Graphic Novels of the Year

2010 was the year of the graphic novel for me. I read 50 graphic novels in all, and had to retrain myself from reading more. After some serious flirting in 2009, I definitely fell in love with the comics medium this year. After a year of reading widely across the medium, I feel like I've covered many of the comics bases quite well. I read a few super hero tiles, I read works from the big names like Ellis, Ennis, and Moore, and I read some lesser known indie titles as well. Each read taught me a bit more about comics in general, while my interest in the medium mounted, my tastes became more refined. There's a mountain of comics reading ahead of me in 2011, but for now,I give you my Top 5 Graphic Novels of 2010


#1 Preacher: Until the End of the World: Such an easy pick for the top spot in my Graphic Novels reads. The second volume in Garth Ennis' masterwork is amazing on all levels. At the heart of this volume is the love story between Jesse and Tulip. Ennis does a great job portraying their shared love. There are some seriously lovey-dovey lines that might come across as extremely cheesy in any other setting, but somehow coming from the mouth of a tough-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside Texan it just sounds right, and genuine. These soft and somewhat sentimental moments only make the rest of the book better.

The graphic novel would fall flat if it only had a love story to stand on. Luckily, there is a great conflict as well. Is there a great conflict than battling the demons of your past? For Jesse these demons are flesh and blood. Jody and T.C. are their names, and they are just about the two most evil, sinful, despicable fuckers in the history of the world, and they want nothing more than to make Jesse's life as miserable as possible. The result is a story that is literally mind blowing and amazing. I'm a softy for a believable love story and a sucker for jaw dropping moments, and this graphic novel delivers both with style.


#2 Scott Pilgrim volumes 1-6:
For a week back in August, Scott Pilgrim took over my life. I had recently given up on a book I was reading, and needed something easy to get into. I picked up Precious Little Life and there was no looking back from there. Sometimes a book just strikes all the right chords with me, and that was the case here. The right graphic novels at precisely the right time.

It isn't just that I see a lot of myself in Scott Pilgrim, but to deny that would be a lie. Scott Pilgrim and I are similar in some alarming ways, which caused an instant connection to the character and the books. But, I was also able to relate to many of the other characters that populate these stories as well, and because of that I was able to connect to these books as a whole, and the themes represented in the story. In the end, the six part story was extremely engaging, and gave me things to think about and analyze about myself, which I think is part of the magic of reading.


#3 All Star Superman: As a kid Superman was always my least favorite hero. The guy was just too good, and too powerful. I'd take a darker more conflicted character like Batman, who relied on his own smarts to get by, over Superman any day. As an adult, I still think Superman is pretty lame. His character is just so boring and he pretty much represents everything I dislike about capes and tights comics. So what the hell is this title doing on my Graphic Novels of the Year list? Well, I guess miracles do happen every now and then.

It helps that this is a Superman story written by Grant Morrison who breathes new life into the character, takes a guy who is probably the most complex, loneliest, most difficult to understand person on the planet and uses those qualities to make Superman sympathetic, and a character the average reader can relate to. Not only that but Morrison creates a Superman story that you might care about reading. To add to the stellar writing, is the absolutely beautiful artwork by Frank Quitely. All Star Superman is lovely to behold. The artwork is great, and combines with the story seamlessly. This is really a beautiful package and my surprise read of the year.



#4 Street Angel: This is a graphic novel that is just sheer fun. First off, it stars a homeless 12 year old girl who is a bad-ass skater and kung-fu master...instantly different than anything else on the shelf. Street Angel also features some memorable bad-guys like Dr. Pangea, MegaPute, and hordes of ninja gangs. To make it all the more sweet, there's a character named Afrodesiac...he's pretty much how you are picturing him in your head: totally awesome.

Compared to some the other titles on this list, Street Angel isn't as flashy, or fancy to look at, but it has a bit of a diamond in the rough quality to it. The story telling is quick paced, and snappy, the stories are funny with a healthy dose of action and violence mixed in, and the characters are hilarious. Reading should be fun, life should be fun, and Street Angel is just that: lots of fun.


#5 Top 10: I had the first volume of Ex Machina lined up to go in this final spot, and then I remembered that I read Top 10 this year.

Top 10 features the perfect harmony of great writing and great art. The magical thing about this graphic novel is the cast of Police Officers that work at Top 10. Moore had a pretty large cast for this story, and instead of focusing in on one of two cops, he gave equal treatment to each, or more accurately, focused on characters when the story demanded it, as they reacted and interacted with the plot and the events of the overlying story. I thought this was a unique way to go about telling a story but it really worked out well.

There are some cool sci-fi elements at play in the story as well, and having it all take place in a city where every citizen has some type of super-power actually made it even more interesting. As far as police dramas go, this is a great story; add in the other elements like the superheroes and parallel universes, and you get something even better. It helps that it is expertly written and has some beautiful art.

Movie Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Scott Pilgrim the movie experience is just about what you'd expect from Edgar Wright, the dude who brought us such gems as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz; funny, and full of style. Though I felt Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was slightly weaker than those two, the movie is still pretty damn good.

Having read, and loved the source material ahead of time, I entered the theater with my fingers crossed, hoping it would do justice to comics. I'm happy to say that I wasn't let down. The jokes from the graphic novels translate well to the big screen, and though events in the movie seem to scream by at a rapid fire A.D.D. pace, Wright managed to fit most of the really important stuff from the books into the film.

As far as the adaptation, and execution of the plot, I was happy, but where I felt the film was lacking was in the acting department. The choice of Michael Cera for the Scott Pilgrim role was a bad one. That dude is always the same exact character no matter what role. The Staranger movie review said it best when they stated: "He has an acting range from A to A." Mary Elizabeth Winstead also seemed a bit flat as well. Whoever did the casting picked to very un-dynamic actors for the leading roles.

Still, given the absolutely pathetic state of film this year, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is pretty damn good. At the very it is entertaining and funny. I thought it might be a bit confusing at times to someone who hadn't read the graphic novels, but people I've talked to who have done just that seem to enjoy the film just fine. Probably worth the ten bucks.

Grade: B-

Review: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour

The final chapter in this epic series begins with a short dream sequence. In it Scott Pilgrim finds himself chasing down the retreating figure of his lost love Ramona Flowers. The harder he tries to catch up, the faster she moves away from him, until she is completely gone and in her place is the seventh, and most evil ex, Gideon Graves.

In real life, Scott is pretty much down and out. Ramona has left him. He's living alone in an apartment paid for by his parents, and for the past four months he's done nothing but play video games. Even his band, Sex Bob-Omb, has broken up, Kim Pine has moved back with her family and Stephen Stills is in a new band, and no, they don't need a bass player. The poor guy is all kinds of messed up in the head, which is probably why he find's himself trying to score some "casual sex" with Knives Chau, and having coffee with his very own evil ex, Envy Adams...who just so happens to be dating that bastard, Gideon Graves. Scott, assuming he is off the hook for the seventh battle, flees from a confrontation with Gideon, and also flees the city, taking a "wilderness sabbatical" to visit Kim Pine.

While he's on his wilderness sabbatical, Scott finds himself in a showdown with Nega-Scott. During the battle he finds himself also fighting his memories, and trying to come to terms with the bad things he has done in the past. Eventually, with the help of Kim, some things click, he absorbs Nega-Scott, and gains some maturity in the process. With his new found maturity, Scott decides to win his lady-love back, so he travels to Gideon's new Toronto club, The Chaos Theater, for his final showdown.

All the great mysteries of the series: What is with this Subspace thingy? Who the hell is Gideon? What is up with Scott and Envy? And many others are concluded in this very strong, and totally satisfying final volume.

Unsurprisingly, the final volume in the Scott Pilgrim series lived up to its potential, and came to a completely awesome and gratifying finale. Bryan Lee O'Malley really did a fantastic job. He crafted a totally believable, poignant, and true-to-life love story, that never came off as cheesy, and on top of that mixed in tons of great laughs, and all the other, sort of goofy, stuff like video game style fights, and subspace, and amateur bands, that make this series so damn unique and fantastic.

Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour is nothing if not the best looking of the six books. I've enjoyed watching O'Malley's art form evolve and improve over the course of the series. I think compared to other skills, like pacing, character building, and plotting, his art is the most different from the book one to book six.

I don't really know what else to say here, just read the damn books already. I'd recommend this graphic novel series to anyone between the age of 16-50. They are a total joy to read. Enjoy!

Grade: A

Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe

In the previous volume, our slacker hero, Scott Pilgrim got his shit together. He got a job, he moved in with his girl, and he defeated the fourth, (of seven), evil ex. Now he just has to hold it together for the final stretch. In his way are the evil-ex duo of twins Kyle and Ken Katayanagi, and their evil robot minions. Though those chumps are a pain in the ass, Scott also has to handle the bigger challenge of cohabiting with Ramona, and all the ins and outs that are associated with that. Who would have thought turning twenty four would be so tough?

Now that he is marginally more mature, Scott's relationship with Ramona is finding a routine, which may or may not be good. Things take a definite turn for the worse when Ramona learns from Knives Chau, Scott's ex high school-aged girlfriend, that he was two-timing them way back in volume one. In the wee hours of the night Ramona confronts Scott about the whole cheating thing, which gets Scott thinking she may break up with him, but before the two can resolve anything the next morning, Scott is forced to attempt a daring rescue of Kim Pine, who has been abducted by the Kyle and Ken, the 5th, and 6th evil exes.

Scott has proven time and again that juggling multiple dilemmas is not his strong suit, and there's a fair bit of juggling to do here, which scales the drama up a few notches. Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe is by far the most serious installment yet. O'Malley masterfully plays off the reader's attachment to the characters, adding plenty of disruption and turmoil into the mix which evokes strong reactions. I was impressed with his deft touch, and was pleased that the dramatic qualities never crossed over into the zone of cheesiness.

Don't be mistaken, even though there's a lot of drama in Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe there are still plenty of laugh out loud moments in this graphic novel. Some of Scott's battles with the robots are pretty damn funny, and the scene where Sex Bob-Omb makes its return to live music is great. I'll never get tired of how they always find new ways to suck.

This fifth volume not only features O'Malley's best writing but also his best art. If you flip to a random page from volume one, and compare that to a random page from volume five, the improvement is obvious. Cleaner lines, better definition, and greater detail are a few of the noticeable improvements obvious to my highly untrained, and artistically near-sighted eye. One thing is obvious: this is a damn fine looking book.

If I were to make one complaint, and it is totally out of personal taste, I am somewhat saddened by the fact that in this volume the evil ex fight totally took a back seat to the other surrounding dramas. True, the emotional aspect of this book is a big part of what makes it strong and makes it stand out as something truly special, but at the same time, c'mon, the whole premise of these books is that some regular-ass dude has to fight his lady's seven evil exes...the fights should take center stage! Well, that's not really the case here, and arguably not the case in the previous volume either. Still, I think overall, the volume suffers slightly from a further tipping of the balance towards more drama.

Putting my personal tastes aside, this is another great graphic novel. I think I've grown so accustomed to the long fantasy series that seem to inevitably experience a dip in quality, that I am surprised to see O'Malley maintain such awesomeness. Guess I should just get used to it. These graphic novels are flippin' great.

Grade: A-

Review: Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together

Its summertime in Scott Pilgrim's world, and two full months have passed since his last battle with one of Ramona's evil exes. Without the distraction of having to fight ex-boyfriends, and all that drama, Scott has managed to develop a pretty solid thing with Ramona...things are going so good in fact that she even said he is the nicest guy she's ever dated, (which is kinda sad), but Scott has yet to even think about let alone mention the "L" word...(no not "Lesbian"). Meanwhile, Scott's band, Sex Bob-Omb, has reached a turning point. Drummer Kim Pine moved to a new place, and her new roommate has recording equipment. Thanks to the guy's attraction to guitarist, Stephen Stills, he agrees to help them record an album.

Just when things seem to be getting better for Scott he runs into an old-and skankily dressed-high school friend, he gets stalked by some creepy katana-wielding dude, gets randomly attacked by a chubby ninja-chick on roller skates, and gets a job. It should come as no surprise that once things start to get complicated, Scott's love-life takes a nose dive. The question is can Scott get his shit together in time to fix things? And is the power of love enough to overcome Ramona's 4th evil ex? (This time the "L" word is lesbians).

The fourth volume of Scott Pilgrim started off a little bit slow, but the tension builds up nicely and it finishes with a pretty strong bang. This volume features fairly big developments and changes with the two principle characters, Scott and Ramona. By the end, you will see them in a new way.

One feature, that is completely unique to this volume, is that the first eight pages are done in color. This little section was pretty fun, it was nice to see all the main characters in full color. Maybe I'm just weird, but my favorite thing about this was finding out what the character's hair colors were. For some reason, when I read a comic that is black and white, it bugs me that I don't know a person's hair color. Weird I know... Anyway, O'Malley solved that little problem for me here, so yay!

On the art front, O'Malley's skill improvement is less noticeable than in the previous volumes. I think the improvement lies in the fact that the panels have started to show more attention to detail, with slightly more developed backgrounds. Though the improvement is less obvious, it is nice to see O'Malley deliver another nice looking graphic novel.

Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together tends to focus a bit more on the romance aspect of this series than it does on the action. This volume features my least favorite evil-ex battle so far, despite the funny, though obvious, twist. The last three volumes struck what was for me, the perfect balance between action, comedy and romance, and I think that balance was a little bit off here, with the scales tipped more in favor of the romance. Scott Pilgrim is no Lance Romance though, so there is plenty to laugh about. This is another great read, though possibly a little bit weaker than the previous volumes. Still, a graphic novel with amazingly high quality.

Grade: B+

Review: Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness

Poor Scott Pilgrim. After being single for over a year, he became romantically entangled with a high schooler, only to meet, literally, the girl of his dreams. Things with the dream girl were going pretty well, but of course, there's a catch: if he really, really wants to be with her, he's gotta fight all 7 of her evil exes. Sucks to be Scott Pilgrim.

When we last left Scott Pilgrim, his somewhat sucky band, Sex Bob-Omb had been asked by the totally popular and awesome band, The Clash at the Demonhead, to open for them at an upcoming concert. This posed a bit of a dilemma for Sex Bob-Omb as The Clash at the Demonhead are fronted by Scott's very own evil ex/love of his life, Envy Adams. About a year ago, Envy broke Scott's heart, and having her back in town is not really helping the guy. To make matters worse, Envy's new boyfriend, Todd Ingram is The Clash at the Demonhead's bass player, and Ramona's 3rd evil ex. To top it all off, Todd has some hardcore Vegan Powers.

Yeah, once again, more awesome stuff from Bryan Lee O'Malley. The first two volumes of Scott Pilgrim may have seemed like they were packed to the brim with action and hilarity, but this third volume really loads on the action and drama. O'Malley incorporates a handful of flashbacks that help flesh out both Scott and Envy's back stories. Given Scott's realtionship with Envy, it is easy to see why he's stuck in a state of arrested development.

The character Envy is a great addition to the already stellar cast in these Scott Pilgrim books. Envy is not a nice person, she's one of those classic characters that you love to hate. However, watching her manipulate and torture Scott was pretty damn hilarious...maybe because I hate loving Scott Pilgrim, dude reminds me of someone every now and then...

On top of the ex-girlfriend hating and awkward relationship angst, this volume also packs some solid action. Chick fights, bass battles, and some horribly cheesy in-fight banter from Todd Ingram. I love the arcade/video game style fight showdowns. Somehow, this quality makes the fights more dramatic and more hilarious.

O'Malley cranks out about one Scott Pilgrim book per year, and it has been interesting to watch his artwork improve over the course of the first three volumes. The guy definitely has a "Scott Pilgrim" style that is maintained over the course of the books, but within that O'Malley's skill has noticeably improved. The improved artwork works well with the writing, and Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness flows smoothly.

No big surprise here, Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness is fantastic. It is amazing to me how consistent O'Malley is. Three books in three years, and they all maintain a very high quality, not to mention continue to be entertaining, and hilarious.

Grade: A

Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

The second volume in the Scott Pilgrim epic begins with a flashback. During this we travel back to Scott's High School days. On his first day of school Scott gets into a fight and of course, gets sent to the principal's office. There he meets Lisa, another new kid, and later future Sex Bob-Omb member, Kim Pine. The three eventually create a band, and it is revealed that Scott and Kim were an item in high school. The flashback sequence ends as Ramona skates through Scott's dream of playing video games.

Back in reality, Scott is still awkwardly juggling two relationships at once, but his fling with seventeen year old Knives Chau could be coming to an end thanks to roommate Wallace Wells' ultimatum. Whether or not Scott will have the balls to do what must be done is one of the major underlying themes of these books, and it plays a big role here.

Meanwhile, Scott has big dinner plans with Rammy, (the name he calls Ramona in his head), and he pours most of his energy into their relationship. When he's not doing that he is training, (read: playing video games), for his next evil ex battle.Those pesky bastards keep popping up too, this time in the form of pro skater-cum-hollywood actor Lucas Lee. To complicate things further: Ramona is hanging out with Scott's sister, Stacey, Knives wants to kill Ramona, AND Scott's very own evil ex, Envy Adams is back in town making Scott's life miserable again.

It is difficult to write a review that will do this second volume justice, as there was so much going on from page one, up until the cliff-hanger ending. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is one totally jam-packed book. It has fights, love, and humor, all the hallmarks of this series. I think this is an important book, as it gives the reader a good sense of just how big Scott's task will be; Not only does he need to fight the seven evil exes, but he's also up against himself, and the past.

It truly is Scott against the world in this volume, and through all the turmoil, I really got a strong sense of Scott's character...or lack thereof. It is hard to not feel a little sympathetic for the guy as there are a lot of shitty, complicated things going on in his life, but at the same time much of it is his own fault, and most of the rest of it could be handled quite easily if the dude could just nut up. O'Malley gives a bunch of important back story to many of the characters, and this helped to add to their development, and add another layer to this already engaging story.

I noticed a slight improvement in O'Malley's artwork on this volume. There is a sharper, more detailed quality to the art, and there is a noticeable improvement in the drawings of the characters.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World does a great job of picking up where the previous volume left off. O'Malley seems to have found a winning formula with the whole action/comedy/romance thing. The first volume set the bar pretty high, and that level of quality is easily maintained here. I could go on for longer, but I'll simply say: this is a hilarious, and completely enjoyable read.

Grade: A

Review: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

"Scott Pilgrim is dating a high schooler!" With that simple line, the Scott Pilgrim epic begins. Our hero, Scott Pilgrim, is a twenty-three year old slacker, free-loading dude living in Toronto, Canada. He is in a sucky band called "Sex Bob-omb", and he lives with, and sleeps in the same bed as his gay roommate, Wallace Wells. Despite the presumed weirdness of dating a high-school girl, and the ridicule from his friends and family, Scott seems to enjoy dating his new girlfriend, Knives Chau. That is until another girl starts skating through his dreams, and popping up at random times in real life.

The dream girl turns out to be Ramona Flowers. Scott runs into her at a party, fails miserably at small talk, then stalks her until she leaves. After some information gathering, Scott finds out that she is a delivery girl for Amazon.ca, so he places in order in hopes that she'll make the delivery. Scott's somewhat genius plan actually works, and a couple days later, Ramona shows up at his door. Dude somehow convinces her to hang out with him later, and just like that, Scott's fateful relationship with Ramona Flowers begins.

Things start out pretty well for Scott and Ramona, of course there is that whole pesky relationship with Knives Chau thing to take care of, and the cryptic e-mail's about some strange "league of exes". It isn't until Sex Bob-Omb's battle of the bands gig that Scott discovers he'll have to fight, and defeat all of Ramona's seven evil exes to win her heart.

There is never a dull moment in Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life. Writer and artist, Bryan Lee O'Malley does a fantastic job of setting things up, introducing all the key elements, introducing the characters, and entertaining the hell of me. Make no mistake, the Scott Pilgrim books are hilarious; I found myself laughing every few pages. The hilarity climaxes nicely when Scott has to battle Matthew Patel, the first of the evil exes.

While the humor is one of the strongest aspects of this book, the characters are also quite remarkable. I found it very easy to relate to not only Scott's character, but many of the others as well. It is impossible to read this book and not find that you either share similar qualities with the people that populate the story, once had those qualities, or know someone who the characters remind you of. This makes for a really enjoyable read.

Bryan Lee O'Malley's artwork in Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life is solid, but nothing astounding. O'Malley uses only ink and line, and draws in an anime style. When I first began reading, I initially had some trouble discerning certain characters, as some look similar to others, but once I got into the flow of the story, and became more familiar with the characters that problem went away.

All in all, this is a wonderful introduction to the Scott Pilgrim world. I was sucked in from the opening line, and I loved this one 'till the end. There is truly something here for everyone: Comedy, action, and romance. This is a fantastic spin on the whole classic "boy meets girl, boy has to fight to keep girl" narrative. Dig in, you will not be disappointed.

Grade: A

My Precious Little Scott Pilgrim Experience

For the past week I've been devouring all things Scott Pilgrim...well, the books and the movie. In my head I've taken to calling the whole thing "My Precious Little Scott Pilgrim Experience". Yeah, super creative, I know. Anyway, from the looks of things, Scott Pilgrim is gonna take over the blog for a week or so. Expect reviews, for all the books and the movie...so yeah, get your popcorn ready.