In the series finale, Timmy retires from detective work. When Timmy uses a class assignment to chronicle his memoirs on film, he finds himself with a new nemesis: the movie's precocious director, (transfer student) Tom John John. Comical pen-and-ink illustrations highlight Timmy's interactions with familiar characters, most notably his polar bear sidekick and his estranged father. Longtime fans won't be disappointed by the conclusion--it's bittersweet and just right.

What would a film of Timmy Failure's life look like? Greatness!Great detective Timmy Failure's possibly imaginary business partner and polar bear, Total, is missing his polar-bear brother. Timmy would like to help him, but it would disrupt his detecting business—and then there is a solar eclipse at a crucial moment. Taking it as a sign from the gods, Timmy retires from detecting to help Total. Before the polar-bear hunt can progress very far, Timmy's teacher assigns the class a movie project, and Timmy must write the script. He knows the greatest story never told: his life from birth to detective greatness. Unfortunately, new student Tom John John is to direct it. Now Timmy must deal with his perpetually absent father's reappearance in town (and his patent refusal to be an international spy), the disappearance of the greatest script ever written, Tom John John's pretentious frippery, a despondent polar bear, and a host of regular hangers-on (whom anyone else would call friends). Pastis caps his offbeat, frequently absurd, and oft-times sedately madcap series with a satisfying closer. Timmy narrates his tale of greatness in his customary deadpan; Pastis' line drawings often supply wry punchlines and depict an all-white cast.Fans will feel fulfilled. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-11)