The fifth Free Comic Book Day had come and gone.

One of the event’s most talked-about comic was Brian Lee O’Malley’s Free Scott Pilgrim #1 – FCBD EDITION from Oni Press.

Those who had gone to Strange Adventures in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada surely had their Free Brian Lee O’Malley Day as the 2006 Shuster Awards winner did a free signing on May 6.

However, most fans were disappointed when they couldn’t get hold of a copy of Free Scott Pilgrim. And the comic, under the Silver Sponsor category, wasn’t even available in some comic book stores.

What’s so good about a free comic if it’s not available for all to read, right?

When contacted by Newsarama.com, O’Malley agreed to present the entire Free Scott Pilgrim available for free for all Newsarama readers.

“It seems to have gotten a lot of good buzz on the internet, yeah. I think a few publishers are really starting to see FCBD as an opportunity to put out something nice for their readers, as well as gain new readers. I didn't want to make a book that people would toss in a trash can right outside their comic shop, you know? Anyway, I've heard from multiple people who read the free comic and have decided to pick up the books, so that's great,” the 27-year-old O’Malley said.

He added that with the Free Scott Pilgrim comic, “I had the complicated goal of telling a simple, straightforward, spoiler-free story that introduces the basic concepts of Scott Pilgrim while also providing a new piece of the story for my existing readers. Oh, and I tried to make it entertaining and funny, and not to mess up the drawing too badly. I gave myself two weeks to do it, but I was still working on Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness at the same time, so I kind of crammed all the drawing for Free Scott Pilgrim into two or three days.

“This wasn't really mentioned anywhere, but Free Scott Pilgrim takes place after Volume 3. However, it's sort of picking up an obscure loose plot thread from Volume 2, and there are no spoilers whatsoever (except for hairstyles, all of which grow out from Volume 3). Anyway, truly hardcore fans will wait to read Volume 3 before reading this comic, so they can read it all in sequence.”

So, did Free Scott Pilgrim meet the objectives that he’d set out to achieve? “It's a semi-charming little book, I think. It probably seems better than it is because it's free. You don't expect free stuff to be any good (unless it's ice cream), which is maybe one of the psychological barriers to Free Comic Book Day.”

The FCBD story introduced Scott and his friends to first-time readers and it also provided fans with another adventure that they'd embarked on. Wallace Wells, Ramona Flowers and Scott are characters that would appeal to the average American reader, and O’Malley reiterated what he said before that the characters were originally loosely based on himself, his girlfriend and his roommate when he was then 23 years old. “But I'd like to think they have since grown into their own unique personalities. I certainly don't think of them as myself, my roommate and my girlfriend anymore, but I do think "what would he say in this situation?" or whatever, when I feel stuck.”

The third Scott Pilgrim book is scheduled to be in stores on May 24. What's Scott and gang up to this time around? “It already feels so long ago for me,” O’Malley said. “Uh, it continues directly from the end of Volume 2, and takes place from Friday night to Monday morning, and a whole bunch of stuff happens in that time. Pretty much everyone gets to fight everyone else at some point. Bands play music. Girls wear outfits. Sound effects get very large at times. I hope people like it. All I wanted to do was make you happy, people.”

Look for an in-depth interview with O’Malley on Scott Pilgrim Volume 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness and more here at Newsarama.com next week. In the meantime, check out the Free Scott Pilgrim story, available here.

[Note: Free Scott Pilgrim also includes a new back-up featuring Fearless Griggs. The creator, Andy Helms, has put up a 24-page story on the web for free here.]

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