Asheville’s Bryan Lee O’Malley keeps the hits coming with Scott Pilgram series

Bryan Lee O’Malley is one of those stars in his field that lives and works in Asheville that nobody really knows. Except the New York Times knows. Here’s the story:

Superman was rocketed from the planet Krypton by his father. Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider. Scott Pilgrim was ushered into existence by the members of Imperial Otter, a Canadian alt-pop band whose songs include “Jesus Stole My Guitar.”

As origin stories go, it’s pretty low-key. Bryan Lee O’Malley, the writer and artist behind the hit independent Scott Pilgrim series, played keyboards for the Otters. When he shared with the band his first original graphic novel — “Lost at Sea,” about a girl who thinks a cat has stolen her soul — “they were underwhelmed,” he said during a telephone interview. Their reaction encouraged a change in artistic direction.

“I wanted to create something more in line with their experiences and my own,” Mr. O’Malley said. And lo, Scott Pilgrim, a 20-something slacker living in Toronto, was born.

This weekend Mr. O’Malley will be making his first appearance at the New York Comic Con, bringing Scott Pilgrim to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to mix with the corporate superheroes and anime warriors of the comic book industry. He will have in tow copies of “Scott Piligrm vs. the Universe,” the fifth of six planned volumes, which was released this week, along with special bells and whistles prepared for this Big Apple appearance, including “I Scott NY” T-shirts and a book wrap that features Scott and friends.

The Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series, published by Oni Press, combines a dab of indie rock, a pinch of manga and a sprinkling of video game know-how. At its core it is about the title character’s quest to win the heart of Ramona Flowers, an American working as a delivery girl in Toronto. To achieve his goal, Scott — immature, usually broke and part of a possibly bad rock band called Sex Bob-Omb — must defeat the seven ex-boyfriends from Ramona’s mysterious past.

Mr. O’Malley’s flights of fancy can go from the unexpectedly silly (as when Scott and Ramona use her purse as a getaway portal) to the sublimely unexpected (like the former boyfriend who derives his superpowers from being vegan). Publishers Weekly has praised the new book as capturing “both the genuine intimacies and serial dishonesties of young love”; salon.com said that the series “keeps getting funnier and more incisive” and that “some members of his cast don’t have to do much more than show up to get laughs.”

While the Scott Pilgrim series would make any short list of the best comic books that are under the radar for the general public, it has developed a loyal and rabid fan base that has only grown larger — and louder — since the announcement of a live-action movie adaptation starring Michael Cera.

Mr. O’Malley, who was born in London, Ontario, and now lives in Asheville, N.C., said he was looking forward to seeing what kind of reception awaits him at Comic Con. In the meantime, having to complete Volume 5 for the convention “was a good motivator,” he said. “My publishers were really glad that I got it done on time.