Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim has never really gone away. But this year, it came back with a vengeance, thanks to the Netflix anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. Bringing back the cast of the 2010 movie to voice their roles in a wild reimagining of the romance/video game/comic book mash-up only added to the fever pitch for fans, who once again began arguing about whether Scott Pilgrim is a good guy or a bad guy; whether Sex Bob-Omb is a good band or a bad band; and whether the movie from Edgar Wright is amazingly perfect, or just perfect. Add in the news that next year's 20th anniversary from Oni Press (branded SP20) will see two massive box sets and new swag, and Scott Pilgrim has once again conquered the world.
- Alexander Zalben
Comic Book Club Podcast Host
Best fan moment of the year
The announcement of the Netflix anime was pretty great. The release of the anime broke the internet in the absolute best way. Over eight episodes, fans screamed, argued, and lost their minds all over again. Will the Scott Pilgrim fandom ever be the same? Probably not, and that's the whole point.
What we’ll remember about this fandom a decade from now
Bryan Lee O'Malley's laudable willingness to reevaluate his own work and provide different perspectives on his story goes against entertainment's non-stop fever for remake after remake. From the books to the movie to the video game, to the anime — and perhaps beyond — Scott Pilgrim has been vastly different in every iteration, while still maintaining the core of humor and emotion that made the property work in the first place. And through it all, the fandom has had that same willingness to explore Scott's (and Bryan's) weird world together.