(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss. Minor/vague spoilers ahead.)

I've been an on-and-off reader of Stephen McCranie's Space Boy for a few years now. Though the single episodes are available for free on Webtoon, I tend to wait for the collected editions. Never mind that these are a few years behind the strip and contravene my impatience when it comes to waiting for new installments of my favorite media. Idk, blame the poor wifi in my house (Webtoon is slow af on my iPad).

The third SPACE BOY omnibus - which collects Volumes 7 though 9 of the trade paperbacks - finally reveals Oliver's BIG SECRET, which I won't divulge here. Suffice to say, Amy's suspicions and persistence finally pay off in a reveal of epic proportions. So many mysterious threads come together to form a narrative that's both satisfying and compelling.

Volume 7 - 3.5/5 stars

When Amy discovers that Dr. Kim and Oliver are moving out of Kokomo - hastily, with little warning, and seemingly with a military escort - she borrows Tammie's drone to spy on them. The drone is shot down, but not before Amy spots a cybernetic man in Dr. Kim's dungeon basement. (The plot thickens!) Weirder still, that night she dreams of an alien being with a purported connection to Oliver.

Oh, and she finally shoots down poor Zeph. And it's still Spirit Week!

Volume 8 - 4/5 stars

The military, led by the increasingly erratic Commander Saito, puts a hit out on Amy, who they've mistakenly identified as a spy. We learn that Oliver is their connection to the Artifact and thus instrumental to the First Contact Project.

Volume 9 - 4/5 stars

Saito's story line wraps up, and then we're treated to a flashback of the Arno six years ago, not long before its fateful accident in the Aquarii Beta system. The volume ends with a few super-cute Little Amy strips, for both balance and levity.

As always, the art in SPACE BOY is lovely, with an almost disconcerting juxtaposition of adorable (the people and nonhuman animals; the many Jetson-esque space gadgets) and bleak (the cold Nothing of space). The narrative is still moving at the speed of molasses (did I mention that it's still Spirit Week!?), though the story gets super interesting in Volume 8, once Oliver's past/present/future is finally revealed. (If you're sticking with SPACE BOY for the scifi elements, you will LOVE Volumes 8-9.)

Continuing with my habit of critiquing the speciesism in this series - Amy enjoys a lobster dinner with nary a mention of her so-called vegetarianism, so I guess the Agricultural Club hasn't started raising baby lobsters yet, either. ( )