Scott Pilgrim and Sharknife

[Blackroot]

.... Not sure if I "Get" them. I was expecting some thing more... well, innovative. Judging from the rave reviews everyone here seemed to give them. So far, in the Scott Pilgrim one "Precious little life" I'm guessing that the innovation was the dialogue and the story that didnt seem to really go anywhere untill the last 5 pages or so. All of a sudden everyone has super kung fu powers or something. What am I missing?

Sharkinfe gave me a headache the first 5 pages and I opted for reading it when I wasnt on the can so I could concentrait on it more, but so far, its a very busy and a touch difficult to make out just what the heck is happeing in the frames....

Seems more exciting than Scott Pilgrim though.

crap, does this mean Im getting old?

[DJ Kenobi]

There is already a thread on Scott Pilgrim here in Comics Analysis, right over here:

http://www.penciljack.com/forum/show...=scott+pilgrim

If you'd like to give a full review of Sharknife, that would be great. But otherwise this is really more of a general discussion type topic.
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In non-mod mode now, I haven't read Sharknife, but I obviously think Scott Pilgrim is the cat's meow. The dialogue is great, yes. But where the innovative part comes in, for me at least, is in the story construction. Through his characterization, dialogue, art, etc, O'Malley builds a story that walks this fine line of being recognizable to a wide variety of people yet seems original. And best of all, he can seamlessly move from post-adolescent melodrama to action of the wacky sort, with numerous stops in comedy and slice of life goodness. Looked at as a whole, Precious Little Life is a brilliantly constructed book occupying numerous places genre-wise.

I'll be picking up Vol 2 this weekend, I'm sure a thread will be started for discussing it soon. If no review of Sharknife is posted, this thread will most likely be folded into the Scott Pilgrim Vol 2 thread, that might be better than the Break Room for this topic.

[Inkthinker]

I agree that Reyy needs to work on his storytelling clarity, but what I loved about Sharknife was the dialogue and the characters. The whole chapter on the villain and his fashion sense was hilarious, and the plot moves fast and furiously.

It's very vibrant and more than a little wacky, and I think readers respond to that.

[Huerta]

I personally thought Sharknife was weak. I could barely make out the panels and there just wasn’t well... A STORY! I got it cause I like his art and the design of the main dude is slick.
The only thing I liked about the book was the last page.

Hope the next one is better
AH

[Carter]

I have to agree with the comments on Sharknife's storytelling. Awesome character designs, great dialogue, and fast paced, but confusing as all get out.

Scott Pilgrim Vol.2 however, is a bitch to get ahold of. Vol. 1 remains my favorite comic of the year so far, though.

[Ed]

must...save...money....

[DeForgeo]

I always thought the confusion in Sharknife is part of its appeal. Pumping each panel with claustrophobic speedlines and jagged edges. . . Even if I couldn't tell what was going on in each panel, it was so fun and fast paced that it didn't really matter.

Warren Ellis wrote a good article about these two books and their use of "video game logic". . . I'll try to find a link to it.

[DeForgeo]

It also seems weird that people would have a problem with the "super kung fu powers" at the end of Scott Pilgrim, when superhero comics are full of plot devices that make no sense whatsoever.

For me, those little bits of spontaneity have always been what made comics fun. . .

[Miss V]

It's also weird that people would have a problem with the "super kung fu powers" when one of the plot devices early on in the book is traveling through subspace highways, one which happens to be in Scott's head.

The book proved pretty early on that it wasn't a romantic comedy about perfectly normal people.

[Spidey]

I for one enjoyed Sharknife. I'll admit that some of the action sequence are a bit confusing at first, but you just have to learn how to "read" them. I think Rey does a great job of capturing the raw energy and movement of the action in his pages of Sharknife. I also think the read is enhanced when coupled with the recommended soundtrack at the end of the book. I did however think that the monster designs were a little weak and maybe a little more character development. I personally thought the first chapter with Cheiko(sp?) was one of the best parts of the book.