Three years ago, I wrote an article: April 27th 2023. I was hype as f*ck because Olan Rogers, the creator (and one of the voice actors) of Final Space, had just announced that his cult animated show had the chance to end on its own terms. He launched a campaign, under the strictest of terms because of an agreement with Warner Bros after they had killed the show and seemingly burned its corpse for a tax write-off, to fund a graphic novel that would serve as Final Space’s fourth and final season. 

Long story short, his campaign, originally soft-capped at 10,000 units, SOLD OUT within 24 hours! He released more copies; they sold a metric-buttload, and Olan was able to fund the finale of this beloved show. It took almost three years before the graphic novel was ready for distribution – three years of toil, updates on twitter and Patreon, and a roller coaster of a ride. Now it’s getting into people’s hands, including mine. 

But was it worth it? Well, you can probably tell by this article’s headline; it was. We ain’t having any pink wafer bullsh*t; these rich, buttery, chocolate chip cookies were freaking delicious. 

How’d We Leave off?

Ash is so freaking cool.

The Galaxy 2 had been through the wringer in Season 3. Gary Goodspeed and the rest of the crew were stuck in Final Space, a space between worlds where the evil Invictus, a demonic and near-invincible planet-eater, had been imprisoned with a bunch of ancient asshole titans. Their only real ally in their quest to save Quinn was Bolo, a “good” titan who had himself been imprisoned for centuries. 

So the first part went well. Quinn is saved, but the journey back home was tumultuous to say the least. Bolo is killed fending off the titans, Invictus sends zombie Garys everywhere to impede their progress, people are getting sick, Fox is killed using possession treachery that frames Gary for his murder and isolates Ash from the group; bunches and bunches of nasty stuff. But nothing compares to the pain of the finale. 

Ash turns on the group when she is corrupted by Invictus, believing Gary had killed her brother for reals. She attempts to get Little Cato to join her by telling him about Avocato’s deepest secret: that he killed Little Cato’s birth parents when he was just a child and then took him in as his own (I know, right?!). LC doesn’t join Ash, but then she drains Mooncake’s power to free Invictus from his black hole prison. The Team Squad manage to escape Final Space by the skin of their teeth, but it’s at a cost. Mooncake and Ash are left behind, and, unfortunately, Invictus followed them into the universe as we know it. 

This is gonna be baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.

Story (No Spoilies)

One of the saddest moments of the show!

With Invictus free and running amok in our universe, it’s bad times at the OK Corral… if Earth hadn’t been lost to Final Space already. The Team Squad is down a few members, and they’re still recovering from the affliction caused by their Season 3 escapades. Still grieving the loss of Fox, Kevin Van Newton, and most of all Mooncake, Gary has to contend with a literal Demon God who is eating galaxies!! What the heck!?! 

Not only that, but after Avocato’s revelations to his adopted son, Little Cato takes his leave to search for whatever remains of his family on Ventrexia, his home planet where a long-running war is raging between Ventrexians and Tryvulians. With him being best bros with Fox before he was lost, maybe he can be the one to stop this war once and for all.

But they’d better do it quickly, because Invictus won’t take long to devour the universe. Time is running out for Gary to reunite the Team Squad, finally defeat Invictus, and save the universe. Usually doing his best is good enough for me, but this time a lot more rides on victory. COME ON THE GARY!!!!!

The Art

The big bad

Take a bow Daz Tibbles. 

The artist behind the graphic novel is someone who has been part of the Final Space community for years. He was the one Olan hit up to bring this graphic novel to life, and I’m so glad he was. It’s SO. FREAKING. BEAUTIFUL! Every page tells a story, with tons of hidden details and a gorgeous color palette. 

They have captured the essence of the Final Space characters and distilled it into hundreds of frames (maybe even thousands, because this book is CHONKY). I can give no greater praise than to say that, although this is in a totally different medium, I instantly recognised the characters, not only from their appearance but also their body language, swagger, and environmental storytelling. 

There are some pages in this book that are truly breathtaking, especially ones dripped in the pink hue of Invictus. 

A Soundtrack?!

Those zombie Garys are scary

Yes! It might sound odd, but this book has an accompanying soundtrack, primarily composed by Andrew Goodwin. Every now and again you can find a tiny QR code that, if you scan it, will take you to a website that plays a track. These tracks are designed to fit with an average person’s reading speed, and you can really tell. Some tracks are many minutes long, and I often hit the emotional beat in the book exactly where the musicality of the song intended. Obviously, it’s difficult to cater to everybody’s reading speed, but I think this does a really good job.

The combination of a great narrative and emotional music is kryptonite to me. This book made me shed more than one tear on more than one occasion, and this wouldn’t have been possible without the great work from Andrew Goodwin and Olan Rogers’ perfect placement of those little QR codes. I will say that maybe they were a little too well-placed because I 100% missed a few in my first read-through. It’s great that they felt so integrated into the book, but maybe camouflage them a little less?

A Fitting End

Which character did Alan Tudyk voice again?

Look, a graphic novel was not everybody’s first choice, right? In a perfect world, WB wouldn’t have trashed Final Space as a tax right-off, and we would have been able to get a couple more seasons to end the TV show as we all wanted. I mean, it was definitely ramping up to the end of the show with that Season 3 cliffhanger! That’s not what happened, but instead of it just going away forever (which would have been my nightmare), we got this: The Final Chapter. 

Judging it by what it is, only a madman would call this disappointing. Although there are very sad moments (I cried a few times, and I’ve never done that while reading a book), The Final Chapter is a cathartic end to the series. There are no spoilers here, but if you’re a Final Space fan, I think you’d find a lot to love. Stories come full circle, devastating losses are felt, comedy hits at the right time, and the tension really ramps up before the banger of a final chapter (of The Final Chapter). All of this is accompanied by some of the most hype and melancholy songs you’ll ever hear to accentuate everything I was feeling.

I f*cking loved what Olan Rogers did, and how he wrapped up one of his babies. I’d have loved to see this animated and voiced by the cast, but, alas, this was not to be. This was good – nay, great – enough for me. 

Summary

Those cookies…

The concept of “the cookies are done” is taken from the first season’s ongoing thread where H.U.E. is counting down the minutes until Gary runs out of air. The AI switches to the cookie metaphor at Gary’s request, because it’s too sad to think about something ending forever. And that’s the case here, too. I don’t want to think about Final Space being over, but it’s time. The cookies are done.

The Final Chapter is one of those homemade cookies that you eat just after coming off a 5-day cleanse. They’re delicious, and you’re likely to devour them in one sitting, regardless of how large they are. However, there are no regrets aside from being a little sad that this will be the final one of this recipe that I’ll ever eat. I wish there were more, but I’m satisfied with what I’ve been able to eat. And, maybe, just maybe, a variant of the recipe will be just as delicious down the line.

This visually appealing, narratively cathartic graphic novel, which is accompanied by a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, is a must-read for fans of the series and beyond. You have to see how it ends. 

Man, I loved those cookies.

Have you read Final Space: The Final Chapter? What did you think of that ending? Did you cry like a baby? Let me know in the comments!!