Y: THE LAST MAN, winner of three Eisner Awards and one of the most critically acclaimed, best-selling comic books series of the last decade, is that rare example of a page-turner that is at once humorous, socially relevant and endlessly surprising.Written by Brian K. Vaughan (LOST, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD, EX MACHINA) and with art by Pia Guerra, this is the saga of Yorick Brown—the only human survivor … survivor of a planet-wide plague that instantly kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome. Accompanied by a mysterious government agent, a brilliant young geneticist and his pet monkey, Ampersand, Yorick travels the world in search of his lost love and the answer to why he’s the last man on earth.
Collects Y THE LAST MAN #1-10.
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No capes. No monsters. No heroes (well, there’s one-his sister, Hero). No powers. No villains. No magic (possibly a magic medallion). Y: The Last Man isn’t like most other comic books.
Without warning or explanation, every male on earth dies. The story centers on the humans, but all the male animals die as well, leaving the females to clean up a patriarchal civilization.
The Why in the comic book is:
Why.
Isn’t.
This.
A.
Show?!
It reads like Heroes or Lost, or even 24. You might respond with “Isn’t there a show about the last man on earth called, um, The Last Man on Earth?” Well, invisible questioner, that’s true. But the show is different because it’s a comedy and the comic book is more of a dramatic fantasy. The comic came first, and it’s hard not to imagine that the basic idea of the show was inspired by (ripped off) the comic. No spoilers, but the climax of the first trade paperback is a plot point in the show.
Y: The Last Man is thought-provoking in its execution. The real-world concerns of every male dying at once are addressed (What do the survivors do with the bodies? What about the mostly male governments of the world?) Yorick, an English major, and escape artist, along with his monkey Ampersand, does his best to travel from the United States to Australia to reunite with his fiancee. Along the way, he encounters violent Amazons, the remnants of the elected government escape from the White House, and discovers a seemingly utopian town. Did I mention that technology has been knocked for a loop? Oh yeah, the phones don’t work and things like cars and gasoline are scarce.
I look forward to reading the other books in the series. There are many mysteries to be answered, such as: What happened to wipe out half the human race? Will Yorick reach his girlfriend? What’s the deal with his sister? Is Yorick (and his monkey) really the last man (males) on Earth?
Y: The Last Man is written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Pia Guerra and published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics collecting issues 1-10.
I’ve had this on my bookshelf for a while now and something compelled me to read it recently. I’m so glad I did (and so sad I waited so long to do so!).
This is a great graphic novel. It’s a very interesting premise and I think Vaughan does a lovely job of depicting accurate possible reactions to something like this. Parts of it make me very uncomfortable but I enjoy that art can make us think. I’ve already requested the rest of the series from my local library.
The art doesn’t impress me overmuch but it’s well done. The visuals are very clear and I appreciate having that extra medium, that extra layer, to this story.
I’d happily recommend this to other graphic novel fans!
Since I have never read a graphic novel in my life, this recommendation came from my husband. He has quite a few in his library, so he thought this one would be good for me.
It was…..interesting. Kudos for a book with pictures – really brought the story to life. Personally, it would be nice to see more adult books like this. Ha ha.
The story was about the last man on earth. One day, all the males of not just humans, but of all species, just died. At least that is what everyone thought. Come to find out there was one man left and one male monkey. The job of some of the women is to keep him alive. And in the end – they succeed.
Since I am pretty sure that 95% of my readers of this blog will not be picking up this – or any other – graphic novel, I will leave the review at that.
It was an interesting enough story, but it does not make me want to read more like it.