Reblogged from Geek to Geek Media!

Check out my previous review of Vol1: “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life” here!

While a good chunk of Vol 1 made up most of the first act of the movie, Vol 2: “Scott Pilgrim vs The World” really has a chance to delve into some of the characters and their relationships in a way that Edgar Wright’s film adaptation isn’t able to, due to time constraints – which is pretty common for film adaptations and is often why most books are considered better than the movie. This is really where Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels begin to shine!

Scott Pilgrim vs High School

We start with a flashback: Scott Pilgrim in high school, in Ontario, where he meets a girl named Lisa, outside of the Principal’s office, immediately after a fight. It seems as though she has a crush on him, but he appears to be completely oblivious, per usual. The two friends decide to start a band together called “Sonic & Knuckles”. Soon after, Scott meets Kim Pine and they decide to make her their drummer. Scott confides in Lisa that he likes Kim, but before he can make a move, she randomly gets kidnapped by some jerks from a rival tech school!

In true video game fashion, Scott fights his way through wave after wave of enemies until he reaches ‘the boss’, atop the school, right as storm clouds roll in. The two have an epic throw down and Scott uppercuts the guy into the atmosphere. Ultimately, Scott saves Kim and they have an awkward exchange that feels straight out of some dumb heroic dream: “I didn’t know who’d rescue me from that maniac, but I secretly hoped it would be you Scott.” “I like you, Kim. We should be dating. Also, do you want to play drums in my band?” “YES, SCOTT! OH, YES!!” It’s so bad, it’s hilarious. It definitely plays up some outdated tropes (the princess is in another castle), but it’s cute and it seems to be self aware enough to know how ridiculous it all is. This whole chapter really reinforces that Scott is the hero of his own story, but we’re clearly only seeing it through his POV.