I've been a fan of Bryan Lee O'Malley since before Lost At Sea. The first Scott Pilgrim book, Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, greatly exceeded my expectations, and I was looking forward to it in the first place. It was with the second volume though, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, that I realised it was something really special. Whereas other series of this nature start off with a bang and slowly lose momentum, Scott Pilgrim was actually gaining momentum. Scott Pilgrim has since become the highlight of my comic reading calendar each year.
The first thing notable about the fourth installment in the series is how much O'Malley has refined his art. The characters have become somewhat rounder, cuter and more emotive, the linework crisper and clearer. The jump in quality is significantly greater than that between the earlier volumes, though thankfully not to the point of distraction (just don't try to go back to volume 1 immediately after sampling this one).
This time we see more personal growth from Scott as he attempts to Get It Together, I expect that within time this volume will be considered the biggest turning point for the series. We finally get more of a feel for Ramona Flowers, who was previously somewhat two-dimensional and served more as a catalyst than a fully rounded character. I'm very curious as to what direction she will be taken in over the next two books. Anyway, I don't want to say much more just yet for fear of spoiling too much, because as usual the little inconsequential "bits" are almost as satisfying as the large plot developments. Just expect more of the usual awesomeness, some interesting new characters and the coolest "evil ex-boyfriend" yet.
A preview of the first 8 pages is available on the NY Mag website, but if you plan on getting the book any time soon then I'd recommend steering clear of it. It doesn't have any real spoilers as such, just ruins a nice surprise - the fact that the first few pages are in colour. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/20 ... cs_sp.html
