Scott Pilgrim is a series of graphic novels by Canadian author and comic book artist Bryan Lee O'Malley. The original edition of the series consists of six digest sizeblack-and-white volumes, released between August 2004 and July 2010, by Portland-based independent comic book publisher Oni Press. It was later republished by Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins.[1] Full-colour hardback volumes, coloured by Nathan Fairbairn, were released from August 2012 to April 2014.[2][3]
The series revolves around the titular Scott Pilgrim, a slacker and part-time musician who lives in Toronto and plays bass in a band, dating a high school student while recovering from a traumatic breakup. He starts a tentative romance with American delivery girl Ramona Flowers, soon discovering that Ramona possesses superpowers. It transpires that her seven supervillain exes have similar abilities. They are manipulated into targeting Scott in combat by her most recent ex, Gideon Graves, forcing both Scott and Ramona to come to terms with their respective pasts, relationships, and behaviors.[4]
The Scott Pilgrim series received widespread acclaim and garnered a large cult following. A film adaptation of the series titled Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, directed by Edgar Wright, was released in August 2010. A video game adaptation, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, developed by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was released the same month. An animated series adaptation titled Scott Pilgrim Takes Off released on Netflix in November 2023, with the cast of the 2010 film reprising their roles, O'Malley writing the script, and Wright serving as an executive producer.[5] Because each adaptation in the franchise covers the same story as the graphic novels, but with slight changes between each of them, Scott Pilgrim has been widely discussed as an example of transmedia storytelling.
Creator Bryan Lee O'Malley was inspired to create the series and eponymous character of Scott Pilgrim after listening to Canadian band Plumtree's 1998 single "Scott Pilgrim", a song then-Plumtree singer Carla Gillis describes as "positive, but...also bittersweet."[6] In particular, O'Malley was inspired by the lyric, "I’ve liked you for a thousand years."[6]
O'Malley wanted to write a shōnen-style comic book series, although he had only read one such series at the time, Ranma ½; in the early 2000s, Japanese manga had not yet achieved significant popularity in North America. O'Malley gained inspiration from the book Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga by Koji Aihara and Kentaro Takekuma. In 2002, O'Malley's roommate, who worked in a comic book store, brought the book to him while O'Malley was working on Lost at Sea and was planning Scott Pilgrim. Upon reading the book O'Malley realized that, despite the satirical tone, it could be an effective guide to how the Japanese comic book industry worked.[7] O'Malley said that Ranma ½ was the strongest influence and Atsuko Nakajima, the character designer of the Ranma ½ anime and other anime, was an influence to a lesser extent.[8] He added that the "exploded page layouts" of Koudelka, a work by Yuji Iwahara, directly influenced the "full-bleed layouts" of Scott Pilgrim.[8] O'Malley said that Osamu Tezuka began influencing his work as he created Volumes 3 and 4. He said, "You can see his influence start to creep in here and there but he's a larger inspirational figure to me than just his drawing style."[8] In regards to the FLCL anime, O'Malley said that while it was an influence, it was "not as much of a direct influence on Scott Pilgrim as people seem to think."[8]
O'Malley used black and white because it was less expensive than creating the series in colour, and so O'Malley said that he "embraced the B&W manga aesthetic".[9] When writing the series, O'Malley's first step was developing the direction of the story by creating notes in notebooks, sketchbooks, and computer text files. His second step was to create an outline. His third step was to write a script. His fourth step was to develop thumbnails. His final step was to develop the finished comic book page.[10] To ink, O'Malley usually used brushes, including No. 2 and No. 3 brushes. He mostly used computers to build the screentone; he stated that he encountered difficulty finding screentone in North America. O'Malley himself created most of the Scott Pilgrim material. When production on Volume 6 had begun, O'Malley had hired two assistants. The backgrounds in Volume 6 are more detailed than the backgrounds in the previous volumes (O'Malley said that "[m]ost fans don't seem to notice the change"[7]).
O'Malley stated that he wanted to create a "hybrid" work that received inspiration from American and Japanese comics, and that he "wanted to reach towards the japanese [sic] comics from my own starting point."[7] When asked if he considers Scott Pilgrim to be a manga, O'Malley responded by saying "Um… No, I think I was just thinking about that today. I guess I was just thinking about the whole OEL thing. I think it's influenced… I like the term 'manga-influenced comics,' but I only like it because no one else likes it."[11]
O'Malley said that he expected Scott Pilgrim to sell around 1,000 copies. He did not expect the series to sell millions of copies and to produce a film adaptation. O'Malley cited the United States comics industry and how it differs from the Japanese comics industry; the United States comic book companies specialize in superhero comics and many newer concepts originate from underground comics. The United States also lacks weekly and monthly comic book magazines and American comic companies generally do not have the system of story editors and assistants that Japanese comic companies have.[7]
O'Malley said that the most difficult portion of Scott Pilgrim to write was the ending. O'Malley deliberately did not consider constructing the ending until he began writing Volume 5. He intended for Volumes 5 and 6 to reflect one single story, with 5 being the "darkest hour" and 6 being "the redemption arc."[8] O'Malley said "there was a lot of stuff to juggle, a lot of plot lines to tie up, and I just had to try and focus on the stuff that mattered most in the time I had."[8] In addition, he wanted to create an ending that would "compete[...] a little" with the ending of the film version; he was aware of "how BIG the finale was".[8] About the ending, O'Malley said, "I think the stuff with the girls and the relationships works pretty well and the stuff with Gideon and the glow is weaker. But hey, some people love it warts and all, and it's not like I'm gonna go back and change it."[8]
To illustrate his reasoning for eventually ending the Scott Pilgrim series, O'Malley used a quote from famed Belgian comics writer and artist Hergé, creator, writer, and illustrator of the well-regarded The Adventures of Tintin comic book series, from 1929 until his death in 1983. Hergé told his wife, "And right now, my work makes me sick. Tintin is no longer me. And I must make a terrible effort to invent (him)… If Tintin continues to live, it is through a sort of artificial respiration that I must constantly keep up and which is exhausting me." O'Malley said, "If I was still doing Scott Pilgrim in ten years, I would be dead inside."[12] O'Malley said that he did conceive of a continuation centering on Scott and Ramona and involving the other major characters, except for Gideon and the other evil exes of Ramona. He said, "maybe in a few years I'd think about playing with Scott Pilgrim some more"[13] and although "there doesn't need to be more Scott Pilgrim", he agreed that "more would be fun".[14]
The cover of the third Japanese Scott Pilgrim volume, which includes content from the original volumes 5 and 6, was based on an illustration from Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Street Fighter Zero 2).[15]
O'Malley used the font Swiss 721 Bold Condensed, which was also used in the film. In later books, the regular weight and italic versions of this font were also used. M04 FATAL FURY is the pixel font used in Book 4 and beyond.[16]
Twenty-three year old Canadian slacker Scott Pilgrim lives in Toronto, Canada. He lives in a cheap apartment with his gay roommate Wallace, performs in the band "Sex Bob-Omb" along with Stephen Stills and Kim Pine, and is barely dating high schooler Knives Chau, who he met on the bus with her mother. Kim, Wallace, and Scott’s sister Stacey resent this idea, but Stephen and his roommate, “Young” Neil Nordegraf (who is Knives’ age) support it, especially when Knives becomes obsessed with their band. A couple of days later, Scott begins to have recurring visions of a pink-haired girl, who he falls in love with, though nobody is interested in this. After seeing the same girl at the library, however, he becomes determined to start going out with her. However, his obsession causes him to spend less time with Knives and putting less effort into his band. The next day, at a party hosted by Stephen’s girlfriend Julie Powers, Scott asks a skilled conversationalist named Comeau about the girl, who informs him that her name is Ramona. Coincidentally, Scott sees Ramona a few minutes later and attempts to talk to her, but completely messes up, causing him to run away. However, he secretly stalks her until she leaves the party. After talking to Comeau’s friends Sandra and Monique, Scott realizes that Ramona might have a boyfriend, but when he talks to Julie and Stephen, they inform him that she just had a bad breakup, causing Scott to become empowered. After learning she works at Amazon, he buys CDs for the sole purpose of seeing her. However, on his next date with Knives, she kisses him, causing him to freak out and run away. The next day, Stephen informs the group that Sex Bob-Omb will play in a battle of the bands with another popular band called Crash and the Boys, but Scott is hardly interested. That same day, Ramona delivers his package. When they talk, she reveals that the reason she appeared in his dreams was because she was using a subspace highway, pretty much a mass transit system that goes through people’s heads, Scott awkwardly asks her out, and she accepts. After going to Ramona’s house, they almost have sex, but decide not to. He also notices a mysterious letter from someone named Gideon, who Julie had mentioned at the party. Ramona agrees to come to Scott’s battle of the bands, and they start dating. When he informs Wallace about this, he forcefully tells him to break up with Knives. Upon reaching the battle of the bands, Ramona briefly catches a glimpse of Scott kissing Knives (without his consent), but forgets about it. Crash and the Boys literally knock the audience unconscious with a song so as to win the battle of the bands. When Sex Bob-Omb begin to play just for fun, a mysterious man crashes through the ceiling. Scott fights him, but upon asking him who he is, he replies with “Matthew Patel, Ramona’s FIRST Evil Ex Boyfriend.” Ramona explains they hardly dated, causing Matthew to summon “Demon Hipster Chicks” and almost kill the survivors of Crash and the Boys’ song (ironically, Scott’s friend group). Upon engaging Matthew in a music battle, Scott wins and Matthew is defeated. On the bus ride home, Ramona informs Scott that he must fight her seven evil exes to date her, but they agree to continue their relationship. Upon asking if Gideon is one of the evil exes, Ramona’s head begins glowing and she doesn’t answer his question, confusing Scott.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Volume 2)
In a flashback to Scott’s teen years, his past is revealed. Upon arriving at his new school, he instantly got in a fight and was sent to the principal’s office. There, he met Lisa Miller, a student who was also new, and they became friends, but Scott forgot about it, causing him to be surprised when Lisa showed up his house. However, they instantly became friends afterwards, despite Scott’s parents thinking Lisa was Scott’s girlfriend. The next day, Scott was assigned to be history partners with a student named Kim Pine, who he developed a crush on. Later that day, Lisa suggested they start a band, which Scott agreed to. As they were looking for a drummer, Scott realized that Kim could play drums, though Lisa was hesitant about this. On Monday, it was revealed that a gang controlled by a bully named Simon Lee had kidnapped Kim, and Scott fought through his forces to rescue her. After saving Kim, the two began dating. Kim, Scott, and Lisa started a band, and everything seemed great until Scott had to move to Toronto, causing him to have to break up with Kim. The next day, Scott learned that popular movie star Lucas Lee was shooting a film in Toronto from Wallace, but didn’t really care. However, while on a date with Knives, Scott decided to break up with her, though this was hard to do as Knives confessed she was in love with him. However, Scott got over his guilt by thinking about Ramona. Upon breaking this news to his friends, however, they got mad at him, which he was confused by. On his next date with Ramona, she suggested he cut his hair, though he was worried because his last haircut had presumably caused his breakup with his girlfriend. The next day, Wallace found out that Lucas was one of Ramona’s ex boyfriends, and Ramona confirmed this, so Scott went to Kim’s video store to buy his movies, however Ramona hardly remembers their relationship. Later on, Stacey and Ramona start hanging out, much to Scott’s chagrin. Knives also begins stalking Scott, which Wallace figured out about and tries to stop. The next day, Knives sees Scott eating dinner with Ramona and swears revenge. She dyes her hair and begins practicing ninjutsu, all in an attempt to kill Ramona and win Scott back. Meanwhile, Wallace figures out that Lucas is doing a movie shoot in Casa Loma, and accompanies Scott to it, though Scott is almost killed by Lucas’ super strength. Scott is about to die before he tricks Lucas into attempting a dangerous trick on the Casa Loma stairway rails, Lucas goes at supersonic speeds and combusts. However, that evening, at the Toronto Reference Library, Knives attacks Ramona. Despite admitting defeat, Knives realizes that Scott was cheating on her with Ramona based on her memories of the day that Scott saw her at the library. That night, Scott receives a call from his ex-girlfriend, Envy Adams, who now is a successful pop star. She asks Sex Bob-Omb to perform at her next concert, but the call disturbs Scott so much he slips into a brief coma. At her concert a couple of days later, Scott is freaking out. Things are made worse, however, Scott sees Knives with Young Neil, who she got as payback for Scott cheating on her. When Envy’s band starts playing, however, Ramona realized that the bassist, and Envy’s current boyfriend, Todd Ingram, is her third evil ex boyfriend.
Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness (Volume 3)
After the show, Sex Bob-omb meets up with the Clash at Demonhead backstage, and the two bands within fighting. Todd easily manages to beat them, due to his telekinetic powers that he gained from being vegan.
Flashbacks throughout the story show the timeline of Scott meeting Envy, who was a nerd and went by her birth name, Natalie, at the time. Scott and her begin a romantic relationship and start a musical group alongside Stephen. However, as time passed, Natalie expanded the band by recruiting additional members and, ultimately, secured a record deal without obtaining consent, leading to both Scott and Stephen resigning from the group. Natalie, now going by Envy, begins cheating on Scott and the two of them break up, which Scott insists was Envy's fault. Meanwhile, Todd punched a hole in the moon for Ramona when they dated, but they broke up when he went to Vegan Academy.
Envy proposes a challenge for Scott and Todd: a fight to the death at Honest Ed's—whoever reaches the end of the store first wins. Neither Scott nor Todd win the challenge, and Todd begins cheating on Envy. At Lee's Palace, Envy and Scott talk backstage, and Scott attempts to apologize to Knives, who believes this means they can get back together. While Sex Bob-omb performs, Ramona and Envy get into an argument and begin to fight, with Envy winning before Ramona is saved by Knives. Envy catches Todd and another girl leaving the bathroom together—her panties on Todd's head.
Todd and Scott then proceed to have a Bass Battle, and Todd almost wins the battle until the vegan police show up and strip him of his powers for multiple vegan offenses, such as eating gelato. Scott headbutts the powerless Todd, who is reduced to a pile of coins. Afterwards, Scott receives an extra life.
Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together (Volume 4)
Scott, Ramona, and their friends go to Julie's beach hut for the Summer. Knives (who is still 17) and Kim accidentally out themselves as bisexual and make out while blackout drunk, with only Scott remembering it. Scott reunites with Lisa Miller, who seems to have a crush on him, and makes multiple advances on him.
Scott is attacked by Roxanne 'Roxie' Richter, a half-ninja and Ramona's fourth evil ex, who is notably the only woman Ramona has dated. After Lisa flirts with Scott too many times, Ramona becomes suspicious that they were a couple. Scott ends up staying over at Lisa's, who admits her feelings, but Scott instead declares his love for Ramona, and the pair eat pizza. Roxie attacks Scott in his dream, but he awakens before she can kill him. Scott leaves but chooses to get his job back before confronting Ramona. Scott gets attacked by Knives's father, who is seeking revenge for Knives getting cheated on.
Scott pits Roxie and Mr. Chau in battle against each other, but Ramona tells him that was a terrible move. Scott finally tells Ramona he loves her and will do anything to keep their relationship going. In this act of courage, Scott earns a sword of his own, the "Power of Love," which he uses to defeat Roxie.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe (Volume 5)
At a Day of the Dead party, Ramona spots her next two evil ex-boyfriends, Japanese twins Kyle & Ken Katayanagi, who were invited to the party by Julie. Ramona becomes paranoid over Scott's history of ending relationships and forgetting all about them, and the band performs but is terrible now. Knives confronts Ramona at the gig, where they fight until Knives realizes it is Scott's fault she was cheated on and not Ramona's, telling Ramona as such. Ramona tells Scott they should have time apart.
After a nightcap with Scott and Ramona, Kim goes home on the subway but is kidnapped by the twins. Scott fights the twins to save her, and the twins reveal that Ramona dated both of them at the same time.
Scott tells Ramona he doesn't care about her past and loves her. She thanks him as the glow around her head grows brighter and brighter until she disappears altogether, leaving behind a letter addressed to the evil ex Gideon. Scott, heartbroken, accidentally locks himself out of Ramona's house. Scott moves around his friends' houses, who are all also struggling. Later, Scott moves into a new apartment paid for by his parents.
With Gideon being the last evil ex to battle, Scott grows paranoid, mistaking anyone with glasses as Gideon — even his own brother and Wallace's boyfriend.
Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour (Volume 6)
Scared to face Gideon, Scott spends most of his time alone in his apartment playing video games and quitting his job after being kicked out of Sex Bob-omb. He is also plagued by dreams of Ramona and his other ex-girlfriends. When he is finally convinced to go outside, he tries to reconnect with the now-18-year-old Knives, wanting the two of them to have casual sex, however Knives states that she has moved on, but ends up agreeing to make out, which both regret after a bad kiss. Envy meets Scott for coffee, but he refuses to make amends with her.
Wallace forces Scott to leave town and stay with Kim and her parents. In the woods, Kim reveals to Scott that their high school days were not as exciting and life-threatening as Scott remembers them: Simon Lee, who Scott thought was an evil villain he had defeated to save Kim, was her boyfriend, whom Scott attacked unprovoked one day and stole Kim from. Scott spots his evil twin, Nega-Scott. A fight ensues between the two, during which Kim tells him that Nega-Scott is a physical representation of his mistakes and will not disappear until he stops forgetting them and accepts them. Nega-Scott stops its assault and merges back into him as Scott remembers and acknowledges his mistakes, commenting he doesn't deserve Ramona back. Kim encourages him and tells him to fight and earn her back. She gives him one last kiss before Scott returns to Toronto.
Scott arrives at Gideon's venue, the Chaos Theatre, for the final confrontation. He offers Scott a position in the League, but he refuses. Gideon stuns Scott with a punch, pulls Scott's "Power of Love" sword from his chest, and impales him with it, killing him. In limbo, Scott reunites with Ramona, and they reconcile. Ramona apologizes for leaving him but admits she has only returned to confront Gideon, not to restart their relationship. Scott uses his extra life from Part 3 to bring himself back to life, bringing Ramona with him.
Gideon reveals he started the League through a drunken rant on Craigslist after Ramona dumped him and was shocked that she hurt her exes enough that they replied. Ramona decides to run away but is killed by Gideon before she can teleport fully. Scott and Gideon fight in Ramona's mind, where a part of Ramona is still subservient to the latter. However, present Ramona and other versions of herself appear, revealing that these parts of herself are over him. Ramona sacrifices her subspace bag to return the three to the real world. Scott sees Gideon objectifying Envy, prompting him to realize how badly his relationships with Knives, Kim, and Envy ended, thus winning a new sword—the "Power of Understanding." Ramona wields the "Power of Love" sword, which heals her injuries, and they deliver the final blow to Gideon. Gideon bursts into $1 worth of coins, pouring down painfully on the crowd. Envy hugs Scott, bringing their relationship to a proper close, and Gideon's ex-girlfriends are released from their capsules.
Leaving the club, Scott and Ramona reaffirm their relationship and agree to give it another shot. Scott finds out that Stephen is gay and is currently dating another man. Scott and Kim start a new band called Shatter Band, but they only play covers and for fun. The next day, Scott sees Knives off to college. Finally, Scott meets up with Ramona, who is waiting for him at a subspace door, ready to begin their relationship anew. With that, they hold hands and disappear into subspace together.
Comics Festival (40-page anthology including a one-page Scott Pilgrim comic; released on Free Comic Book Day 2005)
PENG (72-page one-shot comic book by Corey Lewis where Scott Pilgrim appears in one panel; released in 2005)
Free Scott Pilgrim No. 1 FCBD 2006 Edition (32-page comic book featuring a 17-page original Scott Pilgrim story; released on Free Comic Book Day 2006) This story is available for free online at the Scott Pilgrim Website
Comics Festival 2007! (40-page anthology including a half-page Scott Pilgrim comic and a 4-page Wonderful World of Kim Pine comic; released on Free Comic Book Day 2007)
Scott Pilgrim: Full Colour Odds & Ends 2008 (collects Free Scott Pilgrim #1 – newly coloured by Dean Trippe, Wonderful World of Kim Pine four-page story, Now Magazine Best of Toronto two-page strip in black-and-white, the Comics Fest 07 sushi strip, and various watercolours, pin-ups, and advertisements)
All of these ancillary stories are available to read on the Scott Pilgrim Website. A collector's box containing all six volumes and a fold-in poster was released in North America on November 3, 2010.[18]
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life was re-released in colour in August 2012, with the others being released on an irregular schedule, the last in May 2015. In addition to all of the ancillary strips, the hardcover colour editions contain bonus content such as original sketches, creator notes, promotional material, and deleted scenes.
The entire series was re-released in colour again in July 2019 as the Scott Pilgrim Color Collection, collected into 3 larger-format paperback volumes.[19] These three books were released individually and as a box set.
Critical reception
Publishers Weekly ranked the third volume, Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness, as one of the best comic books of 2006 in a critics' poll.[20]
Scott Pilgrim was ranked 85th on Wizard magazine's 2008 list of the "200 Greatest Comic Characters of All Time".[21]
In 2007, O'Malley was interviewed by The A.V. Club for the fourth volume. Written by Jason Heller, the article states that Gets It Together is "his best to date." The article goes on to praise O'Malley's consistent bold stylistic choices, saying that he "has raised the bar, art-wise: His deceptively basic style is suddenly deeper, richer, and more mature, while his eye for dynamics and graphic economy has gotten even keener."[22]
In 2011 Scott Pilgrim was ranked 69th in IGN's list of the top 100 comic book heroes.[23]
Japanese comics author Kentaro Takekuma said in an interview that the structure and style of Scott Pilgrim initially did not match the structure and style of Japanese comics, but when he read the battle scenes "it feels very much like a Japanese manga, especially in how you structured the panels. It develops into a very strange, neither American nor Japanese atmosphere."[7] Comics author Koji Aihara added that "I did feel the inspiration from Japanese manga, but it did not strike me as a ripoff of manga style, but a very unique way of expression, I found it a very interesting work. I appreciated you using your own style of expression. Also, I thought your use of solid blacks was very skilled and attractive."[7]
Awards
In 2005, O'Malley won the Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent for the first volume of Scott Pilgrim[24] and was nominated for three Harvey Awards (Best New Talent, Best Cartoonist and Best Graphic Album of Original Work).[25]
In 2006, O'Malley was awarded Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) in the Joe Shuster Awards.[26] He was previously nominated in the same category in 2005.[27]
O'Malley was nominated for a 2006 Eisner Award in the category Best Writer/Artist—Humor, for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, but lost to Kyle Baker. O'Malley and Scott Pilgrim were also nominated for two 2006 Eagle Awards, and nominated for a second Wright Award (for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World).[citation needed]
The film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was released on August 13, 2010. It is based on all six volumes of the graphic novel series with the final book being released after original filming wrapped; this led to a new ending being filmed to match the books before the film's release.[29] The film is directed by Edgar Wright and stars Michael Cera and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Scott and Ramona, respectively.
The film was a critical success, but did not fare well commercially in cinemas. However, its commercial fortunes improved after being released on Blu-ray and DVD.[citation needed] The DVD includes extras including bloopers, outtakes, deleted scenes, storyboards (which include the ending provided by the comics), and trailers. The 2-disc edition includes soundtracks, animation (when Scott dates Kim), and a making-of.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation
At the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, Alison Pill (who plays Kim Pine in the movie), revealed that her character's past relationship with Scott will be explored in other media. "There will be a little something-something that will air on Adult Swim," she said.[30] Creator Bryan Lee O'Malley elaborated by stating "It's gonna be like a series of short animations (to promote the movie). One of them will be the Volume 2 high school stuff with Kim and Lisa Miller. I don't know how long it will be but the rough they showed me was like 69 minutes. The stars of the movie will do the voices for the cartoons."[31]Michael Cera and Alison Pill reprise their roles of Scott Pilgrim and Kim Pine from the movie, whilst Mae Whitman and Jason Schwartzman, who play Roxanne Richter and Gideon Graves in the movie, provide voices for Lisa Miller and Simon Lee respectively. The animated short, entitled Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation, was produced by Titmouse, Inc. and aired on Adult Swim on August 12, 2010, later being released on their website.[32][33] The short is based on the flashback from the second graphic novel, elaborating on Scott's adventures in high school. The animation features the songs "Post Acid" and "Beach Demon" by Wavves, though it is replaced with the film's soundtrack in the version included on the DVD/Blu-ray release of the film.
A video game based on the series, also titled Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, was announced during San Diego Comic-Con 2009 and was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, released alongside the film. The game is a four-player side-scroller influenced by 8-bit and 16-bit video games, with players able to play as Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers, Kim Pine and Stephen Stills; players can also unlock NegaScott, while Knives Chau and Wallace Wells were added as playable characters via downloadable content.[34] The game features music by chiptunepunk band Anamanaguchi[35] and art direction by Paul Robertson.[36]
On December 30, 2014, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game was delisted from the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. This follows similar previous delistings of licensed games such as Uno and Marvel vs. Capcom Origins due to their licenses' expiration. On September 10, 2020, to celebrate its 10th anniversary, Ubisoft announced that the game would finally be re-released with all downloadable content included as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game - Complete Edition. The game was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Stadia, on January 14, 2021.
Mobile comic
A mobile adaptation of the comic book was produced by HarperCollins and Robot Comics.[38] The app uses movement, sound and vibration to create an original reading experience and includes extra material hidden in the scenes of the comic. It was available for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android.
An animated series based on the comics was announced to be in development by Universal Content Productions for Netflix on January 7, 2022 with O'Malley writing and executive producing alongside BenDavid Grabinski, Japanese studio Science Saru providing the animation, Eunyoung Choi serving as producer, and Abel Góngora as director. Edgar Wright, Nira Park, Marc Platt, Jared LeBoff, Adam Seigel, and Michael Bacall will also receive executive producer credits for the series.[39] On March 30, 2023, it was announced that the original cast from the movie would reprise their roles for the television series, with Anamanaguchi providing original music.[40] The series, titled Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, was released on November 17, 2023, and serves as both a continuation and alternate retelling of the books' events.
^O'Malley, Bryan Lee (2004). Amazon.com: Scott Pilgrim, Vol 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together: Bryan Lee O'Malley: Books. Fourth Estate. ISBN1932664491.
Berninger, Mark (March 28, 2013). ""Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together": The Cultural Crossovers of Bryan Lee O'Malley". In Daniel Stein; Shane Denson; Christina Meyer (eds.). Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads. A&C Black. ISBN9781441185235. - This is Chapter #15, in Part III: Translations, Transformations, Migrations
