Review by Woodrow Phoenix
Bryan Lee O’Malley’s videogame, anime and shojo fight-comic-inspired series Scott Pilgrim was six digest size black-and-white volumes published between 2004 and 2010. The series won an Eisner Award, two Harvey Awards, a Doug Wright Award, a Joe Shuster Award and “Best of” accolades from magazines like Entertainment Weekly and Publisher’s Weekly. A film adaptation of the series titled Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and a video game adaptation, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, were both released in 2010. A full colour version of the series was published between 2012 and 2015. Things were quiet for a few years until in 2023 an eight-part animated TV series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was screened on Netflix.
In 2024 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the debut of this seemingly unkillable series there are now two box sets. One features the original black and white versions of the comics, and one features the colour versions, packaged in deluxe, clamshell collector’s boxes designed to look like Sony Playstation packaging. Even the ‘ONI’ of Oni Press is given the SONY logo treatment, which is very pleasing for type nerds.
If you choose to buy the Scott Pilgrim 20th Anniversary Color Hardcover Box Set what you will find inside after flipping open the clamshell lid is seven hardcover books and an envelope of extras. The books are the Scott Pilgrim Color Edition Volumes 1–6. Each book is a hardcover with sewn binding, featuring covers with new art by Bryan Lee O’Malley. The drawings on these covers are the same as on the black and white box set versions, but they have different text and graphics, and are of course in vivid full colour. Each volume is a different colour so the spines have a rainbow look unlike the black and white box set versions whose spines are all a uniform white.
The seventh book is another hardcover, Scott Pilgrim Collected Extras. These are all the additional pages, sketches, stories etc that were part of the 2012-2015 books, all removed and put into one volume. This book is the same edition in both boxes, with the same full colour interior content. The envelope contains three sheets of stickers, two posters, a prismatic card version of the cover to volume six with Ramona’s glowing head, and a parody leaflet of Playstation instructions on how to read these books (‘Quick Start Guide: Thank you for your purchase. This guide will help with initial setup so you can quickly begin creating memories with your SCOTT PILGRIM™ 20TH ANNIVERSARY BOX SET.’). Apart from the new covers, some design touches inside and the removal of the extras into their own book, these reprintings are functionally identical to the earlier colour books. Both boxes are beautifully designed, and equally desirable. If you were a fan of this series you already know which version you prefer.
