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Tuesday, 26 December 2006 14:31 |
| | David Forbes |
In the past year, Iëve read a lot of books and graphic novels, on top of countless magazines, essays and articles. But I donët think Iëve read anything like Bryan Lee OëMalleyës "Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness" (Oni Press, 192 pp. $11.95).
Oh sure, Iëve read things that were deeper and more relevant to the overall state of the nation, world or universe. Iëve read things that were more eloquent and more sophisticated.
But itës been a long time since Iëve read anything this fun.
An
absolutely brilliant and riotous (literally at some points) riff on
love, lust, music, fighting, video games and whatever else pops into
its fevered little mind, the result is pure energetic delight.
A Canadian
cartoonist, OëMalley mostly made his way as an artist for various
independent comics until the comic/romance "Lost at Sea," published in
2003. The next year, he began the Scott Pilgrim series, of which this
is the third and most recent volume.
I had flipped
through the other two installments ("Scott Pilgrimës Precious Little
Life" and "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World") and been amused, but not
impressed to the point of picking them up. Good word of mouth motivated
me to do otherwise with this volume. Iëm glad I listened.
 Scott Pilgrim is
a 23-year-old bass player in Toronto, perpetually between jobs. He
begins dating Ramona, an emigre from New York and Amazon.com delivery
girl.
Thereës just one
problem ÇƒÏ she has seven ex-boyfriends, all of them evil, and Scott must
fight and defeat them, video-game boss style, before he and Ramona can
live happily ever after.
In this volume,
he faces her third ex, Todd Ingram, who derives amazing mental powers
from the fact that he is ... a vegan. This allows OëMalley to work in
some sly satire, as Todd relates that the most important thing about
being vegan "is to remember that youëre better than most people."
But thereës a
twist: Envy, Scottës ex, is now dating Todd. Furthermore, sheës also
the lead singer of The Clash at Demonhead, a wildly successful band. Oh
yeah, and sheës evil, too.
Throw all this
into a blender and youëve got the plot. Along the way, a department
store gets levelled, thereës repeated breaking of the "fourth wall"
between the comic and the reader ("Oh come on, this conversationës
already taken up a quarter of the book," one character exclaims.),
thereës manipulation, heartbreak, flashbacks and then everything ends
in an extremely satisfying showdown, complete with combative bass
playing.
Those in love
with video games, role-playing games or Japanese animation will
particularly enjoy "Scott Pilgrim." The references to those genres are
multiple and the art is in a cartoonish anime style. But these never
bog the story down and I think the appeal and sense of fun is universal.
The only
drawback to the book is that its large ensemble cast can sometimes grow
a little bit unwieldy. While generally reading very well by itself,
there are moments when the main plot skips off on some noticable
tangents that probably wonët be of interest to anyone who hasnët read
the entire series. This is a minor flaw, but OëMalley could have stood
either to cut some of these parts out or include some handy, brief
intros to more of the supporting characters.
Overall though, itës still huge fun with good characterization.
Scott is a
lovable sort of everyman and his friends (and enemies) a colorful bunch
in their own right. But even in a fantasia this extreme, OëMalley
manages to bring the souls of the characters down to earth. By the end,
the reader can even sympathize to some degree with the villainous Envy,
despite rooting for the main characters to prevail. That he manages
such depth with an extremely simple art style while still making the
whole ride enjoyable is no small accomplishment.
Yes, this may be
a world where girls pull huge magical hammers from tiny handbags and
people try to rush to "save points" before their evil ex-girlfriends
walk into the room, but OëMalley knows his way around romantic
complications well enough to put quite a bit of emotion and even pathos
into the characters and their struggles.
After all, young
love already tends to be chaotic and absurdist, so explosive martial
arts showdowns and marauding vegans tearing down buildings with their
minds isnët really that big a stretch.
This is a medium
tailor-made for letting the imagination run wild ÇƒÓ and OëMalley is
gleefully trying to find how far he can push the boundaries. I wish him
luck ÇƒÓ and Iëll be picking up the next installment as soon as it comes
out.
ï
David Forbes, who writes book reviews and covers news for the Daily Planet, may be contacted at marauderAVL-at-hotmail.com.
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