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But then we rewatched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and I'm pretty sure that was it. Come on, picture it:
Perry is Wallace: gay man, cruel humor, the only competent person in the story, but Perry has less drinking and more pants. The drinking and pants are the only thing I'd change about KKBB.
Harry is Scott: the lovable loser who has screwed up everything he tried to do before, straightens himself out fighting for the woman's affection. He's better than Scott because he's amusing and likable while he's being a loser, while Scott's flaws often make him so unlikable we don't care about him.
Harmony as Ramona: the crush object who's too good for the loser. This doesn't work quite as well, but we have to post to DW with the tortured analogues we have, not those we wish for.
The murder mystery also helps improve the story in that the driving plot doesn't require us to like the characters as much. If you don't like Scott you don't care about his love life, while if you don't like Harry you could still want to see the mystery solved. It's also advantageous that the whole thing isn't about Harry and Harmony getting together, that all happens around the rest of it, so it gets done with a couple of broad strokes. The heavy focus on the relationship in SP means that there are a lot more places it can go wrong.
Finally, it was shorter and written as one piece. SP suffers from unevenness and bloat because of it's length and being written over 6 years. I think a shorter, more tightly plotted graphic novel would have benefited the plot more.
I may still get around to poking at Scott Pilgrim with a pointed stick and calling out what did and didn't work, but until then just imagine a world where Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer were 20-something roommates in Toronto.
Perry is Wallace: gay man, cruel humor, the only competent person in the story, but Perry has less drinking and more pants. The drinking and pants are the only thing I'd change about KKBB.
Harry is Scott: the lovable loser who has screwed up everything he tried to do before, straightens himself out fighting for the woman's affection. He's better than Scott because he's amusing and likable while he's being a loser, while Scott's flaws often make him so unlikable we don't care about him.
Harmony as Ramona: the crush object who's too good for the loser. This doesn't work quite as well, but we have to post to DW with the tortured analogues we have, not those we wish for.
The murder mystery also helps improve the story in that the driving plot doesn't require us to like the characters as much. If you don't like Scott you don't care about his love life, while if you don't like Harry you could still want to see the mystery solved. It's also advantageous that the whole thing isn't about Harry and Harmony getting together, that all happens around the rest of it, so it gets done with a couple of broad strokes. The heavy focus on the relationship in SP means that there are a lot more places it can go wrong.
Finally, it was shorter and written as one piece. SP suffers from unevenness and bloat because of it's length and being written over 6 years. I think a shorter, more tightly plotted graphic novel would have benefited the plot more.
I may still get around to poking at Scott Pilgrim with a pointed stick and calling out what did and didn't work, but until then just imagine a world where Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer were 20-something roommates in Toronto.
