Now is The Beginning of a Fantastic Scott Pilgrim Story…

 

 

For this week’s article on the ComicsAlliance, Laura Hudson and I react to the news of the upcoming Scott Pilgrim video game by taking a look at the many awesome video game references Bryan Lee O’Malley packs into the series.

It’s no secret that I love the Scott Pilgrim books with a passion–and really, if you haven’t read them, what are you doing with your life?–and the fact that O’Malley’s able to hit that nostalgia button to take me back to weekends of marathon NES sessions (as opposed to today’s marathon XBox 360 sessions) while doing something I never would’ve expected is a huge part of why they’re so great. So, if you don’t mind me tromping in to explain the jokes, please enjoy the article.

22 thoughts on “Now is The Beginning of a Fantastic Scott Pilgrim Story…

  1. This isn’t an “um, you forgot,” I’m just sharing, but I loved the part in vol.3 when he busted out with Parappa the Rapper’s “Yeah, I know! I gotta BELIEVE!” I must have lost two weeks of my life to that game.

  2. I tried to read Scott Pilgrim, but could only get about five pages in. I really didn’t understand what it was supposed to be about or why I should keep reading.

  3. It heavily references video game/comic book/cartoon culture, so that should have alone kept you a little interested. But as for the premise, it’s basically a quirkiness that you’re supposed to surrender to and the ride will be worth it when you do.

    Hey Chris, don’t forget about the clever “Vitaminwater”-esque drinks in the Free Comic Book Day issue of Scott Pilgrim that list their nutrition facts as stat boosts! I loved that one. <3

    As for the video game news, I have to admit it fills me with some concern. Clearly it's a tie in to the film and I wonder how Scott Pilgrim will translate that way…surely it wouldn't be the awesome 16-bit eye candy we get with each issue, so what can it really be? Wait, it is? A 16-bit side scroller following the 6 books? Done. I'm sold. Pleased as punch. :D

  4. Scott Pilgrim video game?

    Talk about self-referential loop. Or, uh, whatever you might be able to call it.

    Definitely glad it’s a beat ’em up. Let’s just hope it lives up to the high standards of comic book beat ’em ups: X-Men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Punisher, Alien/Predator…okay, I’m setting myself up for disappointment. But it’ll probably be fun.

  5. I haven’t bought a game system in over a decade, yet the thought of a Scott Pilgrim game where I can PowerUp by defeating evil exes and growing as a person deeply intrigues me…

  6. I don’t like the comic but if the game is essentially Gamecenter CX/Retro Game Challenge 2 then I’ll buy it. Especially since the real RGC2 isn’t coming to the US…

  7. I tried to read Scott Pilgrim, but could only get about five pages in. I really didn’t understand what it was supposed to be about or why I should keep reading.

    I only got six words into this sentence, so I assume it ends in a glowing review. Cool comment, bro!

  8. what am I doing with my life? Waiting for my comic book store to bring the Scott Pilgrim I ordered(saw the first pages on the web, and by page 10 or so I was hooked)

    Also, Im doing a frowny face because I dont want to read spoilers(or joke spoilers, whatever) damn you crappy comic book store!

  9. Chris B! It will depend on how cynical you are! But it is either a glorious exercise in watching how a young man extricates himself from the baggage of his past or a horrendously frustrating exercise in…

    …read the book, Christopher Montague Bee!

    //\Oo/\\

  10. I love Scott Pilgrim.

    What are these “video games” to which everyone is referring? Are they like books?

  11. It’s so very weird to check out Internet Darling Scott Pilgrim and have absolutely no idea what the hell it’s referencing. Born just a wee bit too early for the Nintendo, neither I nor my friends had one. Every single bit goes right past me.

    This must be how normal people feel watching “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”

  12. I also wanted to mention the missed Parappa reference. But was beaten to it. Damn.

    There is also the Metroid reference in one of the first two books (possibly the first) where Scott wishes he could turn into a morph ball.

    Also, that Sonic 2 scene also reminds me of the opening scene of the John Travolta film Grease. (And before you all start – shut up. My sister watched that like a hundred times on video).

  13. Pretty sure the Evil Ex fight in book 4 (the ninja girl) riffs on a Shinobi title sequence. Have a fuzzy memory of an arcade machine in my cinema that had two ninjas run at one another, jump, pass and slice and then land. Everything looks ok, until the ninja in the distance collapses. He didn’t even know he was dead. Pretty ninja.

  14. Hey Sims, have you been following the movie stuff much? I’ve been mostly stalking Edgar Wright’s flickr account where he posts new pictures in and around the set frequently.

    The video blogs on the official site are often pretty awesome too.

  15. “I tried to read Scott Pilgrim, but could only get about five pages in. I really didn’t understand what it was supposed to be about or why I should keep reading.”

    Wish I’d picked third post in for the “When will someone first mention they don’t get Scott Pilgrim?” pool.

    “It’s so very weird to check out Internet Darling Scott Pilgrim and have absolutely no idea what the hell it’s referencing. Born just a wee bit too early for the Nintendo, neither I nor my friends had one. Every single bit goes right past me.

    This must be how normal people feel watching “Mystery Science Theater 3000.””

    Also weird; I play a ton of video games, and grew up on the same stuff Sims did, more or less, and didn’t catch some of those references during the first reading(s) of the series. I’ve never thought being a diehard gamer was a pre-requisite for enjoying it, but I can’t really say.

  16. I’m so glad so many someone elses seem to share my borderline unhealthy love of Scott Pilgrim.

  17. And in the Free Comic Book Day issue, the “Vitaminwater”-esque drinks Scott is deciding on all grant various stat boosts. :)