Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour

Starred review from July 26, 2010
Can an irresponsible slacker find love and become a man along the way? That's been the six-volume question behind the witty and wise Scott Pilgrim series. In the fifth book, Scott's love, Ramona, walked out on him due to her own confessed weaknesses, while Scott wrestled with newfound contentment. O'Malley's final volume has some of his trademark humor, but it's a much darker and more serious look at the battle of love. Alone, Scott goes on a journey of atonement with his previous girlfriends and is shocked to learn that some of them have moved on without him. The final evil ex, Gideon Graves turns out to be a manipulative and shallow version of what Scott himself would become if his selfish nature were to take over. Their climactic battle is allowed to play out at length, with video game references galore. O'Malley's cartooning skills have advanced enough since the first volume to make this a bravura visual experience. Although fans of the series will find this a satisfying conclusion, the nature of the true relationship between Scott, Ramona, and Gideon is perhaps glossed over a bit—the only complaint in an otherwise triumphant finale.