Review by Ian Keogh

Four newspaper girls from 1988 have experienced one hell of a lot, and as the cover to this concluding volume shows, they may turn out very differently. That’s because at the end of Paper Girls 5 they were split into four separate timelines and very different places.

Mac is at the end of the Earth. Literally at the end of the Earth. It’s not far off from being wiped to oblivion, and she’ll be part of that even if the fearsome creatures don’t eat her beforehand. Tiff is also in the future, but somewhere where there’s still hope, and where it’s passed on to her. KJ is seemingly back home in Cleveland, but in the 1950s, and Erin seems to be in the near future, but not for long. As he has done throughout, Brian K. Vaughan throws questions of fate and destiny out there for contemplation.

Throughout Paper Girls Vaughan has sustained mysteries, and eventually alternates of the four girls and why they’re being chased through time has become so complex that it seems it can never be unravelled or figured out. Yet it can. Whether by spreadsheets or pieces of paper pinned all over his wall, Vaughan makes sense of everything, but he doesn’t supply it easily, and the most ambitious chapter here cuts between each of the girls panel by panel throughout as per Cliff Chiang’s sample art. Vaughan runs through possible solutions to the ongoing problem, then distils it down to why only one solution is possible, and it’s not ideal. Does the only way time can be set right ensure Erin, KJ, Mac and Tiff can never become friends?

As it has been all the way through, Chiang’s art is immaculate. He can draw past, present and future; or man, woman and child always paying attention to the small details. Take a look at what people wear, how it fits, and the small folds. He applies the same thought to everything, and combine that with his talent and it’s why Paper Girls looks so good.

How does everything end? Well, the final chapter is a variation on the first from way back in Paper Girls 1, and it’s really nicely reprised. It may not be the ending you’ll have predicted, or even want, but Vaughan and Chiang will leave you with a lump in your throat and hope in your heart. Thanks, guys.

You’d genuinely be better off reading Paper Girls as the Complete Collection, where the connections are more readily apparent, but if luxury’s your thing the final three volumes are combined in the hardcover Book Two.