4 out of 5

Baron turns things around in the final Badger volume 1 stretch, delivering issues which show the series at its best: at its most knee-slapping ridiculous, or in its much more rarely shown ability to juggle its own inherent strangeness with a more serious over-arching theme or tone.

Especially impressive is how artist Steven Butler finally comes ’round to a Badger that really fits the book’s style: comedic timing improves greatly, there’s a sense of mirth to his characters, and his layouts and settings breathe.  It’s just too bad that this shift happened so late in the game…

Which is similar to my criticism of these “final” issues, because part of Baron’s m.o. on the book has been to never really commit to stories beyond the ephemeral – things hardly matter from one issue to the next – as well as a general downplaying of everything, and he doesn’t shirk that here.  Even the penultimate re-up on the origin (told via Daisy’s narrative from her completed Badger book) lacks gravitas, and the series ends with zero ceremony.

Business as usual, for better or worse, but: it’s cool that we got to go out on several stellar, fun issues in a row.