DXS Machina

Comic books: Scott Pilgrim

Posted: 02/28/2006 in category: [News] [ Suggested Items] - [Permalink]

The page for My Muse will probably be late and may show up on Thursday as work is kicking my ass. Instead here’s someone else’s work that I enjoy.

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life: This comic rocks! I’ve been sort of following this guy’s art for awhile now as he’s been working his way through the comic field. I think I first noticed him either from his heavy brush stroked art in the comic “Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero” (also put out by Oni Press) or from the random pictures on the net at places like Go Gaia (now Gaia Online) and the wonderful free comics he has up on his website: http://www.radiomaru.com/.

Some of his comics on his site were in blue and never finished but there was something about them that made me hope to see more.

Scott Pilgrim is the second Original graphic novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley to be released by Oni Press. This is not counting the work he did on Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero which was also released as a graphic collecting the 4 issue comic mini series. O’Malley’s first work was a one shot graphic novel called “Lost At Sea“.

While I love manga influence, what I love even more is seeing a personal style. Something that is much more then the sum of a few years of loving anime or Bruce Tim, or super-heroes. And O’Malley has a personal style that really shines far past the footprint of his influences. While rough on the edges and stroked with a quick brush sweep there is an energy and life to the art that draws me into the characters.

The main character Scott Pilgrim is currently dating a high schooler until he meets this mysterious girl who skates through his dreams. When she turns out to be real Scott faces a real dilemma. The story is oddly a mixture of slice of life and fantasy and video game references but it works really well. The characters feel real and yet fantastical, breaking the fourth wall and even sometimes referencing the book itself. But you are pulled along into their world and their struggles. Also it’s really funny.

Heh, I’m not actually sure what else to say about this comic. But I really really like it a lot. Possibly more then any other comic book in the last 3 years. There’s not that many comics that I truly look forward to as much as I do this one.

So far there are two books out in this series and the artist is currently working on #3. The first book is: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life. The second book is: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World. And the third book should be: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness.

O’Malley’s website: http://www.radiomaru.com/
His LJ: http://www.livejournal.com/users/destroyerzooey/
Scott Pilgrim site, which explains the story better then me: http://www.scottpilgrim.com/

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