Monica Beetle

"Is that Monica Beetle the stunt double, or Monica Beetle the character?". There may be other articles on this wiki with similar names. Always be sure to check you are on the right one! You may be looking for the titular character of the comic.

"This is a guest comic, so it's non-canon." Elements of this article may be declared to be non-canon and not a part of the series' official timeline.

'Monica Beetle'
Written and illustrated by	Bryan Lee O'Malley
Publisher	Oni Press
Publication date	June 15, 2005
ISBN	N/A
Books	1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life 2: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
Compilation books	Scott Pilgrim Collected Extras
Special comics	Comics Festival 2005 Monica Beetle Free Scott Pilgrim NOW's Best of Toronto Comics Festival 2007 Scott Pilgrim: Full Colour Odds & Ends 2008

"We're going to save the world!" — Monica Beetle Monica Beetle

This 8-page comic was created during the making of Scott Pilgrim Volume 2. It was originally created for an anthology called Project Superior, which is long out of print. I'm glad to be able to collect it here. Even if it isn't technically a Scott Pilgrim comic, it kinda fits with the themes of this book, examining our high school relationships and how they relate to our later lives. Plus, the 1972 hero here looks a lot like Scott Pilgrim (maybe it's his dad). — Bryan Lee O'Malley Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Monica Beetle was a short spin-off comic created by Bryan Lee O'Malley that was featured in at the end of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and was created during the book's production.

Plot

Sitting on a wall in 1974, Vincent and his friend are seen smoking, Vincent tells his friend that he is in love with a girl from his work. In a flashback, Vincent is seen working at a photography firm with the woman that he is "in love with", Monica Beetle.

A man walks in to pick up his prints and asks Monica for them. Unresponsive, Vincent tells the man that he is able to help. The man asks Vincent if Monica is autistic, to which Vincent replies that she is just intense.

Monica grabs Vincent's hand as they escape to the spacecraft.

Suddenly, a spacecraft crashes through the shop window, slicing the man in half, instantly killing him. Vincent responds by exclaiming "Holy crow!!". An alien comes out of the spacecraft, preparing to fire towards Vincent, but Monica grabs a frame and deflects it back to the alien, telling Vincent to get down in the process.

After leaping and punching the alien in the face, Monica grabs hold of Vincent's hand as she explains to him that they are going to save the world.

Entering the spacecraft, Vincent asks Monica if she does "this kind of thing often?", to which Monica responds by claiming that she is the only person on Earth who knows the secrets of the aliens. Monica then asks Vincent to press the blue button, not realising that all of the buttons are blue.

Vincent suddenly asks Monica if she'd want to go out with him, Monica dismisses the offer by saying that she is very busy...like on the weekend.

Getting out of the spacecraft, Vincent asks Monica what she is doing as she points to the right of him. Monica asks Vincent if he knows her from high school, Vincent asks what high school she went to, to which Monica swiftly dismisses.

Back to the wall, and Vincent's friend asks him if he did think he went to the same school as her, to which Vincent says that he isn't sure, but could have been that shy, beautiful girl hiding behind horn-rim glasses an mussy hair. He continues to imply that the girl was indeed Monica and that he did nothing about it, referring to when she had a crush on him. Vincent's friend questions whether the girl was fat and tells Vincent to check the school yearbook before asking Monica out again.

Trivia

• Monica Beetle was originally created for an anthology project called Project Superior.
• Vincent and Monica both work for a photography firm.
• Although Bryan Lee O'Malley states in the description of the comic that Vincent is the "1972 hero", the comic is set in 1974 as displayed on the opening page.
• In a potential fourth wall break, Monica asks Vincent to press the blue button in the spacecraft, but he gets confused as all the buttons are blue, in reference to the fact that the comic is colored blue.

Behind the scenes

Scott Pilgrim's parents?

Scott Pilgrim's parents resemble an older Vincent and Monica Beetle.

When Bryan Lee O'Malley was creating the comic, he visualised the character Vincent as being Scott Pilgrim's dad, having "wild, 70's-style adventures in his youth" akin to Scott's, as well as hanging out with a 70's version of Stephen Stills. Vincent is also seen wearing a parka similar to Scott's as well, which is why it is believed that Scott's parents are Vincent and Monica Beetle respectively.

Vincent at Scott's age looks heavily like Scott himself. Monica meanwhile bears a distinct resemblance to Stacey while Lawrence looks like a mix of the two. This has not been explicitly confirmed and Mrs. Pilgrim has a few differences than Monica such as hair color (though nothing dismisses that she changed her hair when old).

Gallery