Final Scott Pilgrim volume: every bit as funny, but with a bunch of good emotional stuff and a satisfying wrapup

After a long, long, long wait, Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, the concluding volume in Bryan Lee O'Malley's hilarious, ultra-geeky, manga-inflected, game-obsessed comic about a slacker who can only have his dream girl after fighting her seven evil exes, has finally come out.

I snuck out of the office today and got my copy at Forbidden Planet in London, where they were flying off the shelves. I've been sneaking peeks at it all day, and having just put the baby to bed, I was able to finish it.

Wow.

Finest Hour is everything you'd hope for in a concluding volume: more geeky, more funny, but with enormous heart and a really lovely emotional center that is brought out without being schmaltzy or obvious. Every loose end is tied up, closure occurs, things aren't perfect, but they are eminently satisfying.

If you've been waiting for the series to run its course before starting it, go. And if you've read books 1-5 and have been waiting on tenterhooks to find out how it ends, run.

Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour