Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Book Club: Volume 1

  • Share
  • Read Later

GRAEME: I think that Precious Little Life is a really uneven book. It’s not just that it doesn’t take off until the fight with Patel, pretty much at the end, but it kind of staggers from scene to scene without much momentum for the longest time, before that. Maybe that’s intentional – Scott is, after all, a slacker with no clear direction in this book – but it makes for a really disjointed reading experience. Probably also intentional but also sticking out for me on the re-read: Ramona brings all the awesome by herself. Before Scott talks to her when she’s delivering his package (Should I be giving out spoiler warnings? Probably not, but just in case: SPOILERS!), I really don’t feel like there’s any story at all, and then BAM. Everything starts.

(Also with the complaining, even though I REALLY DO LIKE THE BOOK, HONEST: Even when I read the book the first time, the whole “Scott is the best fighter in the province” bit seemed to come out of nowhere. For every single page of the book prior, he seemed like such a loser and suddenly he has superpowers and is awesome and fighty and shit? Does that seem weird to anyone else, or am I just grumpy?)

MIKE: Weirder than Ramona doing deliveries on rollerblades via subspace? After that was revealed to be not just a dream, all bets are off for what’s fair in the rest of the book.

GRAEME: Weird in a different way; I can buy Ramona being weird and different because she’s American, but Scott having super fighting powers that everyone else knows about, and he’s known as the best fighter in the province makes Scott’s world seem much less… I don’t know, normal? I find it strangely easier to deal with “The world is normal until Ramona brings all manner of craziness into it” than “Ramona is as crazy as everything else,” for some reason.

(More on Techland: Marvel Names Heroes’ Loeb As TV Czar)

DOUGLAS: It works for me, for a couple of reasons. One is that increasingly crazy stuff has been happening over the course of the volume, and this is just another surprise for comedic effect. The other is that of course Scott’s a “great fighter”: he clearly spends so much time playing video games that that’s the lens through which he experiences everything, and “defeating the evil exes” is another way of saying “getting over his jealousy about Ramona’s past relationships.” Matthew Patel is somebody she kissed once in seventh grade; he’s no threat at all. Gideon–she’s maybe still actually involved with. Which is why he’s the “final boss,” right?

CHRISTINE: I like how the fight scene essentially begins with Scott saying, “Guys, get off the stage.” He was prepared to play a few tunes with Sex Bob-omb, but now Scott is really ready to perform. Besides his bumbling pursuit of Ramona, this is one of the rare moments in the series when Scott takes ownership of a situation. Even his first kiss with Knives was initiated by the high schooler. But here, on stage with Patel, he’s not just reacting–he’s acting. We can finally use “Scott Pilgrim” and “hero” in the same sentence without also using the words “is not a.”

Just before the song/dance/fight sequence, Ramona sees Knives kissing Scott, which results in the name tag: “Ramona V. Flowers; Age: Unknown; Status: Scott is an idiot.” Just after the fight, Ramona makes out with Scott and lays down the premise of the next 5 volumes. But I don’t buy it. I know Ramona is not your Average Woman, but I don’t think she’d be cool with jumping on a guy who is making out with another girl–a high schooler, no less. Perhaps I’m making this analysis a tad retrospectively, in light of Ramona’s (SPOILER WORD) jealousy in Vol. 4. Then again, perhaps Ramona is simply more invested in Scott and their relationship in Vol. 4 than she is at the end of Vol. 1.

(More on Techland: Wonder Woman: All the Anniversaries)

MIKE: The standout scene in this book for me is the party where Scott first speaks to Ramona. The first interaction is incredibly awkward, and both parties know it straight off the bat. The following pages, where he begins his Flowers Investigation, are extremely relatable. Everything from the not-so-covert stalking to the shakedowns of suspects who might know something about her.

After they get together (subspace sequences aside), it feels forced until the chemistry takes over. It’s his initial courtship that rings true. The plotting involved with the Amazon order. The pleading. This is how smitten young men behave. Especially ones who endear themselves to the reader through pure infantile behavior.

Having said all that, I was instantly turning pages in this book, even with the whimper of a start. There was no question I was going to plow through the whole thing in one sitting (not that that is a real feat, but still). The looseness of the pencil work didn’t bother me the first time through but, like Graeme, I really notice it now. It’s a bit like the first archives in a long running web comic. O’Malley finding a voice.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3