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My induction into the world of Scott Pilgrim happened entirely by divine intervention. Some might call it luck or fate, but the series proved such a match for my life, interests, and sense of humour, only God could have been involved on that day. What followed was what I now affectionately look back on as the "Summer of Scott Pilgrim," in which I not only hunted down and read all five books but reaffirmed my love for Edgar Wright by finally getting around to watching his hit series Spaced in preparation for his film adaptation of the series. Admittedly, with the sixth book having just now come out (a year later) and the film still almost a month away, I was a little too excited.  Still, my excitement has been rewarded, as the final chapter of Scott Pilgrim's quest to defeat The League of Evil Ex-Boyfriends and live happily ever after with his beloved Ramona Flowers doesn't disappoint this fan.

As usual, we open on Scott being a loser, though he perhaps has a pretty good excuse this time. He's living along, his bands' broken up, his best friend's moved away, and Ramona has left him. Predictably, he's crawled under a blanket with a video game and some ramen.What follows is a quit journey through some of his past relationships, closure on them, and the final confrontation with Gideon, the seventh and most powerful Evil Ex-Boyfriend. Without spoiling anything, their battle is epic, and the ending is very satisfying.

But one of my favorite aspects of Bryan Lee O'Malley's opus is the melding of the every day with the magical from video games, comics, and anime. When I first wrote on the series, I likened this to magical realism (instead calling it "nerd realism") with a few notable differences that became more apparent as the series wore on (and came to a head in this final installment). Whereas with magical realism the magical is considered ordinary, the characters in Scott Pilgrim are often as aghast as the reader by the way their world seems to meet at a crossroads with those other mediums of nerd-dom. This break of the fourth wall is one of those things that truly allows O'Malley's work to stand-out. And yet, what makes the story ultimately relatable, is the way the work is grounded in the every day. While it's the nerd references that may entertain and appeal to us as fanboy and girls, it's the real world stuff Scott and Ramona have to deal with that makes this work more than just an ego-tripping, gaming web-comic.

To my knowledge, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw hasn't ever really discussed Scott Pilgrim, but I think it's fair to say he'd at least appreciate it for this reason above all others.

In his video on gaming webcomics, he points out their importance as part of the culture that surrounds gaming. With its excellent art, brilliant dialogue, and classic gaming references, Scott Pilgrim is everything those gaming comics he chastises are not. But it's one more thing, as well–a real story with real characters that actually develop in the face of real conflict.

In the end, Scott Pilgrim isn't about a nerdy guy who has to defeat the seven evil exes of his would-be girlfriend. That's what happens, but that's not what it's about. Scott Pilgrim is about an immature, selfish, ambition-less man-child growing up. It's in the titles of the first and last volume, for Pete's sake. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life to Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour perfectly describe the growing up he does. He makes himself a better person by putting aside what he wants for someone else. Scott Pilgrim is a nerd-coming-of-age story, and all nerds should be able to relate it. I know I do, if only in that I try to not be the Precious Little Life Scott (concerned only with what my relationships can do for me and the video games I'd rather play than do something for someone else) but instead the Finest Hour Scott.

See? Who says comic books and video games can't teach life lessons?

Questions? Quibbles? Controversies?