By Keigen Rea — I recently decided to re-read Scott Pilgrim, one of the most important comics seres of the 2000s, complete with its own cult film adaptation and…uh…its own an even more cult video game adaption. I decided to reread this comic — written and drawn by Bryan Lee O’Malley — in the newest format, that being the one that was colored by Nathan Fairbairn. Originally published in 2004 and perhaps now best-known as Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, this felt like an ideal comic for a ValentineS Day reread feature.

Why Scott Pilgrim?

For one, Scott Pilgrim came immediately to mind when I was asked if I could do a rereads feature that was love-focused, even if Scott Pilgrim is not the most romantic comic. Really though, Scott Pilgrim is a weird part of my own comic-reading history. Put simply, I’m not sure I’d even be reading comics today without it existing, but I also don’t entirely love these comics when I think back on them.

There’s a direct line from me seeing the film, however, and me writing this. Scott Pilgrim as a film made me understand that comics aren’t just about Batman. No, they can be about video games and growing up and all manner of other topics. It was still a little bit after I saw the film, that I got into comics — and even longer before I actually read Scott Pilgrim itself — but it made comics as a medium more approachable. If this thing I loved was based on a comic, then I must love comics! I’ve read manga most of my life, but Scott Pilgrim was the story that showed me I could also love Western comics.

My love of the film, however, didn’t directly translate to the comic. I liked it fine, I enjoyed reading it, but it was not the definitive version of the story for me...or at least, all these later I’ve never thought about it that way. But maybe that will change with this re-read!

My History With Scott Pilgrim: Pre Re-Read Thoughts

The first time I read these comics, I was 18. Now I’m reading it at 25. So, when I first read it I was years younger than the main cast, and now I’m just baaaaarely older than them. Huh.

Scott Pilgrim Comics

Okay, so upon re-reading, I don’t like the first newly-colored volume much at all. I mean, it’s okay; it’s whatever. It’s fine, but it’s so soooooo close to the film, which is my definitive version of the story. Where that’s concerned, I still like the film more, and I maybe straight up dislike the book in its introductory stretch. The maybe is largely because the conversation between Scott and Envy in the series is soooooo good.

That specific double page spread as well as the following nine-panel-grids are worth reading the whole book, even if like myself, it leaves you feeling like you’re experiencing a lesser version of the story. Or at least this part of the story. Because the rest of the series? It’s real good.

The women in the cast are particularly great, especially in relation to the film, which does none of them justice. Ramona in these comics is actually allowed to be a character, and I especially like how awful she’s allowed to be. Obviously Scott is worse, but the books do a better job highlighting her bad behavior in regards to the exes and to Scott. It adds a more authenticity and a deeper dynamic.

Envy and Kim though, are wonderful, working together to act as thematic mirrors that show Scott’s awfulness and progress through the series. Where Envy shows who hurt Scott, Kim shows a person hurt by Scott. Where Envy joins the exes who want revenge, Kim is attacked and put in danger by that same group. Scott is haunted by the idea of Envy returning to his life, while Kim is just kind of there, ignored.

Apart from that, Envy represents one of my favorite themes in these comics: change. In many ways, the series is about how we have to change, how we will change, and how resistance has the potential to make you change more. Envy acts as a sort of nega-Scott in this way, controlling her own change, choosing what she wants to become and leaning into it while Scott just lazily stands in place for years.

Of course, neither of them is a good person at this point, but at least Envy knows it. At least she became something as opposed to being terrified of doing anything.

Still, upon re-read my favorite part of the series remains when Kim forgives Scott. Kim is unique in the series, in that she’s a prominent ex that doesn’t want Scott and/or Ramona to die. Her friendship with both is key to the themes of growth in the series, both by showing herself being more or less “over” Scott, and also by acting to help Scott become a better person.

Scott apologizing for “being him” is a great moment, and it could only really happen with Kim. Her being an ex makes it all land perfectly. What’s more is that this could have easily felt like it was all in service of Scott (that’s how the film’s version of this scene goes) but because Kim is fleshed out, it comes off much more like two people who are coming to better understand each other. It works!

Final Re-Read Verdict

This is was a weirdly mixed re-reading experience for me. On one hand, I totally liked it more than the first time I read these comics. On the other, I still really didn’t like the first volume, remaining as it does to my mind a lesser version of the story told in the film. Overall, I’ll call this one a win though, because I do love everything that comes after, and I love it a whole bunch more than the first time through.

Thanks for reading, and join me next time for a super pride, for both you and me!

Scott Pilgrim
Writer/Artist: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn
Publisher: Oni Press
Full color! Scott Pilgrim's life is totally sweet. He's 23 years old, in a rock band, "between jobs," AND dating a cute high school girl. Everything's fantastic until a seriously mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruising through his dreams and sailing by him at parties. Will Scott's awesome life get turned upside-down? Will he have to face Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends in battle? Short answer: yes. Long answer: Scott Pilgrim, Volume 1.
Buy It Digitally: Scott Pilgrim Comics

Keigen Rea inhales through his nose and exhales through his mouth. He sips some Thai iced tea. He thinks about Star Wars. He wrote this. Find him @prince_organa writing other things.