with a guy who has ever cheated on a girl, even if that guy cheated with her. Kim, noticing that Scott is losing morale and about to be defeated, quickly makes up a lie that Ramona just texted her saying that she believes in him, hopes he's safe, and can't wait for him to come home. Invigorated by Ramona's renewed faith in him, Scott defeats the twins, earning $79.95 for Ken, $74.95 for Kyle, and a $2 Twin Bonus when they are reduced to coins. Scott frees Kim and rushes back home to Ramona.

Unfortunately for Scott, Ramona has actually given up on their relationship. When he gets back to their apartment, Scott finds Ramona in their room, packed and ready to leave him. He makes several futile attempts to convince her to stay, but in a sudden burst of glowy-headedness, Ramona disappears, leaving Scott with little other than Gideon the cat, a note she originally wrote for Gideon the ex, and a hole the size of Ontario in his chest. To make matters worse, when Scott leaves the apartment to go look for Ramona, Gideon the cat runs away, and Scott forgets his keys, locking himself out for good. Time passes; Scott searches for both Ramona and the cat, but is unable to find either. He switches off between Stephen Stills' and Kim Pine's apartments for places to sleep until finally his parents get him a place of his own. Eventually, Kim decides that she wants to move back home, and leaves Toronto. More alone than ever before, Scott starts to go slightly insane, imagining that he sees Gideon the ex everywhere. Finally, Scott remembers the letter that Ramona wrote to Gideon that she left at her apartment:

Gideon—

Don't wait up
for me, cause
I'm not coming
back. It's over.

—Ramona

Scott initially takes comfort from the note, until he realizes that it doesn't mean anything since she never sent it to Gideon. He has little time to ponder this, however. As the book approaches its conclusion, Scott receives a mysterious phone call. "This is Gideon. When would it be convenient for you to die?"

Rating

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe
by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Story—9.43
The subtle characterization and gradual shifts in conflict are superb. Bryan Lee O'Malley builds tension beautifully, culminating in a wonderful prelude to the final book.

Style—10
So good.

General—9.6
This volume turns a series that's often goofy and absurd into a truly suspenseful ongoing narrative. I absolutely cannot wait to find out what happens to these characters.

Overall—9.68



July 20th! The final volume! Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour! All of your questions will finally be answered! Who is Gideon? Will Scott be able to win Ramona back? Can Sex Bob-omb ever recover from the loss of Kim Pine? Are Stephen Stills and Knives Chau secretly dating? Does Scott have what it takes to live in an apartment by himself? WHY DOES RAMONA'S HEAD KEEP GLOWING?!?! All this and more! Do it! Buy it! Read it! Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour! And don't forget, we'll have the culmination of all the Scott Pilgrim ratings into one final Ultimate Scott Pilgrim Rating! Until then, keep reading, Genoshans!

Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together (Bryan Lee O'Malley)

::SPOILER ALERT::

Volume 4, wherein more ridiculousness occurs. Also wherein there are a few pages of color in the beginning! Kim Pine's a redhead!


Synopsis

Could it be that things are finally going well for our noble hero? It's summertime, life is good, and Scott Pilgrim couldn't be happier with the way things are going. Well, except for the fact that he's broke and needs to find a job. And that some crazy Chinese guy has been stalking him. Oh, and there's this little thing about Ramona being jealous of an old friend of Scott's from high school that turns up in Toronto. And Stephen Stills has cancelled shows and put band practice on an indefinite hiatus so they can record an album that no one else wants to record. And Young Neil is a jerk. Anything else? No? Oh wait, one more thing: it turns out that Ramona's latest evil ex-boyfriend is not a boy at all... twist!

Things are going great for Scott and Ramona until Lisa Miller shows up. Lisa was Scott's best friend in high school, before he started dating Kim Pine. She's only in town for a few days, but she's determined to find a way back into Scott's life. Ramona, who has been known to cheat on a significant other or twenty in the past, is uneasy about Lisa's sudden appearance. She turns downright suspicious once her ex shows up to challenge Scott. Her ex Roxanne, Ramona's college roommate and partner in the pair's experimental phase. Roxanne isn't the only one trying to make mince meat out of Scott, though. Knives—who made out with Kim Pine when she was drunk omg!—discovers that a photo of Scott she keeps on her wall has been defaced, and then Scott notices an older Chinese gentlemen following him around. Hmm, I wonder who that could be? Tensions mount as Scott and Wallace Wells, Scott's gay roommate, discover that their lease is up and new living arrangements are going to have to be made. Scott can just live with Ramona, right? Too bad the two are in a fight after the Lisa situation comes to a head. To make matters worse, while running from the mysterious Chinese man, Scott inadvertently enters a subspace highway that goes directly through Ramona's head. Unsettlingly, he finds her kneeling at the feet of a mysterious figure. Could this be Gideon, the man she never talks about but is constantly linked to? The man she allegedly dated in New York?? The man she named her cat after???

Scott finally decides that he needs to man up in most areas of his life if he wants to win Ramona back. He gets a job (+500xp!), but loses it, but then gets it back (+1000xp!!); he defeats Roxanne—good thing he got that longsword proficiency in grade five—, discovering in the process that his next opponents are a set of twins, gross; he restores honor to the Chau family, and Knives' dad stops trying to kill him; finally, he admits to Ramona that he is in love with her (+9999xp Level Up!!!)! The book ends on a primarily pleasant note, with Scott moving in to Ramona's apartment, earning the power of love, and gaining a kick ass new sword. All is not as sweet and sugary as it seems, though. Ramona's got a secret, Scott's got to fight twins, and Stephen Stills is hiding something from his bitchy sometimes-girlfriend Julie...

Rating

Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Story—9.07
Volume 4 seems to be the most psychological thus far. Scott and Ramona's relationship is really put to the test, but the main plot line of fighting off evil ex-boyfriends takes the backseat. Everything is brought together very nicely, but Scott is kind of a bitch for most of the book, which is slightly annoying. I wanted to see him kick a little more ass. To be fair, though, his epiphany at the end would not have been nearly as effective is he wasn't such a pussy the whole book.

Style—10
Minor details and characters from past volumes are finally brought back and utilized to great effect. Bryan Lee O'Malley manages once again to keep the book original but on tone.

General—9
I very much enjoyed this book, but it feels a bit like a bridge between more important events. Volume 3 dealt heavily with Scott's emotional backstory and Ramona's true character, while throwing in some history and supporting character motivation. This book sets things up very nicely for the future, but definitely feels like the calm before the storm.

Overall—9.36



Only one more book to go! Keep reading, Genoshans!

Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness (Bryan Lee O'Malley)

Level up!


::SPOILER ALERT::

Synopsis

When last we left our hero, Scott was waiting for his ex-girlfriend, Envy Adams, and her band, The Clash at Demonhead, to meet up and discuss terms so that Scott's band, Sex Bob-omb, could open a show for Envy's. Save point! Scott spots a glowing save point in the corner of the bar, but fails to reach it before Envy enters the room. Hopefully Scott doesn't die...

Once everyone is together—Scott; Ramona; Envy and her boyfriend, Todd; Envy's drummer, Lynette; Stephen Stills; Kim Pine; Stephen's sometimes girlfriend Julie; Young Neil; Knives Chau—things proceed to get very awkward. Envy is a bitch, but Knives idolizes her for being so cool omg. Knives fails to contain her excitement, though, and lashes out with "I've kissed the lips that kissed you!!!" Envy's drummer then proceeds to punch the highlights out of Knives' hair. Peace out, Knives. Things continue to go south as Scott and Todd find that they can no longer remain civil to each other. Their evil ex-boyfriend battle begins, but Scott is swiftly dispatched by Todd's psychic vegan powers. The fight would have continued—and, for Scott, possibly ended—right there, but everyone agreed that evil ex-boyfriend fights are tedious and unnecessary at 3:30am. They all agree to meet up at Honest Ed's the next day. Honest Ed's is a ridiculous store that sells so much stuff for so cheap that it's difficult to get through the store without suffering a stroke. Envy decrees that Scott and Todd must make it through the store, and the first one through is the winner. Todd is told he can't use his psychic powers, but cracks under the pressure of all the great deals, and accidentally causes the building to implode. They agree to try again in a few days, after the show that both bands are playing.

Here the book gets pretty stellar. We finally find out what happened between Scott and Envy, as well as how Scott and Wallace became friends, and the details of Ramona and Todd's relationship. We also learn that Todd sometimes cheats on things, for example his veganism (gasp!) and Envy (shock!). All relevant parties make their way to the club where the bands are supposed to perform, but while waiting for the show to start, Ramona and Envy cross paths and get into a cat fight. It's a fairly even match, with Ramona wielding a massive hammer—+2 against girls—and Envy wielding her bitchiness, but the crowd is clearly on Envy's side. Until Wallace Wells tells Ramona to break Envy's "horsey ol' face." With the crowd's attitude gradually changing, Ramona regains composure. To further complicate things, Knives intervenes as well, kicking Envy in the face just as she's about to wail on Ramona with her own hammer. With Envy down, Ramona takes command. Envy calls on Todd to save her, but realizes that he's actually hooking up with Lynette backstage. Envy breaks up with Todd, and Todd vows to break Scott. Todd's psychic vegan powers are too much for Scott once again, but this time Scott has back up in the form of The Boys and Crash, a new band formed by the previous members of Crash and the Boys. They help to hold off Todd's attacks, but the vegan is still too powerful. Recognizing that he is finally going to be beaten, Scott acknowledges that he "need[s] some kind of...like...last minute, poorly-set-up deus ex machina!!" Luckily, one arrives in the form of the Vegan Police, intent on arresting Todd for his violation of veganism and stripping him of his powers. Once unpsychicified, Scott easily defeats Todd, headbutting him into a glowing pile of coins. In the douchebag faux-vegan's wake is a strange, floating Scott Pilgrim head. Scott reaches out for the extra life and poof! It disappears in a cloud of smoke: 1-up! Sex Bob-omb plays their set and everyone loves them; Envy leaves town; all is lovely in Toronto.

Rating

Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness
by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Story—9.5
Volume three is the most complete book of the series so far. It follows a strongly-driven linear plot, but includes flashbacks and other elements of depth to increase appreciation and empathy for the characters. We learn more about Scott and Ramona's dating history, Stephen and Kim's motivations, Knives insanity, and the subtle machinations of Gideon, the leader of all the evil ex-boyfriends. Mad dramz.

Style—10
This book is stylistically perfect.

General—9.5
The smoothest read of the series so far. If somehow you had failed to get hooked on the first two books, this is the one that would most likely push you over the edge. It's incredible how seamlessly Bryan Lee O'Malley is able to evolve the plot and characters while remaining true to the overall style and tone of the series. Fantastic job.

Overall—9.67



Keep reading, Genoshans!

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Bryan Lee O'Malley)

Volume 2! Of Scott Pilgrim! Yes!


::SPOILER ALERT::

Synopsis

Flashback: 7 years ago. A 16-year-old Scott Pilgrim has just moved to Toronto. New school, new friends, new kids trying to beat him up all the time. He meets Lisa; they hang out and play video games. He meets Kim; they hang out and do geography class projects together. The three unite and form a band called Sonic & Knuckles. Boys from a rival school storm Scott, Lisa, and Kim's school and kidnap Kim, but Scott fights his way through several levels of bosses to get her back. Scott and Kim start dating! Everything is cutesy and fun until Scott moves away again and the two break up. Wait a minute, Scott and Kim? Kim Pine? Drummer for Scott's current band, Sex Bob-omb? Oooooohhh snap! Right from the get go in volume two we start to learn a little bit more about Scott: mainly, that he isn't the super innocent nerd everyone thinks he is. He used to date Kim, has started dating Ramona, and has yet to officially break up with Knives. And who is this mysterious ex-girlfriend that people keep saying is evil?

Scott finally breaks up with Knives, sending her on a jealous rampage that involves dying her hair and attacking Ramona in a library. Meanwhile, Scott's gay roommate Wallace gets the skinny on the next evil ex-boyfriend that Scott has to face: famous movie star Lucas Lee. Lucas is in town shooting a movie, but finds time to fight Scott in between takes, no big. At their first encounter, Scott gets his ass handed to him, but Lucas decides to take a break and drink some gatorade. While the two are hanging out waiting for round 2 to start, Scott notices Lucas' skateboard, and dares him to grind down a 200-step staircase. Lucas can't turn down a challenge! He makes it all the way down the staircase but botches the landing, reducing himself to a $14 pile of change. Scott wins! By default. Scott goes home bummed out that he couldn't even keep the item that appeared after Lucas' demise, a mithril skateboard. (Scott didn't pick up the skateboard proficiency in grade five. Oh well.)

While chilling at home after the fight, Scott gets a call from his ex-girlfriend, Envy Adams. Not much is known about Envy, except that she's now the lead singer of The Clash at Demonhead, a band that's been swiftly gaining popularity. Oh, and she broke Scott's heart. Envy tells Scott that her band is playing a few shows in Toronto, and that his band should open one of the shows. Scott lapses into depression, clearly not wanting to see Envy—or her new boyfriend Todd—at all, let alone open for their band. Stephen Stills protests! They must play! The band goes to one of The Clash at Demonhead's shows so that arrangements can be made, with Ramona and Young Neil in tow. Drama! Young Neil arrives with his new girlfriend on his arm—his new girlfriend KNIVES CHAU! Even more drama! Once the show starts, Ramona realizes that Scott's ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, Todd, is actually RAMONA'S THIRD EVIL EX-BOYFRIEND!

Rating

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Story—9.07
This volume doesn't have as much action as the first (the intro fight is a flashback and the boss battle is hardly even a real fight), but it contains a ton of much-needed backstory. You get a much deeper understanding of all of the characters, as well as a few quirky tidbits thrown in that were alluded to in volume one (example: in volume one Scott mentions that he'll discuss his last employment situation in a future volume, and here he follows through).

Style—10
These are probably going to get 10s across the board for style. Bryan Lee O'Malley continues his commitment to video game references by including several more distinctly stylistic scenes, the mithril skateboard "item" being the most prominent.

General—9
The plot doesn't drive forward as strongly as the first book, but it's still incredible smooth to get through and ridiculously fun to read. The inclusion of backstory also ups the character investment, which is one of the few things that the first book could have benefitted from, I think.

Overall—9.36



Keep reading, Genoshans!

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (Bryan Lee O'Malley)

You may or may not know this already, but July 20, 2010, will see the release of one of the most highly-anticipated comic books of all time: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Now, I know what some of you are saying. Who is this Scott Pilgrim character? Why do I care? Well, you care because the Scott Pilgrim series is one of the GREATEST LITERARY CREATIONS OF ALL TIME AND SCOTT HIMSELF IS AWESOME!

Oh yeah, and did I mention that the entire series is going to be a movie directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and starring Michael Cera (Superbad, Arrested Development)??? Because it is! August 13! Yes!

::SPOILER ALERT::

Over the course of the next five weeks, I'm going to post reviews of each of the first five volumes of Scott Pilgrim, culminating in a review of the final volume on July 23. Well, review doesn't seem to be the right word. These are going to be more like recaps. Unlike normal Genoshan reviews, these WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS, so read at your own risk! If you just want the straight up ratings, without any spoilers, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of each recap, where the usual numerical ratings will remain spoiler-free. Now that all the business stuff is taken care of, let's get this show on the road!

Synopsis

Toronto. 2004. Scott Pilgrim—23; awesome—has just started dating Knives Chau—17; Chinese—and his friends are giving him shit about it. In order to stop the beration (berating? berativeness?), Scott brings Knives to meet his friends and fellow band members at one of their rehearsals. The band's name: Sex Bob-omb, one of roughly three trillion video game references in the series. The band meets Knives; Scott's gay roommate Wallace Wells meets Knives; Scott's little sister Stacey finds out about Knives; EVERYTHING IS GOING WELL FOR SCOTT OH YEAH! But then Scott starts seeing this mysterious hipster chick with funky hair in his dreams. Then he sees her in real life, at the library! After meeting her at a party, he finds out that she works for Amazon.ca, so he places an order, hoping that she'll bring him his package. She does! Her name is Ramona Flowers, and through an awkward dialogue with a smitten Scott the world discovers that she's been entering his dreams through a subspace highway—basically a shortcut on her delivery route that runs directly through his brain. Weird!

Scott somehow manages to convince Ramona to go on a date with him (even though he's technically dating Knives! Uh oh!), and then invites her to come see his band perform at a local bar. After their date, Scott receives a strange email, and subsequent letter, from someone named Matthew Patel, claiming that they should schedule a time to fight. Pssh, junk mail. Scott and the other Sex Bob-omb band members, Stephen Stills and Kim Pine, show up to their gig and meet up with: Stacey Pilgrim; a boy that Stacey brings; Wallace Wells, who hits on Stacey's boy; Young Neil, Sex Bob-omb's biggest fan; Knives Chau; Knives' friend, also 17; some other people; AND RAMONA FLOWERS OH NO BUT ISN'T KNIVES THERE YES SHE IS. Scott hides backstage while the first band, Clash and the Boys, plays their set. Unfortunately, the final song in Clash and the Boy's set knocks most of the audience unconscious, except for Scott's friends, who were all either in the balcony, or in the bathroom. As Sex Bob-omb takes the stage to play to a mostly comatose audience, Matthew Patel bursts through the ceiling and attacks Scott! Unfortunately for Matthew Patel, Scott Pilgrim is the best fighter in the province (we're in Canada, remember). Scott fights Matthew Patel! Matthew Patel summons flying demon hipster chicks! Scott summons his friends! The flying demon hipster chicks shoot fire balls at Scott! Deflected! Scott K-O's Matthew Patel, turning him into coins.

What was that all about? Oh, sorry Scott, that was the first of Ramona Flowers' SEVEN EVIL EX-BOYFRIENDS! All of whom have to be defeated if Scott wants to date Ramona. Bummer. Scott and Ramona start dating, and the book ends with several cliffhangers, mainly: what's Scott gonna tell Knives? who are Ramona's other evil exes, and will Scott be able to defeat them all?? why does Ramona get a weird blinking halo around her head whenever Scott asks her about her past??? WILL SCOTT GET MORE THAN $2.10 NEXT TIME HE DEFEATS AN EVIL EX-BOYFRIEND BECAUSE THAT'S HOW MUCH HE GOT FOR BEATING MATTHEW PATEL AND THAT DOESN'T EVEN COVER BUS FARE?!?!?

So there's that. Why is this book so good? Where do I even start? How about I don't, and just jump right to the ratings?

Rating

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
by Brian Lee O'Malley

Story—9.4
It's soooooo original. Bryan Lee O'Malley creates a unique, quasi-realistic, video game-esque world where normal, mundane things happen all the time, but boss battles and subspace highways get thrown in for good measure. This first volume loses just a few tenths of a point for having a completely unexpected ending. I didn't have a problem with it, and actually think that it shouldn't have been unexpected at all, but alas, it's the number one complaint people have about the volume.

Style—10
I have never seen anything like this ever in my life and it is glorious. This is the kind of book that people will be stealing ideas from forever. A+++++

General—9.33
Maybe you don't read comic books. So what? This is exactly the kind of comic book that I would give to someone who doesn't read comic books. It's funny, accessible, easy to follow, but also has a decent amount of conflict and genuine emotion. Scott Pilgrim is a real person with real problems and real reactions. He just happens to live in a world where people can build up a 64-hit combo.

Overall—9.58



Now before you get too worried that the 2010 Daily Genoshan Top Ten List is going to be 60% Scott Pilgrim, let me tell you how the rating system is actually going to work. Similar to previous comic book series that have been reviewed, the final rating will encompass each of the individual volumes. This volume's rating of 9.58 will be averaged in with the ratings of the other five books to produce the Ultimate Scott Pilgrim Rating that will be revealed alongside the final review. Until next time, keep reading, Genoshans!