Scott Pilgrim Vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe (5) Hardcover – August 13, 2014

Once upon a time, a comic artist named Bryan Lee O'Malley did a comic series around a central character named Scott Pilgrim. That comic series got made into a movie called Scott Pilgrim Vs The World. The movie was not bad, but was definitely worth seeing if only because it made me want to read the comic series it was based on. And I'm here now to tell you that O'Malley's original series is awesome. It's also almost impossible to describe, but I'll give it my best shot and say it's original, it's funny, it's way surreal, and it's probably unlike anything you've ever read.On the surface, the plot arc of the six-volume series is centered around Scott Pilgrim, a twenty-something game-playing slacker in a Canadian garage band, who meets the girl of his dreams (literally) and finds he must defeat her seven evil ex-es if he wants to date her. But like an iceberg, the surface only hints at everything that lies beneath.Scott Pilgrim Vs The Universe is the fifth volume in the series. The cast of returning characters include:Scott Pilgrim, a wide-eyed and likeable but perpetually clueless 23-year-old slacker who's in a garage band called Sex Bob-omb. Who, in this volume, has a birthday. ("Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. I, Scott Pilgrim, will be the best 24-year-old... _ever_!")Ramona Flowers, a roller-blading delivery girl for Amazon.ca and the girl of Scott's dreams. ("You and _her_?!" "Oh, relax. It was a phase.")Knives Chau, his 17-year-old Chinese former sort-of girlfriend who still has a major crush on him. ("I've kissed the lips that've kissed you!!!")Wallace Wells, his cool but boy-crazy gay roommate. ("Mobil? He's at a business thing on the astral plane. But he left his body for me to play with.")Stephen Stills, lead guitarist in the band. ("Do you always refer to him by his full name?" - "Who? Stephen Stills? Yes.")Kim Pine, the band's drummer and Scott's ex-girlfriend from high school. ("I need some air. The stupidity in here is making me feel faint.")Young Neil Nordegraf, Stephen Still's roommate and the band's biggest fan. ("What do you play?" "Um... nothing, I just live here.")Comeau, who knows everyone. ("Well, I wouldn't say _everyone_, but yeah, I guess.")Julie Powers, Stephen Stills' on-again/off-again but always bitchy girlfriend. ("That song is about me, people! He thinks I'm a total bitch and a half!" "You mean she doesn't _know_?")Stacey Pilgrim, Scott's younger sister. ("She's Chinese? Wait till Mom hears about this!")And last but not least, Kyle and Ken Katayanagi, twin brothers (even though one of them's blonde), the fifth and sixth of Ramona's evil ex-es to challenge Scott Pilgrim. ("So... you dated twins?" "Um... yep." "At the same time?" "I don't have to answer that!")I highly recommend this book (and the entire series) to anyone who appreciates a comic series with a unique visual style, engaging characters, the kind of surreal world we only wish we could live in, and just a great fun read.

So I kind of forgot that I was re-reading this series, but fortunately have just one more volume to go before I'll allow myself to binge the new Netflix series. I'm making myself wait because I already compare these comics constantly to the 2010 movie and I don't want the additional comparison of the show. The animation in the series, though, looks so much like these color editions and much of the 2010 cast is returning to voice their characters so I am so eager to watch the show that I could scream.Focusing on this issue, though, I have to say that it feels the most separate from the movie so far. There are only a few elements that made it into the adaptation and, for me, the movie handled the storyline better. Except for their choice to cut the robot battles. Those were my favorite thing in this volume and would have been such fun in the movie. The band created monster battle in the movie was nice, but the robots are just better. I also love the note this volume ends on.

Perfect to continue my books collection.

I loved the whole series growing up via the books, game, and movie. I am so happy to have the whole book collection on hardcover so I can keep it forever and read it with those I care about. If you are interested in a book that makes a lot of video game references, deep character emotions, a confusing story that is still fun to read over many times, and the best gay roommate in all of history, Scott Pilgrim is the graphic novel series for you.

okay, so i finally got my hands on "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe", volume 5 of the series by Bryan Lee O'malley. for those just joining us, Scott Pilgrim revolves around the social life of it's twenty-something title character and his adorable supporting cast. it's a lot like Charlie Brown, but with more sex and fight scenes. Its unique blend of action, romance, slice-of-life and humor is -like the immortal Slinky- fun for both girls and boys.so anyways, similar to vol 3, "Scott Pilgrim Vs The Universe" is much, much darker than the uparching "Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together" (for which O'Malley snagged ghettoManga Cartoonist of the Year and OGN of the Year in 2008)... O'Malley meticulously takes apart the good vibes Scott and Ramona brought into this issue from the last volume. the pressures of moving in together would be hard enough on them, but now the unspoken circumstances of Ramona's breakup with evil-exboyfriend Gideon are casting a shadow over Scott and Ramona's future... and did i mention Scott has to repeatedly battle the Katayanagi Twins and their increasingly tough Robots? yeah, there's that too...The Darker tone of this volume makes it less fun to read than the last one, but it's still top notch. Scott's repeated references to Clairemont-era X-men storylines echo the concept of this volume that things have to get much worse before they get better. Even when Scott vanquishes the Twins, there's little cause to celebrate because of... well, you get the idea!when this volume ends, the stage is set for the ultimate battle with Gideon, so you probably wanna read all five previous joints so you can be ready to complete the collection of this classic grahic novel series when volume 6 drops!holla!samax-ghettoManga Quarterlycomics.hipHop.news.art.culture