Scott Pilgrim!

Admitidely it's very very very Indie-Twee, and the meta stuff at the end of the third volume seemed a bit overtly precious to me, but...SO MUCH FUN!

It made me wanna take up playing video games again.

(I totally *did* take up video gaming again bcuz of Scott!)

Cheese!

END SPOILERS

The latest may be my favorite yet. Surprising because, while frequently AWESOME, vol. 3 struck me as strained at odd moments, a downward trend I kinda expected to continue with vol. 4. Thankfully, I WAS WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. This just flows - there's so much that's just priceless: the Ninja Gaiden homage, Scott's brain birthing an idea, Kim losing her shoes in subspace, Lisa vs. Ramona (the awkwardness of L's "Is she prettier than me?" line strikes close to home) and any number of et ceteras. So, once again, AWESOME.

If I was Dan Didio (and thank god I'm not) I would pay BLO'M $1 million a month to do Jimmy Olsen comics, because y'know, this is exactly what a fucking Jimmy Olsen comic should be like in the 21st C.

and ditto what mercurialblonde said re: Scott Pilgrim is not just a comic, it's a way of life. I am pretty much reorganizing my life & lifestyle around the teachings of Scott Pilgrim and Howe Gelb this month.

Complete the following phrase: "If your ______ had a _____ , I would punch it in the ________."

Stayed up until 6:15 this morning (not that big a deal, since I didn't get home from work until 4:35) reading the last half of Vol 2 and the full of Vol 3. And then I dreamed vividly of cartoon Toronto and wondered if Scott will eventually come to realize (or be told by Wallace, most likely) that it's his destiny to become Ramona's 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th evil ex-boyfriend (I lost count too). If he does in Vol. 4, I don't want to know, I just wanted to put that out there.

SPOILERISH:

The cameo by "Dark Scott" in vol. 4 certainly hints at such, though that could mean any number of things, really.

vol 4 was so good

"These shoes are Mr. Silly's shoes, Scott."

Just started reading the first volume. LOL.

Vol. 4 finally got in at the library (I was #9 on the list) and yes, wow, fabulous. Agreed that Vol. 3 had some iffy parts and that this set everything right. I liked the subplot stemming unexpectedly from Knives Chau - but the Julie stuff seems like a curious tangent to me. OTOH, there's a fine line between curious tangents and the kind of so-fucking-accurate-you-can't-believe-it detail that makes the world of this comic work even when it's full of subspace portals and evil exes. The Lisa story would

I was a little sorry to see Roxane go though. Obv. because she was hot but I also thought there was a nice opportunity to get a little more backstory for Ramona there. Oh well.

I've got a feeling that there's a LOT more backstory for Ramona coming up.

I, too, recommend BEAUTY POP.

That looks scary.

GEORGE MICHAEL!

I can finally stop sitting on this bit of casting info - the urge to namedrop is strong but I am stronger. Like Hulk-strong.

he can do awkward, but what about completely oblivious?

NICE! I'm still so surprised this movie's going forward. Edgar Wright seems to be a good match for the material.

Awful awful idea. Can't picture it for a second. Maybe that's just me buying into his typecasting as "awkward teen," but bumbling indie mid-twenties guy seems a real reach - Scott is a REALLY tough balance of a character.

Ugh, I just don't want to think about this at all.

Scott isn't that awkward!

I don't know, maybe Michael Cera is actually an actor.

Also, you know, there's no reason why Cera's interpretation of the character has to exactly match the one in the comic -- I mean, Scott's pretty shallow in the first book. Would that translate well to a movie?

It probably wouldn't, but casting Cera suggests that this is going to be a movie about some bumbling dork who's suddenly plunged into a topsy-turvy world of superheros and ninja, like "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" or something.

I've always pictured Scott along the lines of Jared Leto in "My So-Called Life". Less dork, more obliviously self-confident.

If only we could get a 22 year old Owen Wilson to play Scott.

Obliviously self-confident, you say?

OK, probably not what you meant, but with all his weird web stuff like this and Clark and Michael I'm feeling pretty good about this casting choice.

For some reason, I can't really see Owen Wilson as someone who really loves video games...

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe. Volume 5 is out Feb. 2009.

And after seeing "Juno" and "Nick & Norah's...", am content with Cera as Pilgrim.

(SPOILER)

What happened at the end of this last one? Was he summoned to fight, or summoned to become a new evil boyfriend?

SPOILERS.

The last one was totally heartbreaking, with Scott Pilgrim coming to terms that he's pretty much an oblivious fuck up most of the time, Ramona leaving and most of all his friends too, leaving him alone to receive the call from Gideon asking him "When will it be a good time for you to die?".

It was pretty sad but also awesome and it sets the scene perfectly for his rise from the ashes. Because, c'mon, he's Scott Pilgrim!.

I was less keen on this one -- I thought the previous book got the emo/action balance a lot better. And it's the first book that felt like 'set-up' rather than being a book in itself. But you know, mostly wonderful, and I nitpick, so I'll be quiet now.

I slogged through the first one, was mildly entertained by the second, and then gave it up. I guess I'm not emo enough or something to be entertained by this work.

# ROLLING SADFACE 2009 [Started by Oh Why, Sports Coat? (Dr. Superman) in November 2008, last updated 2 days ago by James Morrison] 2 new answers
# Scott Pilgrim! [Started by Douglas (Douglas) in August 2005, last updated 2 days ago by EZ Snappin] 4 new answers

http://www.edgarwrighthere.com

This isn't my cup of tea either, but has it gotten so bad that this guy is drawing fan/critical energy away from more deserving works?
Is Brandon Graham worth reading to someone not interested in the genre the same way someone not into manga should still give Tezuka a try?

Okay, I'm going to present the opposing viewpoint that I don't care for this book in the slightest and actually find it kinda unreadable.

― lazy cold meat and chocolate seasonal mentality (forksclovetofu)

^^^This is the big fat truth.

i like graham's work a lot, but i wouldn't say he's any more "deserving" of yr time than o'malley. it's just dumb sci-fi fun that happens to hit pleasure centers in my brain that scott pilgrim doesn't. but i DO think graham's got more...ambition (ugh, sorry) than o'malley, at least on the evidence. i've no doubt o'malley's played a lot of nintendo in his day, but i could actually see graham world-building something as rich as a shigeru miyamoto game.

that said, i went to my local mall comic shop for the first time in eons on tuesday, and the scott pilgrim books were the ONLY non-super hero/"indie" books they had in stock. make of that what you will. (i was there to pick up the winter men trade, so i wasn't so bothered.)

'the scott pilgrim books were the ONLY non-super hero/"indie" books they had in stock. make of that what you will.'

I was feeling people were piling a little harshly on this guy, but you've convinced me now of the failure of free markets! Pile away, sirs!

well said forks, strongo - crappy drawing, insufferable content

most overrated and obnoxious alt-mainstream crossover title since cerebus

You guys still need a worthy champion, though. There's no point in knocking a dude down a peg and have Penny Arcade replace him.

wow guys, why don't you go kick some puppies

sorry this ain't as cool or serious as love and rockets

Sorry it's poorly crafted emo crap.

PS. I hate dogs of all ages too.

Nhex, I love you, but that's kinda horseshit
Just because this is cute and flimsy don't mean it can't be responded to critically
and potshots at the bros as "cool or serious" hoity-toity is just silly

it actually wasn't meant to be a potshot at the Bros, but i don't buy these criticisms either. but there is no real argument to be made here anyway

I wouldn't mind if mall-comic shops replaced their Scott Pilgrims with Los Bros, but can they really make a living on Death of Speedy?

Death of Speedy not emo enough.

Think you all way too harsh on SP. It's a well-executed romantic comedy that does a really great job of sketching a milieu, especially in terms of a great supporting cast - I mean it seems like dudes like Wallace and Kim and that guy who knows everyone and even more obscure characters all have complex and interesting lives outside whatever their parts in Scott's story are.

I love the shit out of Scott Pilgrim, except for the lettering, which is horrendous. Since we're taking sides and all.

megadeath shirts vs. very very pale skins

the high seriousness of punk rock lesbians killing dinosaurs in mud pits.

The biggest problem I have with it is that I don't find it funny. AT ALL. Thus, I find it a real slog. That the characters are all twits doesn't help it either.

I like it but don't love it. It doesn't offend me, and about once or twice per volume it amuses me.

I can see not liking it, but for me it was almost like a gateway-comic that led me gently away from the superhero racks into pitiless experimental formalism and arty b&w crime comics and shit so I have to ride for it.

I've heard O'Malley isn't even Cdn.

how did Scott Pilgrim become a gateway comic? does he rep for other comics in the letters pages or something?

superhero readers can get a thrillpower jones from it, but it's black & white and about loser twentysomethings

Yeah basically, and if you look around the internet dudes who rep for SP are as likely as not also talking up other indie stuff.

New trailer. Out August 13th.

epically epic pic epic pic e pic epic ep ice pic epic

Streetcars! Cabbagetown! I'm as psyched to see a real, live Toronto movie as much as I am the Scott Pilgrim stuff.

Upcoming game has some great sprite art and a soundtrack by Anamanaguchi to boot!

http://tinycartridge.com/post/476870814/first-look-at-the-scott-pilgrim-video-game-and

http://sequential.spiltink.org/?p=4531#more-4531

(posted in two threads in case future generations of ILCers want to know when CanLit changed)

So, the last volume is out, except in my part of the world where we have to wait until September for a local release. Much cop?

Well done.

I think I enjoyed this much less than any previous volume, though that could have been partly down to reading it drunk and racing through in order to get to bed. My speed aside, it definitely feels rushed or crammed, like O'Malley would have rather had, or done better to have, even more pages or a second book to break the plot out into. I was mildly surprised at how very apparent the work of the assistants is at first, but once it became apparent what a rush the whole project was, it became more admiration of how much they actually blended and supported O'Malley's linework.

By the time the Big Fight broke out, it was a relief to know we weren't going to be crammed in with desperate attempts to touch base with every character for three panels, or wrap up peoples' emotional states.

I'm fairly confident this will work much better on re-reads - especially as I'll be expecting a coda, rather than another luxurious wallow in Pilgrimworld.

i wish i knew some sort of iphone ringtone maker for mac that i could use to show my love for scott pilgrim more completely. I would pay almost anything for one if only i could find it.

wish mods had left the spam on this one for fork's gag

so how hard is this movie going to bomb?

why would it do that?

i think the scene with kim and the flashback is the most interesting thing here; the ending is kind of draggy and harping on the YOU SEE I AM INSIDE YOUR GIRLFRIEND'S HEAD BUT LITERALLY BUT ALSO A SYMBOL stuff a bit much; o'malley's chops still pretty good in a lot of places, like the 'but it was horrible for everyone' scene a lot; also the proudest moment of young neil's life; also the explanation of what was up with stephen stills

Reread these recently. They hold up well - the further I get from Scott's age the more he seems like a total yutz, but since his yutz-ness is a key thing the story tries to address, it works. Similarly, how he confronts the MPDG-ness of Ramona. Love when Scott can't give a better reason than ''you're, um, mysterious?'' for dating her, and she can't really explain why she's chosen to BE mysterious.

Last volume is still too rushed, with too many portentous splash pages. There are some really strong ideas in play about Gideon and his own motivations but it gets a little flaky. In a way the highlight are Scott's embarassingly awful attempts to have ''sex. CASUAL sex'' with everyone he knows. Somehow I end up being more satisfied that Scott and Kim get back to being in a shitty, nobody-will-ever-care band that makes them happy, whereas Scott and Ramona getting back together has this dreamy 'Blankets' vibe that sort of doesn't connect somehow.

But overall, man, what a great series. Great world, great cast, a million great little throwaway jokes and moments, and ridiculously solid, clear, expressive cartooning.

Loved this, especially as a former Toronto-ite. I think the fourth volume hits the sweet spot between emo and cheesy laffs, and the last volume is a let-down, but there's something great in every book.

After yr thoughts upthread, how did you end up finding Cera Dr C?

The only complaint I have with these books, really, is that they captured being 23 in Toronto in 2003 so accurately that by the time the final volume came out in 2010 it felt like a somewhat embarrassing time capsule. Or a record of a possible future that was already past.

ridiculously solid, clear, expressive cartooning.
I agree, except for the sameness of the female characterizations which confused me a lot throughout.

I miss Toronto. Sneaky's. Kensington. Crullers. The Beguiling. :/

This thread really captured how I used to post on ILC in 2005. I'm over that now, of course.

Chuck_Tatum's old posting style = Classic.

re: time capsule effect - i feel like this was at least sort of incorporated into the books. LOVED the second-to-last book for this (even if the evil exes were dullsville) - the parties are seeming lamer even as they get fancier, our heroes are done trying to hit the scene, the band is in the shitter, and everybody kind of just wants to go pass out in the loft getting plastered and talking about how much they love being each other's friends.

I remember basically enjoying the movie - there were very few things (besides Ramona's Hot Topic hair) that really made it feel like they'd missed the whole point of the thing, and....oh wait, there was a thread on this: Scott Pilgrim - The Movie

I saw this a couple of weeks ago in a theater where me and my friend were literally the only people there. Given that I had no hope of the movie really nailing the things I loved best about the comics, I was pleased to see how much they didn't fuck up. Like, just getting the ambience of the books right, doing "indie hipster nerd people in the 2000s" without having it feel like a grownup movie producer's idea of hip young kids. The apartments looked right, the bands mostly looked right, all that stuff. The colored hair kind of works against this because onscreen it makes people look way more 90s and Hot Topiced out than the characters are supposed to be, I think. (Envy Adams also seems totally wrong to me, but this has more to do with not matching the angular bitchiness of the character, and not so much with IRL convincingness.)

The video game stuff worked best when it was just taken for granted as part of the universe, rather than being pointed out and commented upon; I think the former won out, so that's good. I wish they had used their own made-up video game sounds rather than having Zelda sounds all over the place though.

The Seinfeld thing was a real misfire - should have been left at just the music playing for the establishing shot of the apartment but ehh.

I think this movie might be a case where it's kind of great, but at the same time not very good. Like, I loved the adaptation, loved the effects, loved most of the casting, but it's pretty clear why this wouldn't be a crossover success with a general audience - - - not because it's too nerdy but because it sort of fails as a romance picture. Given that so much of the screen time has to go towards banging through the fight sequences, you REALLY need the two leads to use the remaining time to convince you that their relationship IS something worth fighting for.

But we never get that, both because there's no time to show them on dates or doing anything really together, and because the performances are both ciphers. This is a movie about a guy fighting to keep a relationship where we almost never get to see that relationship. In the books we see them taking springtime walks, having lunch, joking with each other, basically feeling like a couple so you can understand why he would put himself through this rigmarole to keep her. The movie just doesn't have time to do that, so it's really incumbent on the two leads to sell that stuff in the little time they have, but Cera doesn't have the range. He plays the same note in every scene - I missed the other sides to the character, like the crazy manic grin that BLOM draws him with sometimes. Plus, given that it's a coming-of-age story, it'd be nice for there to be something palpably different about the character at the end of the story than at the beginning, but Cera can't quite sell that.

This thread really captured how I used to post on ILC in 2005. I'm over that now, of course.

― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, December 19, 2012 11:21 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ILC of yesteryear is a minefield, for me, of both cringing and nostalgia. Very proud of my frequent use of ALL CAPS.

It's nice to know I'm just as grumpy as ever. No more, no less. A consistent harrumph.