“Uh... No. The other L-word.”
Scott Pilgrim met the literal girl of his dreams at the public library... with his current girlfriend.
Stories by Bryan Lee O'Malley ooze style which, throughout this series, aids one in learning to love unlikable characters who keep making mistakes. What is cool is how O’Malley’s pop-culture inspiration bleeds through the setting and his characters, such as the many fictional bands. The side-cast is well used and developed while experiencing and dealing with change in contrasting ways to Scott’s going from sleeping all day to holding a job.
Plus, everybody likes (to hate) each other, so they act awkward and cute in ways that make these six books fun to read in silly yet dramatic ways.
“Happy birthday, baby.”
It felt great to review this series, not only because its setting is Toronto Ontario and characters ride the TTC, not just because of the recent resurgence of the fandom thanks to the movie's anniversary, the game's rerelease and the upcoming Netflix series, and not only because of the stories my best friends and I have relating to Scott and Ramona; it felt great because of how this comic book saga had brought me and April together in an Indigo Chapters’ Starbucks of a Walmart strip mall in the neighbouring suburbs where we grew up, and how it still continues to bring us closer to this day.
“But if you keep forgetting your mistakes, you’ll just keep making them again!”
Scott Pilgrim’s awesome; he ignores his problems because he has no problems, all he needs to do is beat Ramona Flowers’ seven evil exes and everything will be okay... Right? This mindset led to Scott splitting his psyche and forming a Nega-version of himself, which forced him to learn about accepting his mistakes instead of ignoring them, about moving on and about deciding to try again instead of giving up. The story explores this via Gideon Graves’ emotional manipulation through the League, him abusing the lonely with technology reminiscent of social media, and the social-taboo legalities of Scott dating a seventeen-year-old Canadian while struggling to cope with past relationships.
“Is this something they don’t teach in Canadian schools?”
The twist on Ramona leaving Scott for Gideon was great because of the expectations set by the movie. Character interactions are more fleshed out in the comic, feeling a lot more natural and less awkward; while that may seem like a given, it is because of the development of the subspace concept in later volumes rather than a difference in medium. Gideon had made the glow to wage emotional warfare, while Ramona was using the glow to travel through subspace, through Scott’s head, and had found a way to just vanish into subspace using the glow; subspace was the “way of getting inside my head... literally.”
The extras at the end of each coloured edition complete the entire package while unifying ideas with the rest of the franchise.
“Is that seriously the end of the story?”
What I think the best part about this graphic novel series is Ramona's genuine effort in loving Scott and her ability to take care of herself. Scott's own difficulty with change will continue to resonate with people who are unwilling to care for themselves, who are being cared for by others, and who are loved but who may unnecessarily dislike themselves.
Thank you for reading.
Allen W. McLean
PS. April and I had a great weekend in Niagara Falls for her birthday. Check out the music video for "Where Giants Grow" (on YouTube and at the end of this post) to see some of the footage we both took during our trip.
PPS. July is the first anniversary of "Escape Perennial City" so come snag the ebook version for $0.99 if you have yet to do so, until July 22nd 2022! https://amazon.com/Escape-Perennial-City-Allen-McLean-ebook/dp/B09944K8CS/
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Also available to read on;
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These poems will be collected in a future edition of the HaikuPrajna Collection.
Stay tuned to HaikuPrajna and Electric Armchair for book previews, mindful meditation haiku \ scifaiku poetry from my metaphysical and magical realism stories (like the sci-fi superhero novel "Escape Perennial City", available on Kindle Unlimited) and more Alchemic Wisdom via our emailing list and social media over here: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/follow-on-social-media.html - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19557396.Allen_W_McLean
Each week, you can collect an ebook on Free Fridays! All one needs is an Amazon account! Kindle ebooks can be read on any device through one's web browser at https://read.amazon.com - Selection rotates every few weeks; collect them all! https://www.amazon.com/Allen-W-McLean/e/B0867C5D24
If anyone reading this needs followers to stay in the Medium Partner Program, I am asking you to please follow me (and sign up for emails!) and I'll follow you back! Thanks to you guys, I've reached 100 followers! “Hector Blake” is free to read online alongside book reviews and articles: https://haikuprajna.medium.com
April's latest psychedelic music, videos, art and poetry is available on all streaming platforms.
Electric Armchair - Where Giants Grow: https://open.spotify.com/track/3EsjL7Fsu8YYBnzxFgYPwB
"Fishing for Caribou" eBook, paperback and hardcover are available through Amazon Kindle apps and devices, and with Kindle Unlimited; previews and more: https://haikuprajna.blogspot.com/p/spear-thrower.html
Read on any device at https://read.amazon.com or on your Kindle device/app!
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