I would be the first to admit that I wanted the Scott Pilgrim movie to fail, and not suprisingly, it apparently did. While costing $60 million to make it only made $47 million worldwide. Why did I have such a hostility towards it? It was for a number of reasons. First, it seemed like all the "pretty" fake nerd fangirls and fanboys were creaming in their jeans, almost willing me to accept the movie's coolness before it had even come out. Secondly, if there is such a thing as fake hype, Scott Pilgrim Saves the World was completely permeated with it. The movie trailers tried to make it look cool and hip to cool and hip people, a race of scum which I live to hate. To me, it just looked stupid. I could see exactly what buttons it was trying to push. And guess what? I said "NO", get behind me you geekfan Satan! The final nail in the coffin of any prospective viewing of the movie was the casting of the eunuch Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim. The guy just strikes me as character actor, who, as he ages, will turn into an even more screwed up version of Pee Wee Herman. I'm a complete nerd and just looking at that guy makes me think "Man, I'd like to punch that nerd right in the face!" You just know the guy has no future in the movie industry. But even though I had to find my way through this cloud of hate, I decided to give the comic a chance.
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life is, at its heart, a love story. When the first volume opens, Scott (23) is dating a 17-year-old high schooler named Knives Chau. But he doesn't really know WHY he is dating her. It's not like he's sexing her up or anything. They haven't even kissed. It's almost like he goes out with her simply because she's there. In the meantime, he's jamming on bass with his band, Sex Bomb, getting a gig here and there. Scott has a cool Rickenbacker guitar, but I wouldn't really call Sex Bomb record deal material. But then he has a dream. A goggled girl roller blades up to him in a lonely desert and tells him he isn't alone. Scott would have probably written this off as some Freudian ache of isolation but he sees the girl of his dreams delivering an Amazon package at his local library. Then he sees her at a party. The girl is real, and her name is Ramona Flowers. Added bonus? She's single! Their first encounter doesn't goes south pretty fast, but then he meets her again by ordering something from Amazon. She agrees to go out with him and so begins a love story that will reverberate through the ages! (one quick note: Ramona fails to tell Scott that in order for them to date, he will have to defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends).
I wasn't expecting a lot from this book, but was pleasantly surprised to find that I really enjoyed reading it. It took a bit to get used to O'Malley's art. It's hard to tell whether he's just a poor artist or whether his art is a result of his choosing a particular cartoonish style. I do like the fact that he's so heavy handed with his ink and stays away from screen tone. His art, though crude, is perfect for what he's doing. Sometimes, if your art is too cartoony, it's hard to take the characters seriously. This was never a problem with volume 1. I felt that the characters were real, especially the scenes where Scott and Ramona are alone with each other. O'Malley does a good job of conveying the attraction and growing sense of destiny between the two characters. I also have to say that volume 1 was really funny. O'Malley never gets on my nerves like so many other writers that make young people into deep thinking philosophers that ultimately sound so fake. Scott is just trying to live his life the best he can, and just happens to be surrounding by some pretty interesting characters. I'm definitely going to keep reading this series. Hell, I might even end up watching the movie. But I have even more reservations about it now. I just don't think this comic can be readily transferred to a film. It would need more of a tv series slow boil.
My Grade: A
You can view a 34 page preview of volume 1 at: http://www.onipress.com/previews/h/182
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life Volume 1
By Bryan Lee O'Malley
Published by Oni Press, $11.99
Rated Teen 13+
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