After reading Christa’s review of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrimseries, I’m inclined to think 2010 was some kind of golden year in literature that has yet to be duplicated.

This has nothing to do with Bryan Lee O’Malley’s fabulous new standalone graphic novel Seconds. I only mention it because I wanted to refer you to that time when Christa & I went Pilgrim-crazy back in the summer of 2010.

It’s been four long years waiting for O’Malley’s follow-up to Scott. Holding Seconds in your hand, it’s lovely 3/4 book jacket you immediately know this book is going to be worth the wait. It’s a full color, beauty with heft (physical, emotional) and humor.

Seconds introduces us to Katie a successful chef and co-owner of a popular restaurant called Seconds. Katie’s got one foot in her twenties — she’s soon to turn thirty — and one foot out of the door of Seconds and on the threshold of a new restaurant, her very own. She’s not happy at all with her place on the Earth at the moment. This is only exacerbated when she spies The EX-BF in a Seconds’ booth with a hottie.

Katie and a coworker do something fun and careless, and it leaves one of the servers scarred for life. Literally. Katie goes home full of remorse and guilt. After a restless night of sleep she finds a paranormal pal sitting on her dresser. This pal offers Katie an otherworldly chance. Write down your regret, eat a mushroom, go to sleep, and wake to a whole new world with the problem solved.

Easy peasy, right?

Of course not. Like so many of us, Katie finds that what she thinks is her problem and what her actual problem is are not the same thing. She wields this new mystical power carelessly and it is awesome. Nobody wants a responsible magic-mushroom eater, do they?`

When she gets in over her head, she befriends Hazel the scarred coworker who knows a little bit about the mystic. A little bit of knowledge doesn’t exactly help Katie and we follow her through trying to unravel the mess she’s made. Basically this a book about a woman on the verge of 30 dealing with all the asshole things she did in her twenties. Oh, Sister, I’ve been there.

I chewed through this one in a few hours even though I kept telling myself to slow down, I just couldn’t. It probably deserves a re-read as soon as I get it back. Much like Scott Pilgrim, this is one of those books I’m passing around with breathless anticipation because I need someone to talk about it with.

The art is quite similar to the Scott Pilgrim books, but in full color which makes it even more fun to eat up with your eyes. Best of all, there are a few Scott Easter Eggs in the pages which eagle-eyed readers will enjoy. I know they made me cackle with glee.

Boy, I missed Bryan Lee O’Malley much more than I realized. It’s good to have him back.