After a short flashback to how Scott started his band Sex Bomb it's on to the most serious problem in his current life. Namely, what should he do about his besotted high school girlfriend Knives Chau. Is really ready for slightly psychotic reaction, and more importantly, is Ramona Flowers prepared to duke it out in the name of her love(?). Thankfully, O'Malley isn't going to make Scott be the only one having to resort to old 1970s kung fu stunts in this relationship. Scott also gets introuduced to evil ex-boyfriend #2, Lucas Lee, a semi-famous movie star stud. He also finds out that the ex-boyfriends have organized themselves into "The League of Ramona's Evil Ex-Boyfriends"! So far they have just come at him one at a time. What happens if they decide to come en masse? Scott would be in big trouble.
I have to say that after some initial reservations about this series due to my abhorrence of Michael Cera and the overhyped freak show that was the run-up to the Scott Piligrim movie, I have begun to love these books. It's always easy for me to like a book, movie, or comic where the main protagonist is struggling and poor. It's what first sucked me into Cowboy Bebop years ago. Mainly because that situation was mine for most of my life. But Scott isn't letting his financial situation bring him down, even if he has to mooch of his gay best friend for everthing. He doesn't even have a bed to call his own. In fact, I think you could say that Scott spends most of his time getting to know Ramona and sorta trying to move his band up in the music world. One of those pursuits has a future (hint: it doesn't have a bass guitar in it).
A lot has been made about the influence of manga on O'Malley's art, but I don't see it. And while I'm at it, I think the art in this second volume is a lot better than the first. O'Malley's art remains a bit crude, but its technique is noticeably cleaner, more refined, and more consistent in overall quality. If there is any manga influence I would say it's more in the realm of plot than art. O'Malley can go for over 100 pages of slice of life relationship storytelling. Then he throws down a knock down dragout fight between Ramona and Knives that makes the battle sequences in The Matrix look like playing a game of patty cake. Manga has this habit of throwing elements of total ridiculousness and surrealism into very normal stories. So I think a US comic book reader might run into some snags reading Scott Pilgrim that a manga reader would be more open to. I look forward to the next book in this epic saga.
My Grade: A
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Volume 2
By Bryan Lee O'Malley
Published by Oni Press, $11.99
Rated Teen 13+
You can view a 32-page preview at: http://www.onipress.com/previews/h/183
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