BRYAN LEE O'MALLEY

I just had this feeling that, if I were to get into a fight, somehow I would have the ability to fight back, just based on playing 'Street Fighter' for so many years of my life. It's almost like I actually learned martial arts.

I don't really have a metaphor for how I write, but it kinda feels like chipping away at a big dark object that I can't really see.

When I was in the middle of the 'Scott Pilgrim' series, and it was slowly becoming more popular, though still not financially solvent, I had this real bratty instinct to turn around and do something super arty and dark. I felt dismissed by comics culture, stuck in between the artcomix world and the nerdcomix world, and I was cranky about it.

I do get the sense sometimes that if I draw things too nice, maybe I won't be indie-rock enough anymore.

I lived in London for a long time, and that's a pretty white town. In Toronto, I just ended up in this circle of indie rock kids who happened to be white, too... Really, it was just when I started getting out there and meeting more people and seeing more fans that I went, 'Oh, actually, I'm not white.'

I just have this thing in my head that I want to do serious stories that are still just way too cute and drawn in a really cute, appealing, rounded, childish way, and it's like, I don't know if it makes sense - but it's just something I'm really strongly compelled to do.

After a long period of not drawing, you have to, like, relearn how to draw. It's not very fun.

Writing music is sort of my hobby, but it's been falling off more and more. Doing comic books takes up my entire life.

When I was a kid, I desperately wanted more background information on especially cartoonists.

Seeing people cosplaying my characters is always a blast.

'Monkey Island 2' was a huge game for me. It kind of taught me all about comedy.

I just don't think I can write someone drastically younger than me.

For Hollywood to make 'Spider-Man,' only to redo the movie a couple years later, just boggles the mind. To recast 'The Incredible Hulk' for a third time? I don't get it.

I'm always exploring other people: trying to figure out myself, trying to figure out everyone.

I think it's natural as you get to the end of your twenties to start thinking about what you could have done differently - whether they went well or whether they went terribly.

I grew up in London, Ontario, and moved to Toronto when I was 22 or 23.

I've always been open to the idea of an adaptation that does its own thing, that freely diverges from the original as long as it's true to the spirit.

The first Nintendo game I ever got was 'Clash at Demonhead.' I got into anime and manga thanks to that Canadian classic, 'Sailor Moon.'

I've had so many little ideas I've written down here and there. Some ideas I've got reams of notes for.

In my teens and university and stuff, video games became more realistic, or they started to.

There were times over the years when I wanted to take a break from 'Scott Pilgrim,' or even just stop doing 'Scott Pilgrim,' when I was feeling down or whatever.

'Seconds' is very much about reaching out for the next thing after you've figured out the first thing.

'Seconds' is all about spaces, and I guess spaces are kind of like people in that they can be haunting and alluring before we even really get to know them, and after prolonged exposure, they can become mundane or oppressive.

I don't think anyone ever sets out to make a crappy movie, but there are a lot of forces working against those people who are trying to make something decent. There are a lot of fine lines to walk and small battles to fight.

I don't really picture anyone when I'm drawing. They just become their own completed person with googly eyes.