Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim returns in this second installment of his quirky, action-packed romance graphic novel series, and his troubles are far from over. The story opens with a flashback to Scott's high school days, when he was new to school and became friends with Kim, the current drummer of their band, Sex-Bob-omb. He rescues her from some psychopathic bullies, and they began dating.

Cut to the present, as Scott's roommate Wallace threatens that if Scott doesn't break up with Knives, his high-school girlfriend he was seeing when he fell in love with Ramona in the last book, Wallace is going to tell Ramona about her. Scott genuinely likes Knives, and he is a non-confrontational sort of guy. But he really, really doesn't want Ramona to know about her, and in a hilarious but pathos-filled scene, Scott finally tells Knives they can't be together anymore.

Knives turns out not to be the timid, compliant girl she appears to be, and her fury and bitterness at the end of the relationship spur her to take some drastic measures, particularly when she sees Scott with Ramona and realizes what has happened. My favorite scene of the entire book is when Knives stages a surprise ninja attack on Ramona in the Toronto Reference Library. Meanwhile, the second of Ramona's evil ex-boyfriends whom Scott must defeat arrives in town. He turns out to be a famous actor and former pro skater, a formidable opponent - but to compound Scott's troubles, his ex-girlfriend calls. She needs an opening band to replace once that canceled, and she's wondering if Sex Bob-omb would like to play. It is clear that Scott has yet to recover from that relationship, but until we see him huddled and trembling on the floor in the wake of her phone call, it becomes evident that he has a ways to go before he can put the relationship behind him.

I find it difficult to articulate what it is about this series that has me hooked. I love the quirky quality - you never know just where it's going to go, and it's fresh and surprising. The relationships among the characters are portrayed so well, through the bold, energetic illustrations as well as the dialogue, and there is an emotional resonance present that is not typical of many graphic novels. The social commentary is there, but it's clever and understated, and the humor is often sneaky and surprising. Readers who are looking for something different, something that will make them think and laugh, will be sure to enjoy this series.

Books in the Scott Pilgrim series:
1. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
2. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
3. Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
4. Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (#2 in the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series) by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni Press, 2005)

Also reviewed at:
A Book a Week: "The art is simple, attractive, and easy to follow. It's set in Toronto and spends a surprising amount of time in recognizable Toronto libraries, so I would love it for that alone. But the story and the characters don't need any help. They've got me hooked."
Painted Smiles; Written Words: "The characters really are nothing short of adorable, but that doesn’t stop the series from having some fantastically dynamic action shots. And it’s a mixture of detailed and stylized backgrounds and surroundings that moves the story from the real world, surreal in varying degrees, to what feels like an epic video game."

This is cross-posted at my blog, Books and Other Thoughts.

Mr. Wonderful by Daniel Clowes

Oops, forgot to cross-post this here on Tuesday. Sorry about that!

Ah ha, success! I have FINALLY read a graphic novel from my list! No need for applause, gentle reader. I’m merely performing the bare minimum required of me. Given that I took up the lofty mantle of Major level participation (twelve books), I’m not doing a very good job in this challenge.

I blame society.

Anyway! The first graphic novel to get crossed off is Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes. I’ve read a lot of his work and when I found this FREE online graphic novel, I was happy to add it to the list. Not only is it a quick read, but it’s awesome, just like all of Clowes’ print books.

Clowes’ writes and draws the mundane in a delightfully weird fashion. From the snobby outsider Enid Coleslaw in Ghost World to the thoughtful pick-up artist David Boring, Clowes’ characters are unique in that they don’t strive to be anything more than regular people.

In Mister Wonderful we meet Marshall, a middle-aged divorced guy waiting for his blind date in a café. The graphic novel runs twenty chapters long and spans the course of his date with Natalie and the morning after.

See? Clowes writes the mundane, but manages to make it interesting! The dialogue is snappy and modern and the pictures are typical Clowes—colourful crosshatched image of regular people. The difference is that onscreen they are vibrant. The colours really pop. While I’m not a fan of reading regular books on the computer, Mister Wonderful is easy on the eyes.

Clowes is also a master at making the image fit with the words. For instance, when Natalie discloses to Marshall that her last relationship fell apart after she told her boyfriend she wanted a baby. Her boyfriend’s reaction was a derisive laugh. Clowes draws this laugh, filling Natalie’s apartment with the big block letters HAHA. The laughter haunts her.

Great graphic novel by a stellar writer and artist. I highly recommend Mister Wonderful. It doesn’t take long to read, and it’s a great introduction to Clowes’ work if you’ve never read anything else by him. One thing to note if you plan on reading this, the New York Times posted the conclusion first for some odd reason. Skip the first link and go straight to chapter one. Unfortunately, I read the conclusion first so I had a sense of where the story was going.

Rating: Four stars