Scott Pilgrim #6

This week the final Scott Pilgrim novel arrived in stores and it is titled "Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour." A very fitting title considering the task that lies before him. However, is this really his finest hour, or has the magic started to wear off. 
 
 Now let's start by thinking about the fact that this was the end of an era. Scott Pilgrim really is the comic and hero for my generation, the mid to early twenties (probably late twenties too), that generation that was the first generation to grow up with video games. So for this to be the end of a story that has been going on for about seven years, and had such memorable characters, it really needs to not only tie everything together but also make us feel like everything was important. What I mean by that is that since there was only six books to this whole thing, you could basically read the entire series in a day, so when you read the last book you want to have those moments where you say "oh wow, I remember that guy from book two, I almost forgot about that." And yes, it does achieve that. I read the whole series (sans books 4 and 5 since I loaned them to a friend) again before this book came out so I could see if it create that feeling and I have to say, several times throughout the sixth book I went "oh wow, check it out, that guy was from book one for like two pages and now he's back for another two pages." It really helps to make this group of people you meet throughout the series, even the secondary and side characters, seem like actual groups of people that hang out and make this entire world seem rather believable.

Another thing you need to look at when going into this book is how true to the series does it feel. For the last book you need to have the characters grow and change and basically finally reach where they should be, but not have them change so much that you say "who the heck are these people?" And this is one of the few complaints I have about the book. Because while several of the side characters, like Knives and Kim and many others really mature to a level where you feel like they have hit where they should be as a person, the one character who you really do feel weird with throughout it is ironically Scott himself. When the book starts Scott is in a very depressed place, at an all time low. So of course he's not going to be the upbeat bag of awesome we've come to know and love. But then even after he kind of gets back his groove he's still kind of a dick. Without spoiling anything I'll just say that we learn some of the things we knew about Scott from previous books weren't true, and now as you read it you can't help but feel like "who is this guy and why should I be routing for him?" However, I will say this is only very minor and you do eventually get over it enough to cheer him on like you always have.

Sticking with the question of "does it stay true to the feeling of the series?" aside from the characters this series has always been famous for its far out there and goofy video game style humor that only real nerds like ourselves (don't deny it people, if you've read this far into the review you know you are) would fully get. And you will certainly still find that humor here, and while its not above and beyond the humor we've seen before, it does tie with some of the greatest moments in the book's history. Although I will say when it comes to some of the out there concepts, this one of course had to go above and beyond with it since it was the big finally, and there's one thing that (while hillarious) was like "... what!?!" So some of you will love it and some of you will think it's gone too far, I personally felt a little of both but it was still very enjoyable and it is in the end just one moment and you'll still enjoy the rest of the book even if you are taken out of it for that brief section.

And when it comes to wrapping everything up, I feel like I don't want to say whether they do that or not simply because then that in and of itself is a bit of a spoiler, but I will go into one other small minor complaint I had, and that's that they finally explain what the deal with Ramona's glowing hair is... and I don't understand it at all. And I know, I shouldn't really complain just simply because I myself didn't get it, then that's just my personal problem and I shouldn't say anything about the book because I wasn't smart enough to get it. But I've spoken with several other people about it and all of us have the same reaction, "Yeah it was like this... right... kinda... I don't know." So it leads me to believe its made unclear on purpose, and I've never been the biggest fan of hazy explanations.

Now I know I pointed out a few faults in this review, but really its only because the rest of the book stands out so well and performs the way you would hope it would, that they're really the only things that could possible be complained about. I don't need to talk about anything other than the few faults because everything else is gangbusters and really needs no reviewing. So in the end there is only one big question, which is now that the series is done, if you haven't picked up a Scott Pilgrim book, is this a series that you would want to check out with the intent of being in for the long haul? And the answer is absolutely. Now that its all over and done with I can honestly say that if you are of the right age range then this is a book that will take you on a journey that will have you laughing the entire way with some very touching and sweet tender moments. So put on some Plumtree and the Replacements, get yourself some garlic bread, and enjoy this wonderful series (and after you do you'll get those two references).