Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life.
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Scott Pilgrim: Fights, Games and Concrete

Christmas is a time for giving It's also a time for receiving books and games that you previously only gave an interested glance to but couldn't afford (or else couldn't bother hassling the nice PR staff for a review copy). This Christmas was great in regards to clearing up my massive gaming/reading queue; I can never seem to find the money I need to indulge in power reading, which is a totally awesome hobby that will save the world someday, mark my words.

My husband and one of my friends teamed up and bought me all four volumes of the mildly famous Scott Pilgrim series by Bryan Lee O'Malley. Who is Scott Pilgrim? He's a Canadian ninja living in Toronto. <i>What</i> is Scott Pilgrim? It's an indy comic series inspired heavily by manga and video games, making it the ultimate comfort food for those of us raised in an era when Nintendo was more than a hobby we indulged in on rainy days: It was, in fact, something we factored into our daily lives. Reading Scott Pilgrim brings us back to those nostalgic and slightly frightening days.

"Slightly frightening" is a good descriptor for the Scott Pilgrim series. You really don't know where you're going to go next. Volume one alone will expose you to Pilgrim's ill-fated attempt to date a high school girl (Pilgrim himself is 23 years old, though he has trouble remembering his exact date of birth) and a less successful attempt to make his band (Sex Bob-Omb) famous. It's normal stuff until Pilgrim becomes infatuated with Ramona, a mysterious American who is trailed by her seven Evil Exes. Once Ramona's in the picture, anything can happen and it usually does. A subway ride might end with a trip through subspace; a concert might end with a hyper fight for supremacy in the style of Dragon Ball Z. The latter happens quite frequently, as Pilgrim is often forced to defend his honour and life versus Ramona's jealous Exes.

It's all a little strange.

It's also not quite like anything else available, which is sort of nice. Scott Pilgrim predates the current rush of OEL (Original English Language) Manga, which are manga-style stories written and illustrated by non-Japanese natives. Interestingly, Scott Pilgrim debuted with its own flavour, which it has successfully maintained throughout its four-volume run. A lot of published OEL manga tries very hard to assimilate with manga of Japanese origin by sharing themes common to both cultures (school, bullies, stories about magical powers) while using an art style that's cliché to the format--big eyes, small mouths, speedlines, sweat drops, etc. 

Scott Pilgrim's character roster definitely features doe-eyed characters and its story celebrates anime's over-the-top qualities with fun exuberance. What makes the series unique is that the incorporation of the usual clichés really feels like a tribute rather than an attempt to ape what the kids like these days. In fact, every volume of the series contains in-jokes about Canada and/or Toronto, whereas regional jokes are definitely not a large part of typical OEL manga. In fact, Canadian culture is not a large part of any other comic where international publication is concerned because publishers often fear that a Canadian focus will scare away American readers.

This is one instance where said fears are unfounded (other instances being Degrassi High, SCTV and maybe Kids In the Hall, though that show admittedly baffles my American husband); it was my American friends who hassled me into reading Scott Pilgrim. Some of my Canadian friends did as well, though it was the Americans who were more vocal about the endeavor. Oh oh, are we nurturing a stereotype here?

Regardless, a widespread audience is proof of high-quality work: There's something in the Scott Pilgrim series that appeals to everyone, depending on who you are. There's the manga-style fights, the dry humour, the gratuitous video game references that are implemented cleverly enough to avoid association with the same jokes that have been flogged to death by webcomics ("Hey, how come the Princess never sleeps with Mario, LOL?")...It's all good, fun stuff.

Being a Toronto native, I appreciate the city-based jokes best of all…especially since my mind tends to wander in places like the Toronto Reference Library and I imagine things like cool, multi-storey battles breaking out of nowhere. Volume three even addresses the fearsome, oppressive atmosphere that looms around Honest Ed's, a tacky department store in the downtown core. Scott and a rival suddenly break down in the midst of a competition to get through the store--and anyone who's been anywhere near the store can completely accept their writhing pain and confusion.

The humour in the Scott Pilgrim series is instinctive and effortless to absorb. A volume goes by in a flash, though the series stands to be only six or seven volumes long. What will the end bring? Hopefully the city is wrenched off its foundations, maybe a little something like the floating Kingdom of Zeal in Chrono Trigger. It could totally happen.