Seconds: A Graphic Novel

If you know Scott Pilgrim, then you know then you’ve already been introduced to Bryan Lee O’Malley, however, when someone recommended Seconds to me, I was curious. In many ways, this standalone comic is a stunning, complex, and contemporary graphic novel that is woven with great storytelling and a graphic style that appeals to a wide range of readers. Katie Clay, the main character is a chef who runs a hip and popular restaurant. Her vision is to open another restaurant with a new vision, a new idea, and a new start. She feels like she is in limbo as she looks forward but feels trapped in her current life. When she sulks in her bedroom, one night, she finds a strange and foreboding box in her dresser. She opens the box and finds a kit for undoing her bad decisions. Step one: write down your error in the little notebook. Step two: eat a mysterious red mushroom. Step Three: go to sleep and when you wake up, your life is changed. Sounds simple. Katie is a successful professional, but not the most mature, friendly, kind person. While most of the time, her missteps and regrets are minor, she begins to think that the box in her dresser can change all that. Before things get too far out of hand, she meets the “house spirit” who warns her that she should not be meddling her past as it will certainly have grave impacts. This graphic novel even breaks the fourth wall, in a playful, innovative vision of storytelling. The art work, retains O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim style, but it is enhanced in some unique and focused storytelling areas. Described as a manga-style, it is the artistic vision of this comic that makes it different, compelling, and better than some of the other time altering stories. It is about an empowered woman who wants to change parts of her life and win her vision of her life, but with it comes the sacrifice of those specific changes. The good news, this is not Ground Hog Day, in fact, O’Malley is much more innovative and fresh with the idea of possessing god-like powers to undo mistakes. Katie is well crafted artistically and narratively in that she would appeal to a teenager or an adult equally. While the character is illustrated in an O’Malley style that makes her seem young, she has the life and sass of an adult. Pushing the character to cover that much space allows more people to identify with the protagonist. Katie sometimes feels like a bossy seventeen year-old, but she also has the responsibility and the vision of her adult self. This is a graphic novel that will draw you in. You will want to finish it in one sitting, even though you know you should slow down and savor it a bit. There are a lot of different elements to like here, colorful and dynamic art work, compelling storytelling, and a time shifting story that is innovative and fun to read.

I have to say as a huge fan of Scott Pilgrim (my favorite comic ever) and a fan of Lost at Sea, I was expecting to love this book. And I did. However, I thought I'd also offer my thoughts just as a general reader. O'Malley doing another concise tale like Lost at Sea was a good change of pace after Scott Pilgrim. His drawing style has finally gotten to a very refined place where everything he does just looks perfect. The added bonus of color really makes everything pop as well. As for the characters, once again he litters the book with all sorts of colorful interesting characters and the main character, Katie, is no exception. She's clearly got issues and you know from the first page this story is going to be some kind of life lesson for her to learn. Not to spoil too much about the plot, but it is yet another story dealing with someone who has the opportunity to change mistakes of their past. Obviously this kind of thing has been done in a lot of time travel stories and yet here O'Malley has somehow found an interesting and new approach to this kind of tale. At the end of the day this book definitely gets a strong recommendation from me if you're at all interested in a funny/weird/charming tale in a way that only O'Malley could have done. All of his books feel personal and yet completely different which is pretty cool. If I had to compare it to the other works of his, I would say it's not as good as Scott Pilgrim (but that was a much bigger story anyway), but it's easily better than Lost at Sea. So yes, if you're at all a fan of quirky comics or O'Malley himself, definitely give this a read.

(To avoid writing a thesis statement about how "thought-provoking" and "life-changing" this graphic novel is, let's just collect ourselves by stating the mantra: "It's just a graphic novel.") As all of the other reviews have blared, it is clear O'Malley has another masterpiece on his hands. Upon my reading... Well, uh. I... It's... uh. For the sake of my sanity, lets start with the GOOD. O'Malley's vibrant illustrations jump off the pages, just as it has in his past works (Scott Pilgrim; Lost at Sea; Hopeless Savages). I would wholeheartedly claim that the art ALONE would bring me back for a few more ganders. But the art isn't the only thing I adored, as our story is a solid one! While Scott Pilgrim kind of lost my interest a few volumes in, I was engaged in our main protagonist's (Katie) plight. Though I will talk about it more later on, the end (I won't spoil it) isn't my favorite. And now... the BAD. Well, I wouldn't say "the bad", more like "personal gripes." The main thing that keeps this from 5-star stardom would be the characters. To put it lightly, our side characters are a tad boring. (Except Lis, who is great!) I can never overlook things like bland characters, especially when the point of a graphic novel is to give life to a story. Now, I know the focus is supposed to remain on Katie, but the rest of the characters are WAY TOO one-dimensional. And the "just side characters" argument isn't even applicable, since two of these side characters (the run-of-the-mill, awkward "womanchild"-who-is-gifted-in-some-way Hazel and... the ex-boyfriend character - I can't even remember his name, he's that forgettable of a character.) are essential to the plot. Actually, speaking of the ex-boyfriend, taking the whole "love triangle" out ENTIRELY would have bumped this up to a 4 1/2 at least. While reading, I kept finding myself asking "Okay, okay they're in love I get it. Can we get please get back to the interesting stuff? Y'know, magic mushrooms? Spirits? Jokes? Character Development? Women Empowerment? JOKES?" A couple of pages would suffice, thank you very much. But most of this just feels like Scott and Ramona backwash, and I didn't even like the Scott/Ramona relationship. As I alluded to before, the ending can bite me. Without spoiling the end TOO MUCH, I'll just leave it at this. (If you don't want it spoiled at all, skip this part.) *************************Spoilers************************* Deus ex machina is a plague we need to wipe of the face of storytelling forever. And the fact I already knew how it would happen MAKES IT 20x WORSE. (Freaking mushroom in the car?! WHAT?!) With endings that felt more justified (Scott Pilgrim) and cleverer (Lost at Sea) under Bryan Lee O'Malley's belt, it kind of left me in disbelief. ***********End of Spoilers*********** If you can look past some drab characters and cliches, "Seconds" is a fantastic read for anyone looking for some beautiful art and story. Hey, you might even learn something. "Seconds gets a solid 8/10 in my book, but it's always subjective.

One of my favorite books. Beautifully illustrated, great story line, dark underlying theme and good humor- this book has it all!!! I actually lent this book to (my now ex) boyfriend to read, but we broke up before he finished the book and I never got it back. So I went looking for a new copy, and behold, I find the exact same copy I had before! I’ve read this book so many time, but I couldn’t help myself from getting another copy. It’s just such a good book, and a great one to have lying around. It’s a quick read, dispite how thick the book looks, and I’ve found that once you start reading it you can’t really put it down. It’s great for all ages, I actually got this book in middle school, and I still love it, but be warned it has some mature themes. I also have dyslexia and I’ve found grapic novels to be the best to read... for the longest time I hated reading because it was so difficult, made my head hurt and everyone else seemed so much better than me with it. This was the book that made me want to start reading again. 10/10.

The art is out of this world- there are several points in the story where the art alone (in all its manga/cartoonish style) very effectively and powerfully communicates a sentiment. The art leading up to the conclusion intensifies the unsettling narrative. Some of the panels near the end were particularly poignant. Drawings of the town and the two buildings where most of the action takes place were stunning - very rich, beautiful and vibrant. The story was sweet and engaging. It was generally light-hearted and funny though with some darkness toward the end as things spiralled out of control for the protagonist. The one very tiny flaw is that the motive for some of the protagonist's behaviour (ie the ex-boyfriend) was a little clunky ...the relationship came across as no more significant than a subsequent relationship. This made some of the story a little perplexing. BUT this is a tiny gripe and doesn't affect the overall compellability of the story. A+!!

I loved this book, and I gave it to a few of my friends to read as well. One of my friends (Who is 17) commented, "I liked it, but I didn't like it as much as Scott Pilgrim, because it wasn't as funny." I said, "Well...Have you read Lost at Sea? Because that REALLY wasn't meant to be funny." Since then, I have described Seconds as in-between the seriousness of Lost at Sea, and the clever, funny writing O'Malley has in Scott Pilgrim. There were just enough scenes where I laughed out loud all alone to make the comedy spot-on, and just enough super deep questions about life to make me have all the feels. I think this story will also resonate more for anyone who is in their mid-20's to 30's. It's almost like each of the stories I just mentioned go over a period of ages in life- Lost at Sea is 17-19, Scott Pilgrim is 20-24, Seconds is 25-30. I think you can love the story at any age, but just like Catcher in the Rye meant more to me at 17 than it did at 24, I think Seconds will mean more to you if you're in the age range I just mentioned.

I have to say, when I bought this book, I didn't expect all that much from it. I had always been a fan of the Scott Pilgrim books, and when I saw that O'Malley had made ANOTHER novel I was pretty excited to say the least! Going in, I guess I was sort of expecting another bombastic, over-the-top thrill ride adventure that you get from Scott Pilgrim, but what I was very pleasently suprised when I was instead greeted by a rather intriguing and down-to-earth book about some pretty adult themes that you don't see often enough nowadays, all-the-while maintaining that sense of delight and otherworldliness that O'Malley so expertly weaves into all of his works, whether it be the fast-paced explosive video gasme inspired world of Scott Pilgrim, or his lesser-known but just as awe-inspiring world of Lost at Sea. Seconds is a FANTASTIC, captivating and beautiful work of art by an equaly fantastic author, who has once again worked wonders with his illustrations in this neat littke package of a book, and I DARE you not to read the whole book in one sitting!

Good read, funny story, and has that new book smell if you are into that. Had this for almost a year and binding of book still intacked. Comes with sleeve.

Bryan Lee O'Maley ist ein fantastischer Autor und Künstler. Dieses Buch ist sehr spannend, humorvoll aber gleichzeitig auch ernst. Der eher süße Zeichenstil schadet der Ernsthaftigkeit kein bisschen und ist sehr gut gelungen. Meiner Meinung nach ist das Buch in ein, auch für Deutsche, gut verständliches Englisch geschrieben. Natürlich gibt es hin und wieder Wörter die man nachschlagen muss aber das sind nur wenige oder das Wort erschließt sich aus dem Zusammenhang. Ich habe c.a. 3 - 4h gebraucht um diese Graphic Novel durchzulesen, ich habe sie auch bereits mehrmals gelesen. Im Buch sind auch vereinzelt Scott Pilgrim Referenzen zu finden, ich fand beim lesen 3 vlt. findet ihr ja mehr ;)

The best Comic after Scott Pilgrim! I really enjoyed reading it! Seconds is a masterpiece of comic's art and the delivery was fast and safety.

Bryan Lee O'Malley é mais conhecido pela série Scott Pilgrim - adaptada para um filme sensacional. Eu adoro Scott Pilgrim mas a a série não merecia um 5/5 redondo principalmente porque eu detesto o casal protagonista. Assim, Seconds para mim vem como uma evolução! O traço de O'Malley vai sempre ser o que mais brilha. É muito amor, muito muito lindo. E poder vê-lo colorido é ainda melhor (agora estou querendo muito as edições coloridas de Scott...)! A história desenvolve bem e atinge um ápice excepcional - um que eu não imaginava que atingiria. O livro fica bastante sério, coisa que você não imagina no começo. Gosto muito do desenvolvimento de tudo, e como você se identifica facilmente com Katie - a protagonista - o desenvolvimento dela é muito gostoso de assistir. Essa edição é TUDO! Eu já tinha visto Seconds em uma livraria, mas a edição paperback (e mais cara que essa). Quando vi uma booktuber postando a foto dele em hardcover, sem a jacket no instagram... Tinha que comprá-la! Dei de presente para meu noivo, que gosta mais de O'Malley que eu, e aproveitei para ler depois dele. A capa dura é divina! Acho que a jacket nunca mais vai ser posta! Vale cada centavo, é uma excelente hq :)

El producto llegó desde muy lejos en menos tiempo de la fecha establecida (¡agradecido!), tanto el servicio de envió como el repartidor fueron eficientes. El cómic vino en la caja de protección habitual de Amazon, sin plástico de burbujas que lo cubra pero en muy buena conservación, los materiales del cómic se nota que son de calidad y a este precio era algo que no podía dejar pasar. Una obra más personal a la par que entretenida del gran O'Malley, recomendada.

It's been four years since the final volume of Bryan Lee O'Malley's hit graphic series, Scott Pilgrim, was released. Now he has graced us again with stand-alone story 'Seconds'. Katie is a chef whose life seems to be going great until one day turns everything bad. However she can make everything the way she wants it, revise her bad day, when a mysterious house spirit allows her a single mushroom. The rules are simple: 1) Write your mistake, 2) Ingest one mushroom, 3) Go to sleep, 4) Wake anew. However, greedy to make things absolutely perfect, Katie starts breaking the rules and she falls into a mess of strange alternate worlds where a dark shadow stalks her dreams. Returning after too long O'Malley brings together all the things that made Scott Pilgrim so ingenious and adds more to create a new story well worth reading. The art is adorable, the characters are a hilarious delight, the story is haunting, and the mix of fantsasy and reality creates a world you can't help but get pulled into. If you enjoyed Scott Pilgrim you should definitely pick up Seconds. If you haven't read Scott Pilgrim then Seconds is still most certainly worth your time (and when you've finished it aslo go read Scott Pilgrim). Bryan Lee O'Malley back at his best, this graphic novel is most definitely desrving of the rating I'm giving it. Five stars, buy it now!