Alas...
I was a little late to the party that was Brian K. Vaughan's Y: The Last Man; managing to just start really getting into the series shortly before it came to an end. For the uninformed, Y: The Last Man tells the story of Yorick Brown; a college student who, along with his pet monkey Ampersand, become the last male mammals on the planet after an unexplained virus kills every lifeform with a Y-chromosome. How did it happen and how are Yorick and Ampersand still alive and kicking? That's part of what made Y: The Last Man such an addictive and rewarding ongoing series. This handsome deluxe hardcover collects the first two storyarcs of the series, Unmanned and Cycles, in which Yorick allies himself with the mysterious Agent 355 and scientist Doctor Mann, as they begin a cross-country trip as society begins to crumble around them. Vaughan manages to draw the reader in even more so as the mystery continues to deepen, and his vision of a male-less society takes the otherwise usual fantasy of being the only man on Earth and turns it into a thought-provoking nightmare. Pia Guerra's artwork has never been anything eye-popping in the least, but it more than serves its purpose and has never been anything less than solid. All in all, if you missed out on Y: The Last Man, now has never been a better time to get lost with Yorick in the unmanned world.
I hold these books to be sacred.
This is the most amazing story that I have ever encountered in any medium.
I picked up on the series in 2004, and followed it, month by month to its conclusion in 2008. I have such a personal attachment to this story, and Yorrick, and the post-apocalyptic world herein, that much of what I do now and would like to do in the future has been inspired by this. It made me realize what an incredible medium comic books are and the limitless potential they have for story telling. "Y" introduced me to other great comics and the works of Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. It all started here for me.
I'm terrified that the movie adaptation will suck, as I have no faith in Shia LeBouf or the craptastic director they picked for this monumental occasion. It's like letting the Wayan Brothers direct 'Watchmen.' That's how sacrilegious it is to me.
But as long as I own the books. As long as I can avoid the movies, and the reviews that will say how much the story sucks because they only watched the movie; as long as I can go home and open these books and read it for myself, and recognize the brilliance in these pages - come what may - I shall be happy.
Poor Yorick! I knew him...
Like seeing an old friend again. It's an awesome marketing strategy by DC to put out a deluxe version of the beginning of Y just after the series finished. Crank up the nostalgia factor and run with it.
Now, on the merits, it's interesting to go back to the beginning and see where Vaughan was going with it. He's already starting to layer in the plots and hints that carry throughout the entire series. Yorick's confused and easily-sidetracked quest for Beth; the beginnings of the fraught relationship between Dr. Mann, 355, and Yorick; Natalya, the astronauts, and Kansas; even feces-flinging Ampersand. Vaughan's gift for interspersing bizarre facts and general geek chic isn't in the sort of full swing you get from Ex Machina yet, but his knack for the cliffhanger is in top gear.
All around, an excellent collection of the material. It's nice to see in an oversized hardcover, where Pia Guerra's art - and outstanding feel for human expression - is on full display. My only complaint is that a "deluxe" edition really could stand to have some more extra material. The sketches are fun, but I'd love love love to see a Vaughan script in raw form. I bet that would be downright revelatory.
No Greater Wrath
Plague? Black Magic? Terrorism? Act of God? Could / would something simultaneously kill every mammal possessing a Y chromosome? Even unborn mammals in the womb? Well, according to Y: The Last Man, on July 17, 2002, that's exactly what happened...with the exception of one male human being and one male Capuchin monkey.
Y: The Last Man chronicles the life of Yorick Brown and his pet monkey Ampersand as they are thrust into a female-only society. And society is in chaos. The realization that the planet is doomed without a reproducing, intelligent species is not lost on its inhabitants. Some accept their fate; some fight to find a way to reverse the annihilation; and some even denounce any fight to survive as opposition to God's will.
Hence, to some, Yorick Brown is the ultimate opposition to God's will....A sole human male survivor. So when Yorick teams up with a government agent and a genetic scientist on a journey across the country to get to a laboratory to find out 'what makes him different', or to try to discover if there's a genetic 'solution' to this disaster, you can bet the band of travelers run into some hostile forces.
The storyline is not without some controversy....Well, I see no controversy, but I'm sure that certain groups might view the nature of a population unable to civilly function without men a bit 'controversial'. Regardless, Y: The Last Man is very well told, exciting, twist-filled and keeps you pressing on. It took me just under 2 hours to get through Book 1.
The stories originally were delivered in 10 Volumes (collecting the 60 individual newsstand comic books). Book 1 is a Deluxe, Hardcover combination of "Unmanned" (Volume 1) & "Cycles" (Volume 2).
Volumes 3 - 10 are readily available individually if you don't want to wait to collect the rest of the Hardcover Book compilations. Fair warning...Volumes 6 - 10 start getting a little (just a little!) long in the tooth, as perhaps more of an attempt to drag the story out and keep a great revenue generating series alive, but nevertheless, Writer Brian Vaughan keeps readers compelled to press on.
Rumor has it (according to [rumored] Director D.J. Caruso) that a movie adaptation will come out in three films...the first of which could be released as early as 2009 (with [rumored] Shia LaBeouf as Yorick). Hopefully, Hollywood will maintain the integrity of the series and not dumb down this fabulous "controversial" tale that the authors created.
