Scott Pilgrim, vol. 1

Writer(s): Bryan Lee O’Malley
Artist(s): Bryan Lee O’Malley
Publisher: Oni Press
ISBN: 978-1932664089
Price: $11.95
Page count: 168
Year Released: 2004
Status: in print
Original Source: n/a
Other Collected Edition(s): n/a
Genres: adventure; humor; magic realism; romance/relationships; slice of life; teen/young adult
Recommended for Fans Of: video games
Possibly Objectionable Material: cartoony violence
If You Like This Book, Try: Blue Monday
Also in This Series: followed by Scott Pilgrim, vol. 2

Plot Summary
Scott Pilgrim is kind of an idiot. He's 23, jobless, a shameless mooch off his roommate, Wallace, he's dating a 17-year-old high school student (though they haven't even held hands yet), and is constantly forgetting about things that normal people would consider important.

But Scott Pilgrim is also kind of cool. He's in a band (he plays bass--not very well), he has an admirable amount of self-confidence, and he knows how to fight. Fighting, in fact, may just be what he does best.

So when Scott meets Ramona Flowers, the girl of his dreams (literally--he'd been dreaming about her for weeks), it's not really much of a surprise that he'll have to fight for her if he wants to date her.

And that's the quest: fight Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends to win her heart. Scott accepts the challenge with gusto, and maybe a little too much bravado. First up is Matthew Patel, who has been sending Scott threatening emails that Scott's been ignoring (typical behavior, you see). Does Scott have what it takes? Well, since there are six more Scott Pilgrim volumes after this, you can probably figure that out for yourself....

My Own 2 Cents
Scott Pilgrim is a tremendous hit for Oni Press, and the success is well-deserved. O'Malley's series is hilarious in a way that's hard to pinpoint. It contains a boundless energy that practically jumps off every single page. The story seems to move along at a brisk pace, even when there's nothing really going on (the series is as much a plotless day-to-day exploration of slacker life as it is about Scott's quest to defeat Ramona's evil ex-boyfriends). The supporting characters are great (including Wallace, Scott's gay roommate; Knives Chau, Scott's high-school girlfriend; Stephen and Kim, Scott's bandmates; and of course Ramona) but Scott is the real star of the book. His brash cluelessness makes him a great character--and exactly the kind of guy you wouldn't want to know in real life.

If you enjoy the chaotic and blustery (yet all-ages appropriate) humor of movies like The School of Rock and Anchorman, or the high school comedies of John Hughes (in which the kids are inevitably smarter than the adults), then Scott Pilgrim is probably for you. A love of video games (or at the very least Super Mario Bros.) also helps.