2006-08-24 - 3:30 p.m. - Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness, by Bryan Lee O'Malley
The third volume of Scott Pilgrim more or less continues in the vein of the first two - but I haven't written about them, and this is a series that deserves all the praise it can get, so here we go.
Scott Pilgrim speaks to me. It's the only comic I've ever read, and one of the very few works of fiction generally, that I've actually felt captures me and the kind of people I know. The rhythms of bohemian life on the verge between cool and geeky are here, and the details are all spot-on: the rhythms of the dialogue, the clothes, the fine but important distinctions between different layers of hipsters and nerds - with the lovably panicky (but ultimately hunky) Scott occupying a position at the midpoint between the diabolically careerist and snotty Envy Adams, and the hopelessly teenaged Knives Chau.
What's especially amazing about this series is how it manages to do all this through styles and genre conventions that are normally tremendous turnoffs. A "manga influence" and video game references are usually the kiss of death for any kind of comic. But O'Malley has synthesized a style of his own, vaguely descendent from manga tropes but just as much informed by twee indie comics generally (see Craig Thompson for example). Despite the simplicity of his character designs, he manages to wrench considerably emotion from them, mainly through brilliant use of atmospheric effects, worry lines, and other impressionistic characterization effects that sidestep the shortage of lines in the characters' actual faces. As for the video game references, they work because they are an unforced part of Scott's milieu; the characters themselves think they're no big deal and feel no need to linger on them or make jokes out of them - save points, one-ups, and evil bosses are just the facts of life.
All that said, Infinite Sadness stumbles somewhat. The climax involves one too many deus ex machina (even the characters notice this); meanwhile, this volume's evil boss, a dopey lug granted psychic powers through veganism, is a bit of a mis-step. The vegan joke is funny but the attempts to flesh it out frankly don't make sense. Neither does the early battle at Honest Ed's, in which the bad guy is overwhelmed by....what? I was left doubling back to see if I'd missed a caption somewhere that would explain everything.
But the main story of this volume isn't really Scott's battle with Todd, but his attempts to come to grips with the fact that his once-nice ex-girlfriend gradually morphed into a total bitch, and has now returned as a genuine villain. This side of things plays perfectly to O'Malley's strengths, as once again, he gets all the details right in how their relationship progressed and how conflicted about it Scott is now. Ramona, Scott's current girlfriend, also shines in this department. The way she juggles frustration with Scott's denseness, outrage at the ex's cruelty, and delight in finding others who dislike her is, once again, precisely on-the-money.
That's all I really have to say. This is really a great series, a perfect fusion of the "I wish these were my highjinks!" feeling of something like Ranma 1/2 and the world I actually know, understand, and live in. Also, it only takes like an hour to read these. Go check it out already.