Anything worth having is worth fighting for. That’s true, even for the biggest slacker in the world, which is Scott Pilgrim- an average 23-year old who lives a care-free life of girl-juggling, oversleeping, video games and playing bass with his wannabe band Sex Bob-Omb.
But things change when the mysterious Ramona Flowers uses “subspace” to skate through his dreams. Scott becomes obsessed and pursues Ramona but can only date her under the condition that he defeats her seven evil ex-boyfriends.
The underrated movie version was released in August 2010, which summarizes the graphic novel series from vol. 1 through 6. However, if you want an in-depth background of the other unique characters and Scott Pilgrim’s past, reading the comic book series by Bryan Lee O’Malley is highly recommended. The books were first released through August 2004 to July 2010 and have been labeled an acclaimed hit by comic book giants such as Comics Alliance.
The series goes through panels of Scott Pilgrim defeating evil ex-boyfriends as they burst into coins while he struggles to maintain his relationship a mysterious Ramona. However, readers learn about more important events that unfold in the story even without the perspective of the unreliable Scott Pilgrim. Staff writer Laura Hudson from Comics Alliance couldn’t put it any better.
“Throughout the book, we learn that a whole host of things that have happened off panel including significant chunks of major plot points and flashbacks—that Scott (and therefore the reader) didn’t know because Scott was far too caught up in the story he was telling about himself.”
What’s really cool about this book series is the angle O’Malley takes with Scott Pilgrim. He may be the main character who totally knows how to kick and punch but he also has outstanding flaws himself. Scott is unconsciencely, a two-timing jerk and a self-centered narcissist but a likeable one.
But when vol. 6 comes around in Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, Scott Pilgrim’s laid-back attitude through life is not as cool as it used to be. In fact, it becomes really sad. His friends slowly fade from him as they move on with their lives. His quest to revisit past loves become shocking eye-openers to the fact that he may have actually been a terrible boyfriend in his previous relationships.
And after the heart-aching loss of his girlfriend Ramona, Scott returns to his slacker roots, which should raise the question, is anything worth having worth fighting for?
This isn’t your typical action-adventure comic book. There are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments but O’Malley weaves some heavy emotion and drama within the characters and into every panel. He probably captured the essence of a generation Y that grew up on Saturday morning cartoons and 16-bit video games. That adulthood and maturity isn’t something that automatically happens once you reach your 20’s, it’s about accepting that you can’t do everything right but realizing that you need to make the effort to learn from your past mistakes if you want to better yourself.
