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Scott Pilgrim

Author: Bryan Lee O’Malley

Volumes: 6 (Also available in color)

Publisher: Oni Press [click HERE for Amazon complete edition page]

Scott Pilgrim is problematic, he is written to be a flawed and ignorant character in need of major character growth, he is not the main character as a form of idolisation, and very much serves as a lesson to all young adults as to how not to be. For different reasons entirely you can also say the same about Ramona.

At surface level, Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim is just teenage life and pop culture references, but go a layer or so deeper, and you have possibly one of the greatest coming of age stories of our millennial generation.

Every time I come back to it, I find there’s still just as much charm to all the cast that there was back when I was fresh to the whole thing. You probably already know the story; Scott is a young adult struggling with the fallout from his last relationship and is dating a high school girl, Knives Chau.

During this, he falls in love with Ramona Flowers, leading to Scott, for a considerable amount of time, juggling the two. Although it’s made crystal clear which of the two Scott would rather be with, Scott is also tasked with fighting Ramona’s 7 evil X’s in order to keep her.

There’s really a bit of everything, from the band that Scott plays bass in (Sex Bob-omb), to his more than a little shaky housing situation as he rejects the grim reality he’s faced with, Scott Pilgrim’s core theme is all about dropping ignorance, and discovering self awareness, self love, and respect for others.

It’s a genuine joy to see each character grow, to see Scott himself go from being absorbed in a reality that is anything but real, to somebody who faces their problems head on. I feel like at the time I first experienced Scott Pilgrim, I too was learning a lot of life lessons from it all.