Scott Pilgrim = Watchmen ?

[Ampersand]

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?

Personally i think watchmen is over-rated.
I thought that the film scott pilgrim worked alot better then the books. For one it was hilarious. It somehow manages to make a string of bizar events totally believable, and the characters actually behaved the way people do.(which is something i haven't seen in a film for a wile.) Also it's the first time it a long time that i really identified with a main character.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

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.

Worse things can happen to the future of comics than some writers taking notes from O'Malley.

The thing that Watchmen did - narratively, at least - was it redefined the way Superheroes were treated. Of course, Frank Miller did it a few months first.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

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.

*Cough* Dark Knight Returns *Cough*

 

[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.

Worse things can happen to the future of comics than some writers taking notes from O'Malley.

The thing that Watchmen did - narratively, at least - was it redefined the way Superheroes were treated. Of course, Frank Miller did it a few months first.

I'm not saying it would be bad if more comics were influenced by Scott Pilgrim, I'm just saying I don't see that as likely.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

I didn't like the Watchman movie. It...it just didn't really reach me, I know they're meant to be anti-heroes, but...you know, I probably shouldn't complain about it here, I'll probably wait for Scott Pilgrim to come out on a Redbox somewhere before I watch it.

 

[LightspeedJack]

That's like saying Hot Fuzz is a more important film than A Clockwork Orange. They re both great but completely different.

 

[Tagball]

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.

Well, I just like the pretty pictures more.

The main reason I somewhat disliked the comic was because the characters were emotionally distant. I couldn't connect with them. I remember genuinely feeling sad at certain scenes in comics like Y:The Last Man, Preacher and The Walking Dead.

If you can say that you enjoyed the comics and the themes its composed of, then that's great. You saw something that I didn't. Besides, O'Malley still got his money from me. I have the whole series, anyway.

 

[Phoenixlight]

Watchmen is nothing like Scott Pilgrim it's a hell of a lot better and for a mature audience, you shouldn't have hit your friend like that though :/

 

[Agayek]

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.

*Cough* Dark Knight Returns *Cough*

Yea, you're probably right there. I should have said "inspired" instead of "started", but I'm going on like 2 hours of sleep so I'm a little muddled.

 

[the Dept of Science]

The Scott Pilgrim movie was much better than the Watchmen movie. Although the comics were very enjoyable, they were hardly game changing in the way that Watchmen was.

I'm not really a massive graphic novel reader, the guy at my local comic book store reckons that Jimmy Corrigan: Smartest Kid on Earth, should be one of the most important graphic novels since Watchmen. However, its just not got the attention it deserves (its subject matter isn't exactly populist and a film adaptation is way out the picture). I've read it and can definately vouch for him, its an amazing read. Beautiful and powerful unlike any other graphic novel I've read (including Watchmen).

 

[Crapster]

Uh... No. Not really. Not even close.

As far as movie adaptations go, the Scott Pilgrim movie trumped the Watchmen one because it has a very clear appreciation and understanding of the story and characters, which was the big thing that hindered the Watchmen movie.

The comics are fun, but the Scott Pilgrim comics CANNOT compare to the Watchmen ones at all. Watchmen has some significant literary weight behind it, while Scott Pilgrim has simple fun. I like them both, and if I had to read one right now I would go with Scott Pilgrim, but they aren't the same level. Also, in all honesty, I'll be very surprised if we hear about Scott Pilgrim a year from now. The story is concluded, the movie and game are done... I think that's it.

 

[Danzaivar]

You missed the possibility that the Watchmen wasn't actually that good either.

Then again, comparing a super-hero/social-commentary to a hipster/love/videogame-logic story is kind of flawed. Different people like different things and all that.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Wait what? Did he huff something filled with noxious gas? I don't understand how one could come to that conclusion. I'm glad you hit him perhaps you knocked a bit of sense into his brain.

 

[Ciran]

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?

Um, are those really the only two options? That seems a bit drastic to me. I loved the Scott Pilgrim series, but I wouldn't put it on the same level of "importance" (though I think determining the importance of something is somewhat relative, especially in relation to comics) as Watchmen, but then again I wouldn't say it's overrated, at least not by most people. As for the movie, yes it was good and just as enjoyable as Watchmen, but for very different reasons.

 

[Woodsey]

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

This will bring you back round:


[small]I've been waiting for any excuse to post this for weeks![/small]

 

[Tsaba]

this is like comparing apples to oranges, SP was an awesome movie, period, go ahead and wait for DVD release, I'm still waiting for inception.

 

[Frequen-Z]

I saw the title of this thread and rushed to make an angry post. Then you said you hit him and now I'm relaxed. The very thought of the two comics being equal disgusts me.

In a fancy regal themed analogy. Watchmen is maybe a King, or Prince (King being The Dark Knight Returns or The Killing Joke) and Scott Pilgrim is a peasant, maybe he lives within 200 meters of the King's castle, doesn't matter, he's still a peasant.

 

[Madara XIII]

Scott Pilgrim Movie and Watchmen Movie were Both GODLY!!!

The Novels?

Watchmen was a badass Novel but the Scott Pilgrim one was so-so