Bryan Lee O'Malley (born February 21, 1979) is a Canadian cartoonist, best known for the Scott Pilgrim series. He also performs as a musician under the alias Kupek.
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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, but dropped out before completing.
Prior to having his own material published, O'Malley illustrated the Oni Press miniseries Hopeless Savages: Ground Zero, written by Jen Van Meter. He also lettered many Oni comics, including the majority of Chynna Clugston's output between 2002 and 2005.
His first original graphic novel was Lost at Sea, released by Oni Press in 2003. Lost at Sea is a coming-of-age 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 Scott Pilgrim series, published by Oni Press in digest size 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 was released by Ballantine Books. 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 with Leslie Hung. He is officially billed as its writer.
Personal life
O'Malley is of Korean descent from his mother's side and of Irish and French-Canadian from his father's side. In 2004, O'Malley married fellow cartoonist Hope Larson. They lived together in Toronto in 2004, Halifax in 2005, North Carolina from 2008 to 2010, and Los Angeles. They divorced in 2014.
Awards
2005 Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent
2005 Harvey Award nominations for Best New Talent, Best Cartoonist, and Best Graphic Album of Original Work
2005 Eagle Awards nomination for Favourite Comics Writer/Artist; Scott Pilgrim vs. the World nominated for Favourite Graphic Novel
2005 Joe Shuster Award nomination for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
2006 Eisner Award nomination for Best Writer/Artist: Humor
2006 Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
2006 Scott Pilgrim Volume 2 nominated for Doug Wright Award for Best Book
2007 Harvey Award nomination for Best Cartoonist
2007 Harvey Award nomination for Best Original Graphic Novel
2007 Joe Shuster Award nomination for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
2007 National Cartoonists Society Division Awards nomination for Comic Books Award
2008 Scott Pilgrim Volume 3 nominated for Doug Wright Award for Best Book
2008 Harvey Award nomination for Best Cartoonist
2008 Harvey Award nomination for Special Award for Humor in Comics