Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour (Bryan Lee O'Malley)

The final volume! It came out today, so of course I had to pick it up and read it for you guys. And then read it again, because it's that good. If you've forgotten what happens in the other volumes, make sure to check out DG's Scott Pilgrim recap. There's no spoilers this time, though, so don't fret. Also, today's post will take the place of a Friday post for this week, since this Friday I'll be at Comic-Con! Hooray beer! I mean, comics!

Synopsis

Poor Scott Pilgrim. Ever since his girlfriend, Ramona Flowers, left him at the end of volume 5, he's been descending steadily into depression. He sleeps all day, plays video games all night, and hardly sees his friends anymore. His old roommate, Wallace Wells, suggests getting out of the house more, maybe meeting new girls, trying out casual sex. This doesn't seem like the Scott Pilgrim we all know and love, however. Besides, everyone else seems to have moved on to bigger and better things, so why shouldn't Scott, right? Why can't he just forget about Ramona? He seems to be forgetting almost everything else these days. Maybe it's because Gideon Graves, Ramona's seventh evil ex-boyfriend, is opening up a new club right in downtown Toronto. Scott knows he'll have to face Gideon eventually. It's unavoidable. But considering his lack of training, lack of willpower, and lack of girlfriend to actually fight over, will Scott be able to survive the confrontation?

Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour is a brilliant conclusion to a brilliant series. Bryan Lee O'Malley does an excellent job keeping the spirit of the series alive while tying together all of the loose ends he'd created in the earlier volumes. All the little things that didn't quite make sense before or seemed unnecessarily quirky are explained or justified here. In fact, O'Malley strips away his own backstory at times. It's revealed that things may not always have been the way that Scott Pilgrim made them out to be. We learn so much more about the characters, and they learn more about themselves. It's incredible how well-defined each individual has become by the last few chapters. Everything that happens is surprising, but it all somehow makes sense. I don't want to spoil the book for anyone—as much as I'm dying to talk about it!—, so I'll cut myself off short. Suffice it to say that Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour is one of the most satisfying conclusions to any series in any genre or medium that I have ever encountered, if not the most satisfying. Everything I wanted was in there, and so, so much more. You'll have a great time with this one.

Rating

Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Story—9.77
I could not have asked for anything more from this book. To me, it sits right up there with The Return of the King, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and issue #60 of Y: The Last Man. I'm just sad that it's all over.

Style—10
Bryan Lee O'Malley has developed such a unique voice. I can't wait to see what he does next.

General—9.67
I hope O'Malley eventually releases Kim Pine vs. The World or Knives Chau's Precious LIttle Life, because I am in love with all of these characters. Their emotional evolutions were all so completely realized. I'm going to miss these guys.

Overall—9.81


But that's not all, folks. Remember, we still have to compile the Ultimate Scott Pilgrim Rating to determine the series' overall position on the Daily Genoshan leaderboards.

Ultimate Scott Pilgrim Rating

Story—9.37
One of the most compelling love stories of all time...

Style—10
...and definitely one of the most interestingly told.

General—9.35
I dare you not to like this book. Go ahead, try.

Overall—9.57



Well, 9.5740740740740740... when you really break down the numbers, but who's counting?* That makes Scott Pilgrim the new reigning champion highest reviewed book here at the Genoshan, beating out Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by a mere one-hundredth of a point!

Also, don't forget to go see the film, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, when it hits theatres August 13th! I've heard nothing but amazing things so far from the lucky few who've gotten in to preview screenings and such. I hope you've enjoyed the Scott Pilgrim recap! As always, if you have any ideas or suggestions for books to be reviewed in the future, or think you've got what it takes to write a DG review yourself, leave a comment! New voices are always welcome. Until next time, keep reading, Genoshans!



*Clearly, I'm counting. For those of you interested in how I came to that number, by the way, I kept track of the original Story, Style, and General Ratings for each individual book. Each Overall Rating is actually the average of 9 different scores, though you only see 3 on the site. There are other ways of averaging the numbers together, some of which would even result in a different rating (9.58), but this is the most precise, and the way I've been doing ratings since the very first review.