Bryan Lee O'Malley (born February 21, 1979) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

, best known for the ''

Scott Pilgrim ''Scott Pilgrim'' is a series of graphic novels by Canadian author and comic book artist Bryan Lee O'Malley. The original edition of the series consists of six digest size black-and-white volumes, released between August 2004 and July 2010, by P ...

'' series. He also performs as a musician under the alias Kupek.

Career

Bryan Lee O'Malley attended St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School in London, Ontario, Canada. He went on to start in Film Studies at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

, but dropped out before completing. Prior to having his own material published, O'Malley illustrated the

Oni Press Oni Press is an American independent comic book and graphic novel publisher based in Portland, Oregon, best known for publishing such series as '' Scott Pilgrim'' and ''Rick and Morty''. In 2019, it became an imprint label following the company's ...

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

'' Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero'', written by

Jen Van Meter Jennifer Van Meter is an American comic book writer best known for her Oni Press series ''Hopeless Savages''. Early life and education Van Meter was born and raised in Fresno, California. She graduated from Vassar College with a Bachelor of Art ...

. He also lettered many Oni comics, including the majority of

Chynna Clugston Chynna Clugston Flores ( Clugston; born August 19, 1975) is an American freelance comic book creator known for her manga-influenced teen comedy series '' Blue Monday''. Based in Coarsegold, California, Clugston Flores has been drawing comics si ...

's output between 2002 and 2005. His first original

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

was ''Lost at Sea'', released by Oni Press in 2003. ''Lost at Sea'' is a

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

story about a shy 18-year-old girl named Raleigh, who believes her soul was stolen by a cat, and the road trip she takes across the United States with several teens from her school that she barely knows. From 2004 to 2010, O'Malley worked on the six-volume ''

'' series, published by Oni Press in

digest size Digest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine, but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately . It is also a and format, similar to the size of a DVD case. These sizes evolved from the printing ...

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

books. The series was a critical and commercial success, spawning a full-color re-release, a 2010 film adaptation, '' Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'', a video game adaptation, a number of official soundtracks and an anime adaptation in 2023. O'Malley created the cover art work for the 2012 video game '' Fez''. In July 2014, his graphic novel ''

Seconds The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

'' was released by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...

. In mid 2016, O'Malley revealed the title of his next major graphic novel ''Worst World'', which currently has no release date. He is also the co-creator of the ongoing comic book ''

Snotgirl ''Snotgirl'' is a series of comics created as a collaboration between writer Bryan Lee O'Malley and artist Leslie Hung. They concern Lottie Person — also known as "Snotgirl" — a fashionable social media star with severe allergies. The first iss ...

'' with Leslie Hung. He is officially billed as its writer.

Personal life

O'Malley is of

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

descent from his mother's side and of Irish and

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

from his father's side. In 2004, O'Malley married fellow cartoonist Hope Larson. They lived together in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in 2004, Halifax in 2005,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

from 2008 to 2010, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. They divorced in 2014.

Awards

*2005

Doug Wright Award The Doug Wright Awards for Canadian Cartooning (established in December 2004) are literary awards handed out annually since 2005 during the Toronto Comic Arts Festival to Canadian cartoonists honouring excellence in comics (including webcomics) ...

for Best Emerging Talent2005 Doug Wright Awards Nominees
*2005

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

nominations for Best New Talent, Best Cartoonist, and Best Graphic Album of Original Work *2005

Eagle Awards The Eagle Awards were a series of British awards for comic book titles and creators. They were awarded by UK fans voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's seminal boys' comic ''Eagle'', the awards were launched in ...

nomination for Favourite Comics Writer/Artist; ''Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'' nominated for Favourite Graphic Novel *2005

Joe Shuster Award The Joe Shuster Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards (or Joe Shuster Awards) are given out annually for outstanding achievements in the creation of comic books, graphic novels, webcomics, and comics retailers and publishers by Canadians. The awards, ...

nomination for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) *2006

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

nomination for Best Writer/Artist: Humor *2006

for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) *2006 ''Scott Pilgrim Volume 2'' nominated for

for Best Book2006 Doug Wright Awards Nominees
*2007

nomination for Best Cartoonist *2007

nomination for Best Original Graphic Novel *2007

nomination for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) * 2007

National Cartoonists Society Division Awards The Silver Reuben Award is an award for cartoonists organized by the National Cartoonists Society. Until 2015, the awards was known as the National Cartoonists Society Division Awards. For the National Cartoonists Society's highest award, the Reub ...

nomination for Comic Books Award * 2008 ''Scott Pilgrim Volume 3'' nominated for

for Best Book * 2008

nomination for Best Cartoonist * 2008

nomination for Special Award for Humor in Comics *2008

nomination for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) *2010 ''Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe''

for Best Humor Publication *2010

Special Award for Humor in Comics *2010

nomination for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) * 2010 Lulu Award for Best Female Character ( Ramona Flowers) * 2011

nomination for Special Award for Humor in Comics * 2011

nomination for Best Original Graphic Novel *2011

nomination for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) *2015

nomination for Best Original Graphic Album *2015

nomination for Best Graphic Album—New *2015

for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)

Bibliography

Graphic novels

* ''Lost at Sea'' (2003, ) * '' Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life'' (2004, ) * '' Scott Pilgrim vs. The World'' (2005, ) * '' Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness'' (2006, ) * '' Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together'' (2007, ) * '' Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe'' (2009, ) * '' Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour'' (2010, ) * ''

'' (2014, ) * ''Worst World'' (TBA)

Comic books

* ''Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero'' (drawn) () * '' Sex Criminals'' #11 (variant cover art) * ''

Young Avengers The Young Avengers are the names of two superhero teams appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, the first team appeared in ''Young Avengers'' #1 (April 2005). The Young Avengers tea ...

'' #1 (variant cover art) * ''Sacrifice'' #5 (variant cover art) * ''

The Wicked + The Divine ''The Wicked + The Divine'' is a contemporary fantasy comic book series created by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, and published by Image Comics. The series is largely influenced by pop music and various mythological deities, and includes the ...

'' #1 (variant cover art) * ''Kaijumax'' #1 (variant cover art) * ''Jonesy'' #1 (variant cover art) * ''

'' (written) *'' Street Angel'' (pinup art)

Short stories

* "Lost At Sea", a two-page full-color comic in the ''Oni Press Color Special 2002'' * "Monica Beetle" in ''Project: Superior'' () * "Smiling Is Something That Other People Do", in ''The SPX 2003 Anthology'' ()

Music

O'Malley is also a songwriter and musician (as Kupek) and was formerly in several short-lived

bands such as Imperial Otter and Honey Dear. * ''This is Intolerable'' (2002) * ''Nameless, Faceless Compilation'' (2004) * ''Awkward Songz'' (2005 (split album w/ Faux Photos)) * ''Before the Beginning and After the End'' (2006) * ''B is for Bupek: Miscellany by Kupek'' (2007) * ''Tries Again'' (2008) * ''Good Time Singles Club'' (2009)

References

External links

*
Kupek
at

PureVolume PureVolume (formerly Unborn Media) was a website for uploading and streaming of music files, the first independently run of its type. PureVolume was created by Unborn Media, Inc; Mitchell Pavao; Brett Woitunski; and Nate Hudson, all from the Univer ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Omalley, Bryan Lee 1979 births Living people Artists from London, Ontario Canadian comics writers Canadian comics artists Canadian expatriate writers in the United States Canadian graphic novelists Canadian people of French descent Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian people of Korean descent Doug Wright Award winners for Best Emerging Talent Franco-Ontarian people Joe Shuster Award winners for Outstanding Cartoonist Scott Pilgrim University of Western Ontario alumni Writers from London, Ontario Image Comics writers Novelists from Ontario