Created By Bryan Lee O’Malley
With the final volume now released, the marketing for Edgar Wright’s superb-looking film adaptation gearing up to hit cinemas, a video game tie-in due and Bryan Lee O’Malley’s six-year-long love letter to a generation now complete, you’ve probably been bludgeoned with the blunt end of Scott Pilgrim‘s fantastically fun premise enough already, so forgive the following catch-up. Scott Pilgrim’s a bass-playing Canadian slacker in a not-exactly-good band called Sex Bob-omb. When he meets and falls in love with mysterious American courier Ramona Flowers, he discovers he’ll have to defeat her 7 evil ex-boyfriends if he wants to be with her. Littered with oodles of video game references, gleefully daft magical realism fantasy and epic fights balanced with wonderful, real characters, touching romance and resonant, evolving relationships, Scott Pilgrim is that rare creation: a unique, geek-friendly comic with genuine depth and universal appeal.
As Volume 6 opens, Scott is languishing in post-break-up depression following Ramona’s vanishing act: unwashed, unfed on anything but ramen and unable to leave the comforting confines of his loving couch. The imposing spectre of final evil ex Gideon looms large, Kim Pine has moved away up north, Stephen Stills is moving on to form another band, while Wallace Wells is growing weary of Scott’s self-pity and is trying to convince Pilgrim to go out, sleep with something and just move on. Misguidedly heeding his advice, Scott awkwardly fumbles through his own exes in a series of desperate, embarrassing and unsuccessful attempts to get laid and get over Ramona before realising that he’ll have to finally grow up and take charge of his life if he’ll have any hopes of being happy and winning her back.
In many respects, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour is Bryan Lee O’Malley’s High Fidelity. There are similarities from the get-go, from the opening state of depressed post-break-up ennui that we find both protagonists in, to Scott’s impromptu Rob Gordon-style trip down ex-girlfriend memory lane. Though while Rob’s is a self-aware quest for past relationship closure and understanding, Scott’s is a more passive search for break-up therapy casual sex at the behest of Wallace, and on some level, a desperate scramble to find someone amongst his former flames to fill the void Ramona left behind. Naturally, along the way, he too finds the same respective clarity and closure as O’Malley explores something touched on in Nick Hornby’s book: the idea of our selective, self-serving memory of relationships and break-ups.
O’Malley channels the notion through hilarious, cutesy, chibi-style ‘Memory-Cam’ moments – cheerful, rose-tinted and woefully inaccurate recollections of the past that conveniently paint a character’s revisionist, idealised view of their own history. It’s no great secret that the characters of Scott Pilgrim are often complete dicks, none more so than Scott himself; they’re young, human, and therefore inherently flawed as people, capable of thoughtless and hurtful actions. Sure, Scott’s loveable, endearing and it’s hard not to identify with him or root for him, but he’s thoroughly capable of instigating just as much heartache and pain as he reaps, whether he’s aware of it or not. We’re all the heroes of our own story, but none of us like to entertain the notion that we might be the villain of others’, or the cause of our own problems and heartbreaks. That idea is the thematic centre of the final book, and as the culmination of his steady growth and maturity over the series, Scott – the Rob Gordon of the videogame generation – will have to buck his trend of wilful ignorance, acknowledge his past mistakes and learn from them if he’s ever to truly grow up and be worthy of the girl he loves.
This depth of character extends throughout the entire cast, and though the cornucopia of geek-friendly video game references, absurd left-field humour and outlandish action might be the selling point of the series for many, it’s the intelligent, incisive and emotionally-resonant character work that’s the true heart and soul of O’Malley’s creation. Every character gets their moment to shine, despite the brisk pace, and character is pushed to the fore more than ever before as relationships and people continue to shift and change towards the conclusions of their respective journeys. There are less ancillary gags to be found in Volume 6, which might irk some, but it feels oddly fitting; not only does the final volume have a lot of ground to cover and little time to waste in terms of wrapping up character arcs, but the even more focused, driven narrative suits the rapidly maturing nature of the characters well.
That’s not to say it lacks the humour and geeky references we’ve come to love – it’s certainly isn’t short of laugh-out loud gags, from ‘Gideon Graves, Occupation: Asshole’ to a killer Google/Wikipedia joke, with copious Zelda and Final Fantasy references inbetween – but while the book’s the longest yet, it’s unquestionably the fastest. Volume 6 breezes by almost instantly, partly because as the final book, you simply don’t want it to end, but largely thanks to the entire second half being devoted to an epic and lengthy climactic fight scene between Scott and Gideon. While some might be off-put by the incredibly fast pace, it’s to O’Malley’s credit that despite the hurried feel and the abundance of action, character never feels sacrificed for a single moment and the result is a thoroughly rewarding, emotionally satisfying climax to a truly amazing series.
It’s not just his characters who have evolved, either – Bryan Lee O’Malley’s artwork is more striking than ever. The characters are more expressive, O’Malley experiments with texture more (a recurring blood spatter effect looks especially impressive) and the last half is crammed with inventive and visually kinetic action, from sword fights, 80 foot tall adversaries and sub-space explosions, while the last few pages are simply beautiful. The artwork has, frankly, never been the strongest component of Scott Pilgrim. It’s always been distinctive and charming, but O’Malley’s grown by infinite leaps and bounds as an artist from the humble beginnings of Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life, and his work has never looked better than here.
There are people who may not enjoy Scott Pilgrim. Perhaps they might prefer their comic books to be of the traditional, generic ‘superheroes, muscles and boobs’ variety. It’s possible they’re cripplingly phobic of the letter ‘S’ (a unique and fictional condition called ‘essophobia’, not to be confused with the fear of petrol stations). Maybe they were stabbed in the brain in a bizarre trowel attack, severing the part of their cerebral cortex that processes fun. But anyone with a fondness for video games, quirky comedy, outlandish action or heartfelt, resonant relationship drama will find something in the series to adore. If your tastes lie at the intersection of any of those criteria though, Scott Pilgrim is your geek nirvana: a profoundly stunning work of perfection that deftly blends comedy, action and romance with surprising intelligence and shocking depth into a package that’s hilarious, touching, universally accessible and completely unforgettable.
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Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour is available to buy now. Click here to order it from Amazon.co.uk.
