Y: The Last Man Vol. 1

Y: The Last Man Vol. 1
(Unmanned)
Written by: Brian K Vaghaun
Illustrated by: Pia Guerra
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Vertigo
Language: English
January 2003, $12.99
Genre: Graphic Novel

From writer Brian K. Vaughan (Swamp Thing, The Hood) and up and coming artist Pia Guerra comes a view of a dystopian society where suddenly - and without warning - a mysterious plague kills every living creature on the planet with a Y chromosone...in other words, no more men! Except one. Amateur escape artist Yorick Brown has somehow survived. It's now a very different world, and his unique status is far from privileged. If they can't exploit Yorick, the new world powers may just decide his usefulness is at an end!

+++++++++++++

I am not sure what took me so long to pick this up and read it. Maybe it’s the monkey or maybe it’s just the great story, but I am hooked and was hooked from page one. You like Yorick, you like Ampersand, and you like the what-if of the whole plot even if it isn’t anything particularly new. Here is a world where women are grieving, trying to make sense of the world and rebuild, and sometimes even rejoicing. What caused the men of the world to die out? Why were Yorick and Ampersand immune? What is due to cloning a human? Or perhaps the artifact that was taken from Jordan? How will society rebuild itself? Is this the end? It’s that mystery and blend of fantasy and sci-fi mixed with the real that has me turning the pages ever faster.

Of course, the artwork is nice, but more than that the characterizations are real and even if you love to hate certain characters, they’re not so ridiculous that you laugh. Yes, even Miss Hippolyta, Amazon Queen wannabe herself. Similar to Walking Dead, another fave, the story isn’t really about the fact that men are now extinct, it’s about how you deal with the aftermath.

I hope the rest of the series is just as good and this may have even got me to pick up Runaways as well.

3.75 out of 4 happy bibliosnark bookmarks