Scott Pilgrim = Watchmen ?

[ANImaniac89]

A few days ago I was talking comics with a good friend and he mentioned how he had recently seen Scott Pilgrim. I told him that I planed to wait for the DVD to which he replied with a gasp followed by the statement "You should go see it now, it based on the most important graphic novels since Watchmen, if not being more important then Watchmen." it was at this moment that I hit him....... really hard.... in the head.
I had at that point already read all 6 volumes of the book and even though I didn't hate them, but they really didn't endear themselves to me. All I got from the Scott Pilgrim's wanna be manga adventure was a stranded romantic comedy made slightly pretentious. I really don't get it, am I missing something? Is Scott Pilgrim some epic piece of graphic storytelling destined to be one of the greatest graphic novels ever. or was it an overrated hipster love story that only caught on because it aware of the Video games?

 

[Tharwen]

Well, his logic isn't very sensible...

...but nor was hitting him...

...and it's endear.

 

[Tagball]

Yeah...I really don't understand the hype surrounding the comics. I like the art...but the writing isn't so strong. How the hell could you even compare Watchmen and Scott Pilgrim? That's like comparing Bread and a Humpback Whale. Two completely different things.

The Scott Pilgrim movie, on the other hand, I loved. I might've liked it more than Inception. Oh yeah, I went there.

 

[ANImaniac89]

Well, his logic isn't very sensible...

...but nor was hitting him...

...and it's endear.

This is a friend that I have gotten into fights with before, its not the first time I've hit him, not the first time he's hit me and it won't be the last.
it really doesn't affect our friendship.

and thank you for correcting my spelling error, I'm one of the few that doesn't get offend at criticism. (also I have a bad habit of not proofreading)

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

I've not read the comics, but judging from the movies they simply apply to different ends of the comic-fan spectrum; Watchmen to the gritty, mature, intellectual side, Scott Pilgrim to the childish, gleeful and exciting side. Both great movies, mind you, but they're very different and probably are best not being compared to each other.

 

[feeback06]

No way. Scott Pilgrim will never be what Watchmen was and still is. However the Scott Pilgrim movie was much better then the Watchmen one.

 

[ANImaniac89]

I'm not even counting the movie and the only reason I haven't seen the SP movie is because I am dangerously poor right now, If I had the money I would have gone it looks fun.

 

[L4hlborg]

Haven't seen the movie yet, can't have read the comics, since they probably don't exist in Finland.

But what I can comment on is the fact that good comic/book/game isn't always a good film. So being forced to watch a film because something, I don't believe is as good as Watchmen, is as good as Watchmen, doesn't make too much sense.

Examples: Pretty much any videogame based movie, (apparently) Conan the Barbarian and Judge Dredd (the movies are absolutely ridiculous, but I guess the originals must be better because people bother to defend them) and 2001: Space odyssey (book was actually released afterwards, but it makes sense, unlike the film).

 

[Zorg Machine]

It's not bad but I wouldn't even compare it to the epicness of Watchmen.

 

[Harlemura]

Maybe he preferred Scott Pilgrim? Simple as that?
I'll admit, I've never read a Watchman comic, but I'm guessing they're pretty dark and serious. Scott Pilgrim's not only neither, it's the opposite.

Sure, it's not the best story or storytelling ever to exist, but it's light-hearted. I know I'd prefer that than something gritty that would probably make me miserable in the end.

Haven't seen either movie, by the way.

 

[RowdyRodimus]

Scott Pilgrim is in no way, shape or form even worthy of even being on the same shelf as Watchmen. It is manipulative and calculated so that it would be popular by way of take the popular Manga style and western it up just a bit, take a romantic comedy plot to get the girls to love it and then dose it with the hipsters ironic love of 8 bit games, mix them all together and sht out graphic novel after graphic novel.

People always complain if something isn't innovative but then something like SP comes out that is the most dirivative piece of sequential storytelling since the Image years (taking what's popular and making it for a particular group to invest time and money in) and praise it like it's the second coming.

 

[Shock and Awe]

They are both good comics, and I loved the Watchmen Movie(Haven't seen Scott Pilgrim) but it all really boils down to personal taste. He probably just perfers Scott Pilgrim's light atmosphere to Watchman's dark one.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

Yeah...I really don't understand the hype surrounding the comics. I like the art...but the writing isn't so strong. How the hell could you even compare Watchmen and Scott Pilgrim? That's like comparing Bread and a Humpback Whale. Two completely different things.

The Scott Pilgrim movie, on the other hand, I loved. I might've liked it more than Inception. Oh yeah, I went there.

Wait, you like the art, but not the writing?

The art's serviceable, and certainly improves as the series goes on. O'Malley's dialogue and characters are what really carry the story. They speak naturally and minor characters seem to have lives - and friends - of their own. The story itself is well structured. Each arc seems to have its own theme: in Infinite Sadness, it was willpower - Envy's will to "reinvent herself," Scott's lack of willful self-definition, Todd who appears to be a being of pure willpower but turns out to be a slave to his indulgences. There's more to the story than "Scott loves Ramona for some reason; Scott has to fight a bunch of dudes."

And, hey, maybe you're just missing out on all the Toronto references. As a Toronto-raised, video game loving, recently turned vegan, I found a lot to enjoy in the comic.

Look at it this way: it didn't get all those Eisner nominations for nothing.

 

[Crimson_Dragoon]

While I enjoyed Scott Pilgrim, I can't see how it is remotely as influential or important to comics as Watchmen. Maybe in the years to come, we'll look back and say comics are the way they are because of Scott Pilgrim, but I doubt it.

 

[XJ-0461]

While I like Scott Pilgrim, it's certainly nowhere near Watchmen in terms of "Redefining the genre".

Watchmen was a landmark, in so far as it showed that comics weren't just for kids. Scott Pilgrim is entertaining, for me at least, but it's no game changer of a series.

 

[Agayek]

A few days ago I was talking comics with a good friend and he mentioned how he had recently seen Scott Pilgrim. I told him that I planed to wait for the DVD to which he replied with a gasp followed by the statement "You should go see it now, it based on the most important graphic novels since Watchmen, if not being more important then Watchmen." it was at this moment that I hit him....... really hard.... in the head.
I had at that point already read all 6 volumes of the book and even though I didn't hate them, but they really didn't endear themselves to me. All I got from the Scott Pilgrim's wanna be manga adventure was a stranded romantic comedy made slightly pretentious. I really don't get it, am I missing something? Is Scott Pilgrim some epic piece of graphic storytelling destined to be one of the greatest graphic novels ever. or was it an overrated hipster love story that only caught on because it aware of the Video games?

You're not missing anything. It's basically a Western romantic comedy created as a manga. The books are fairly good in my opinion, but there's no way in hell it compares to Watchmen.

That said, the Scott Pilgrim movie is fantastic and anyone even vaguely connected to video games should watch it. I love it to death.

Maybe he preferred Scott Pilgrim? Simple as that?
I'll admit, I've never read a Watchman comic, but I'm guessing they're pretty dark and serious. Scott Pilgrim's not only neither, it's the opposite.

Sure, it's not the best story or storytelling ever to exist, but it's light-hearted. I know I'd prefer that than something gritty that would probably make me miserable in the end.

Haven't seen either movie, by the way.

Watchmen is very grimdark [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DarkerAndEdgier?from=Main.GrimDark]. It's actually one of, if not the comic that started the 90's grimdark anti-hero fad. It's also a fantastic comic in and of itself. I highly recommend it to everyone. Find a torrent somewhere and download scans of it if you refuse to spend money on it, but at least read it.

 

[ANImaniac89]

He also was the first of us to read and see Watchmen and he loved it.

Again I don't hate the SP books, I only see them for what they are too me.
on the other Hand I LOVE the Scott Pilgrim Game on PSN

 

[RathWolf]

Scott Pilgrim is entertaining, sure, but I can't really see anyone justifiably calling it particularly 'important' to comics.