Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
by Bryan Lee O'Malley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1 / 9781932664089
I actually came to the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels after having watched and enjoyed the movie, "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World". I'm really pleased and surprised at how much the movie closely follows the first volume, and how so many of the actors really nailed their parts.
Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1 covers the span of time from the initial "Scott Pilgrim is dating a high schooler!" announcement to the fight with Matthew Patel and the ride home afterwards. In that time period, the volume ranges widely over a variety of fun and thoughtful topics, ranging from the deep and meaningful (Scott is between jobs, between girls, and pretty much a total mess; Ramona seems to have more drive and ambition but is really emotionally in a very similar place) to the fun and fluffy (video game references abound, and Scott has a homemade "X" patch on his jacket and claims to have gone to "Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters).
I love the artwork of this volume. Even in B&W and the very "cartoony" art style, the facial expressions and vocal inflections of the characters really come across very clearly to the reader. As simple as the art seems to be at first glance, there are always a ton of tiny details in the background -- lettering on papers and bottles, and hilarious little subtitles and messages from the author. The only downside is that some of these messages are REALLY little and people with less-than-perfect eyesight may have to dig out a magnifying glass from time to time.
If you liked the movie, give Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1 a chance to impress you, and I'm fairly certain you'll come away loving it. Later volumes diverge from the movie quite a bit (or perhaps it's more accurate to say that the movie diverges from the later volumes), but once you're hooked on Scott Pilgrim, you'll want to see what happens to him in either continuity.
~ Ana Mardoll
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