When Bryan Lee O'Malley finally capped off his series of Scott Pilgrim graphic novels with the fifth volume, the question on everyone's lips was: what is he going to do next? After spending the better part of a decade on his first work, which brought him to international superstardom and a creatively successful but financially ruinous movie adaptation, it seemed like he was due some time off. Instead he forged ahead with Seconds, a one-and-done story that took all the lessons learned on Scott Pilgrim and managed to produce something that was possibly even better. Riffing on some of the same themes and settings that characterised Scott Pilgrim dealing with responsibility, adult decisions, past regrets and the like in a mature manner with a similar magical realism setting, Seconds moved from the world of crappy garage rock bands and video games to the restaurant biz, as the flame-haired Katie deals with opening her own restaurant (after taking over one successful one as head chef) whilst juggling her messy personal life. Which, in keeping with the weirdness of Scott Pilgrim, she does by eating magical mushrooms she finds in a dresser in her room after writing down things she wants to change in a notebook. Each time she does it and wakes up to a different world, she realises that meddling with her past is a bad idea. Plus it upsets the house spirit that keeps haunting her. O'Malley's career-best storytelling, characters and art, not to be missed.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
