Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

The second volume, just as fantastic as the first, goes more into depth on Scott's past, especially his past with Kim. In fact, the book opens with the story of how they met and became involved. The main focus on this volume seems to be Scott's love life.

One of the great things about this story is how O'Malley seamlessly integrates video game logic into this world. Evil Exes, once defeated, evaporate and leave coins behind (and sometimes the occasional bonus item). Also, his fourth wall breaks are great! (Scott telling another character they should "read the book some time" when asked about something explained in the last volume).

Again, this whole series is just such a fun read and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Oh Scott, you lovable slacker! Despite being a, unemployed, basement dwelling, part time musician with no visible means of support cool skater chicks and cute high school girls want to throw themselves into the bed you share with your gay roommate.

I like the series, but it is based in a sort of slacker myth that i have never understood. Scott seemingly lives a pretty good life. He doesn't work, spends his time doing things he likes, music, socializing, games, ect; and still has a string of attractive girlfriends. My younger brother could be said to live in a similar way, so I know its possible, I just don't know how someone gets there. And what is the moral of that myth? Is it that hard work and striving are bogus and unnecessary? Or show more is it that being willfully different is kind of attractive? Or is it as simple as that not working gives one more time to meet people? show less

http://andalittlewine.blogspot.com/2012/04/review-of-scott-pilgrim-by-bryan-lee....

There are spoilers here.

From here
Reading Bryan Lee O'Malley's six Scott Pilgrim books (Precious Little Life, vs. the World, & the Infinite Sadness, Gets It Together, vs. the Universe, Finest Hour) has been on my to-do list for a number of years, and they moved into my "read very soon" stack when I read and enjoyed Lost at Sea back in January.

Scott Pilgrim and his friends inhabit a world of magic realism, where their otherwise normal lives are occasionally interrupted by video game style fighting, 1-ups, and intrusions into their dreams. I think of it as a digital-age twist on Watchmen. Where Moore asks, "what would superheroes be like in real life," show more O'Malley pushes at "what would happen if a 23-year-old slacker handled his problems like a character from Street Fighter 2?"

I really enjoyed watching Scott struggle to grow up. He doesn't know what to do with his life, he doesn't know how to be a reliable friend, and he certainly doesn't know how to behave in a relationship. This, of course, doesn't stop him from believing that he is awesome. I especially the moment in the 6th book when he realizes that the way he remembers himself is not how others remember him, when he's forced to confront the fact that his creation myth (how he learned to fight, how he became friends with Kim by beating up a bully and rescuing her) is a lie he's told himself so many times that he believes it. Kim forces him to remember that the kid he beat up was just another nerd, and more importantly, was a person. The world is not divided into friends and enemies; that approach only works in video games and (some lesser) comic books.

O'Malley's artwork is a real treat. Simple, clean lined characters inhabit a richly detailed world. The fullness of the world was reiterated over and over again. Pop-up balloons frequently appear with notes on who's who, what items are laying in the background, what action a character is in the midst of performing. Again, this emphasized the video game spirit of the books, playing to our expectation of unlockable tools and skills, while also serving as a way to make the world more textured (and more dork-tastic).

The framing of the panels was another tastefully handled reminder of just how big Scott Pilgrim's world really is. In comics, framing works just like the framing of a shot on television; it tells us where our attention should focus. Throughout Scott Pilgrim, O'Malley's framing skewed off center, so that the characters (and sometimes even their speech bubbles) would spill off the frame and off the page. What we are given is truly a "window on the world" in the classic sense, allowing us to see but also limiting what we can see. O'Malley's deft framing was one of the first things that stood out to me in Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, and I was thrilled and rewarded to see it continued throughout the series. show less

These books are SO FREAKING FUNNY it almost makes me ANGRY! Man, to write dialogue this way!! How is it so funny!!! I love it!!!! !!!x4!

Probably my favorite is the massive volume of tiny freakouts Scott is constantly having. So funny, and also, so good a way to make him an understandable character. My understanding of him is a lot different now than it was at the start of the first book. I like him this way lots better. Slightly pathetic. Super anxious. Not really a winner. But somehow winning sometimes, by default.

I hope next we learn what's driving Ramona, because I'm still not 100% sure she's worth it. Will probably add another star, once she is.

If volume one was almost completely reproduced in the movie, volume two has plenty of the payout that leads fans of a movie to seek out the book that was its source material. Here we get the back story on Scott's romantic (and musical, and employment) history, and a fantastic kung fu-style face-off between Knives and Ramona, in addition to catching us up to the fight with evil ex number 2.

(Though admittedly, some of the backstory was a little: "what? ...and who was that again? ...and how is this all going to be relevant?" but see, sometimes that's the trouble of watching the movie before reading the books. Impatience for the payoffs you already know are coming...)

This volume also has even more of the almost frictionless flow between show more dreams, reality, and video game/movie style fight sequences. Generally without losing its sense of humor or taking itself too seriously.

Good, fun read. show less

Scott's journey of defeating all of Ramona's evil exes has only just begun and so has his relationship with her. But this league isn't the only thing he has to worry about, as his own ex is back in town with her band: The Clash at Demonhead. As Scott prepares to battle movie star and evil ex #2 Lucas Lee, he grows closer with Ramona and makes a new enemy out of the girl he was fake dating.
This volume actually had a lot of content that didn't end up in either the movie or the anime, and it was cool to catch a glimpse into Scott's high-school life. The afterword for this one was mostly character sketches (which is still cool) but there was a section about the castle featured in the Lucas Lee fight and how they shot on location and stuff show more for the movie. show less

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the second volume in Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series begins with a flashback depicting Scott’s past relationships with Kim and Envy Adams. In the present, he continues to develop his relationship with Ramona Flowers, though his own insecurities begin to get in his way. Wendell tells Scott that he must break up with Knives Chau before things get serious with Ramona. Scott does so, but Knives begins spiraling, leading her to bleach part of her hair and attach Ramona and Scott’s sister, Stacey, in the Toronto Reference Library. Scott confronts Lucas Lee, the second of Ramona’s exes, on a film shoot and manages to dupe him into wiping out on his skateboard so that Scott wins by default. Scott show more demonstrates his ability to properly cook, making more than just garlic bread, and helping to demonstrate his worth to Ramona. Word reaches Scott that his ex, Envy Adams, is in town with her band, The Clash at Demonhead. She invites Scott and his band to open for her, reopening old wounds as their breakup was hard for him. It turns out that Envy’s drummer is the next of Ramona’s exes, setting up the conflict in volume 3. O’Malley continues to write a great story incorporating elements of nerd culture in a time when it was less mainstream as it is now. Some portions of the story show their age, but hold up if one views it as set in the time in which O’Malley published. A good second volume for this series. show less