I’m in love with Scott C. Well, okay. I’m not in love with Scott C. necessarily but I am in love with his work. Like, seriously. If I’m ever having a bad day just send me a Scott C. doodle and I’ll be good again. Basically, I could scroll through his Tumblr looking at all his Great Shodown pieces for hours smiling like an idiot. They are just so cute and fun and he makes tons of contemporary ones as films come out.

If you haven’t heard of Scott C. (actually Scott Campbell) or the Great Showdowns we’re going to need to have words. I mean, what is wrong with with you? Scott C. is awesome and his blog has been one of my favorites on Tumblr for a while now. I’m honestly not sure when I first came across his work but from the moment I did I was totally hooked. I mean, c’mon. You saw our featured image, right? That’s the kind of adorableness I’m trying to get across to you right now.

I mean, his work is absolutely adorable. There’s no other way for me to put it. The style is unique and the situations transformed by the way he presents them. He finds away to make even the tenses moments in film cute – usually with just a few well placed smiley faces.

If you’re not following his Tumblr blog then that’s an easy fix. HERE is a link to it. Follow him. You won’t regret it. You’ll have little adorable drawings like the one above popping up on your dash all the time and, really, what could be better than that?

Well, in my opinion, having them at your finger tips any time you like – online or offline – is better. Which is why I jumped at the opportunity to review Great Showdowns: The Return and rushed out to buy the first book, simply titled The Great Showdowns, as well. I’d seen the first one at San Diego Comic Con over the summer but I hadn’t gotten around to grabbing it there so I’m glad I was able to get it now to share my thoughts with you guys because c’mon. You really need these books or at the very least you need Scott C.’s work in your life.

Look how happy everyone looks!

The Great Showdowns

Release Date: October 30, 2012
Publisher: Titan Books
Source: Owned, bought from Amazon.com
Genre(s): Art, Film, Pop Culture

Rating: ★★★★★
Review Spoilers:  N/A
GoodReads | Amazon

If we were pitting the two of these books againts one another in a battle to the death, I honestly think that this first installment in the Great Showdowns book series would come out the winner. The book starts out strong, grabbing readers instantly on the title page by offering up a scene inspired by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows with Voldemort and Nagini on one side and Harry – wand at the ready – and Neville with sword in hand on the other.

An introduction by Neil Patrick Harris follows and Neil basically fanboys over Scott C. as much as I did. Except he some how makes it sound way cooler. After which we get a brief introduction by the author before we’re immediately thrown into a whirlwind of pop culture nostalgia.

Going into this book my only real concern was that I wouldn’t recognize a lot of the drawings. Online Scott C. includes a quote from every movie with each drawing so if you don’t immediately recocgnize them you can always google the quote and generall figure it out. Sadly, the book does not do this – possibly for copyright reasons? Who knows. But that was my main concern and it was completely unfounded. Some of the highlights of this book include drawings of the Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Planet of the Apes, Aliens, the Shining, Starship Troopers, Jurassic Park, Tron, Star Wars, and the Wizard of Oz among so many more.

Some of the pieces are a little more diluted or raw than some of the stuff you’ll find on the Tumblr. That’s likely because this book seems to include a good amount of his earlier work from the beginning of the Great Showdowns series. They are still as awesome as any other and this book get a solid five stars from me. It’s fun, adorable, and its the kind of book you can share with anyone. I mean, seriously. It makes Se7en some how adorable.

Great Showdowns: The Return

Release Date: October 15, 2013
Publisher: Titan Books
Source: Titan Books
Genre(s): Art, Film, Pop Culture

Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Spoilers:  N/A
GoodReads | Amazon

So what about the second installment? Still pretty much one of the most awesome art related books out there. Still full of awesome artwork from Scott C. Still full of classic moments in film history. Really, the only reason I docked it a star this time around was that there just seemed to be a lot more obscure films in this one than the other. I’ve seen a few other reviews that have said the same so I don’t feel too bad for my apparent lack of knowledge of the classic origins for these pieces.

That said, there are still plenty of super recognizable moments.

The book starts out with an introduction much like before except this time it’s from Edgar Wright who – much like Neil Patrick Harris before him – is a huge fan of Scott C. Next to this introduction is one of the best drawings in the book which shows the characters in Hot Fuzz facing off. Then we hear from Scott himself once again in a rather disjointed message where ultimately the best part is his drawing smiley faces on terrifying things like a bloody knife to make them happy.

Great Showdowns: The Return starts off strong with the Karate Kid on the title page and moves into several other great ones. I think my favorite is probably the full two-page Sandlot drawing but there are tons of other great ones. Some other great ones are: Office Space, Home Alone, West Side Story, District 9, Spaceballs, Hocus Pocus, A Muppet Christmas Carol, Galaxy Quest, and Spirited Away. There’s also a great Ferris Bueller one with Cameron and the painting smiling back.

Final Thoughts: 
Ultimately, both books are must buys as far as I am concerned. Scott C. is a great artist who deserves the support and he’s got a number of other books out, too, that you should check out. You can also check out his work with Double Fine by playing through Psychonauts (one of the most underrated games ever) and Brutal Legend. And ComicBookMovie.com did a fantastic interview with Scott back in August that you should totally read.

But at the very least check out his Tumblr and buy his books.

No, seriously, buy his books.

Maybe we can get more that way because a lot of my favorites aren’t included in either of these volumes. There are so many amazing ‘showdowns’ on the Tumblr that I can only hope we get to see in print someday because they are seriously awesome. I actually think the past year has seen some of my all time favorites so there are tons I’d love to see in a third installment.

Granted, I’m some how feel like we’ll never see the Disney or Marvel stuff in one of these books…

That’s okay, though, as long as I get me some Jaeger v. Kaiju action someday.