Have you ever, as a young adult, thoroughly rejected some or all of your parents’ beliefs, then come back later with a more mature eye and said, “All right folks. Maybe you were right about a thing or three”? Brian Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe is that, in a comic.

For those who have not read it, Scott Pilgrim is a funnybook slacker work that is rife with nerd and pop culture references and devices. It often uses video game structure to move the plot forward. The title character is a twenty-something loser from Ontario, Canada who has a smart, too-good-for-him girlfriend named Ramona Flowers.

In true adventure game fashion, the catch is that in order to continue dating her, Scott must defeat Ramona’s seven evil ex-boyfriends. His continued ability to stumble through life with his rudderless friends and crappy band are both entertaining and telling about the aimlessness so many post-college adults experience.

Volume five comes in during a lull in Scott’s story. He has just begun to put his life into something of a coherent, respectable pattern. he has moved out of his one-bed, two-dude apartment, gotten a real job, and moved in with Ramona. His band, Sex Bob-Omb, has begun recording their first studio album. Most importantly, he has crossed the halfway point, and has already beaten four of the seven evil ex-boyfriends.

However, since it is the natural order of things for Scott to be a loser who is beset by his own ineptitude, it seems this book is about the universe stepping in to say, “Enough of that succeeding, Scott Pilgrim.”

Despite the sporadic battles Scott has with Ramona’s twin evil ex-boyfriends’ robots, the volume’s main conflict is internal. Stephen Stills, the singer and guitarist of Scott’s band, has let the cat out of the bag that Scott was still dating Knives Chau when he first began seeing Ramona. Scott’s old shtick is unraveling along with his relationship with Ramona.

Powerful irony erupts when Scott asks Ramona if she ever dates guys that aren’t dicks, just as we, Ramona, and Scott are all beginning to realize that Scott really isn’t much of an exception to that rule.

In this sense, volume five is very much a return to form for Scott. He has matured somewhat, is working to change (to be better), but has nonetheless found himself right back behind the wheel of the “you suck”-mobile. There’s a brilliant moment in the book where Scott learns that even Ramona doesn’t like his band. There’s always been this possibility in the background that Sex Bob-Omb aren’t any good, but the crystallization of it just when they’re finishing up recording their first album is superb timing. It is a humbling, powerful, and hilarious discovery.

Another moment I thoroughly enjoyed was the return of Wallace Wells, Scott’s gay ex-room- (and bed-) mate. After he’s lost his keys several times, Ramona finally decides not to let Scott back in, forcing him to sleep over at various friends’ houses. Wallace is his first stop, and it’s a welcome one as he is a powerful reminder of Scott’s losery core.

The book ends on a sad and lovely note--one that finally, truly distinguishes Scott from the rest of Ramona’s boyfriends: Scott is trying, striving to be good, even if he isn’t very good at it. His inadequacy is equaled--perhaps even surpassed--by his desire to change. It’s a touching reminder that good and evil are not clear cut, but still carve niches in everyone.

I unreservedly recommend this penultimate volume of Scott Pilgrim--especially if you’ve enjoyed the earlier volumes.

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