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Comics & Graphic Novels Science Fiction

Seconds

A Graphic Novel

by (author) Bryan Lee O'Malley

Publisher
Random House of Canada
Initial publish date
Jul 2014
Category
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Humorous
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780307363060
    Publish Date
    Jul 2014
    List Price
    $32.00

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

The highly anticipated new stand-alone, full-colour graphic novel from Bryan Lee O'Malley, author and artist of the hugely bestselling (and Toronto-set) Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series.
Seconds is a complex and novelistic stand-alone story about a young restaurant owner named Katie who, after being visited by a magical apparition, is given a second chance at love and to undo her wrongs. Fans new and old will love O'Malley's bold and quirky style infused with his subtle, playful humour.

About the author

Awards

  • Nominated, OLA Evergreen Award

Contributor Notes

Bryan Lee O’Malley is the creator of the bestselling Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series, which was adapted into a major motion picture, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, in 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, where he continues to make comics.

Editorial Reviews

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“Funny, colourfully drawn, briskly plotted and packed with enough detailed food porn to set serious foodies salivating, Seconds is a slight afternoon read, tackling Millennial anxiety and all that (often overstated) quarter-life crisis stuff in its own light-touch way.” —The Globe and Mail

“Fans of Scott Pilgrim know that O’Malley writes and draws quirky humour like no one else.”
Ottawa Citizen

“In Seconds…O’Malley addresses bigger, and sometimes darker, themes like regret, ambition and relationships. But he leaves room for magic in the panels, too…. Seconds isn’t quite as jam-packed with cultural references as Scott Pilgrim, but both books relish the details: Beautiful pages illuminate layouts of Katie’s home and workplaces. Delectable dishes are described at length. Even his characters’ wardrobe choices are spot-on.”
USA Today

“O’Malley’s created another funny, videogame-inflected world where relatable human emotions meet surreal, fantastic elements…. O’Malley’s clearly grappling with some big issues here, about personal responsibility, decision-making, and regret…. A step forward both artistically and thematically.”
The Portland Mercury

“It’s part cautionary fable, part second-coming-of-age drama, wistfully nostalgic while never shying away from the rough patches on the road from ‘adulthood’ to adulthood.”
Grantland

“Richly imagined and vibrantly drawn, Seconds is a funny, surprising, and enchanting read.”
Publishers Weekly

“You can recognize the blithely witty banter of Scott Pilgrim in Seconds, but it’s a stand-alone graphic novel, indebted to the rounded, stylized figures of cartoonists like Rumiko Takahashi and the landscapes laid out in modern European comics, rather than the adventure manga his previous work suggested. It’s a book restless in scope yet quotidian in scale, an existential fable.”
Slate

“Seconds is beautiful. It’s a beautifully designed shiny hardcover with a funky slip jacket. It looks and feel substantial in your hands. All 323 pages of this gorgeous tome are in full colour. It’s the kind of comic you want to put on your shelf just because it’s so damned pretty. But the best thing is that it’s also really, really, really good…. Because this is Bryan Lee O’Malley, the story is told with warmth and humour…. This is a comic that shows off O’Malley’s ability to create character and explore emotional depth while still being otherworldly, fun, and weird…. This is the graphic novel event of 2014, as far as I’m concerned.” —Book Riot
“In Seconds, Bryan Lee O’Malley plays the angst of youth against the fabric of larger epics. In doing so, he enriches both. At long last, dear reader, one can dream of heroes and monsters and battles beyond this earth while contemplating the virtues of ‘having a thing’ in the grocery pantry. A great ride!”
—Guillermo del Toro

“Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Seconds is adorable, haunting, funny, and beautiful. A perfect recipe for a great graphic novel.”
—Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics

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