Y: The Last Man

What if you were the last man on Earth? What would you do if there were 3.5 billion eligible women who are all your potential mates? Would you stay with your girlfriend or try finding her when she's halfway around the world? Or for the survival of the human species, would you sleep with as many women as possible? Would you announce to the world that you're the last man alive? Or go into hiding until the right moment to reveal yourself? Tough questions for a hypothetical situation but questions that are asked and answered in Brian K. Vaughan's Y: The Last Man.

The unthinkable has happened. For some unknown reason all males on Earth have died, save one. Yorrick has become the most eligible bachelor in the world and instead of finding bliss; he finds the cold hard truth: It's tough to survive in a woman's world. Now this comic book could have become a fanboy's dream of having sex with all the women you want, but then this wouldn't be a Vertigo title.

Brian Vaughan creates stories that have deep characterization and realistic plotlines. What would happen with all the males dead in the world? Women would have to learn to survive. Some will go crazy, some will become crazy, and some will be in denial. Brian Vaughan writes about all these things and more.

So how does Yorrick survive in such a post-apocalyptic environment? He gets help some in the form of Agent 355 and Dr. Mann. Agent 355 is a member of the Culper Ring, a secret society of agents that protect humanity. Yorrick's mother is a senator and now wields a fair amount of power. Agent 355 was assigned to protect Yorrick to find out why he survived while everyone else died. Dr. Mann is a researcher who specializes in cloning. The first few story arcs were about Yorrick and Agent 355 traveling across the United States looking for Dr. Mann. Yorrick hides the best he can, but eventually has to reveal himself in various situations.

The newest adventures have Yorrick in Australia looking for his girlfriend Beth. Lots have happened since the first few story arcs and Vaughan continues to provide twists and turns in Yorrick's path.

Here's what I like about Y: The Last Man. It's always on time and it's a great read every time. This book takes a realistic approach to a schoolboy fantasy. However unlikely, Vaughan makes it believable that all the men have died and there's a lone survivor. But adding layers to his characters, he makes them just as believable and gets the reader to identify with them. Yorrick is not perfect and it shows in many ways. The art in the books isn't breathtaking but it isn't bad either.

Y: The Last Man is a great escape from the super-hero genre that dominates today's comic books. Vertigo has shown again that it picks up solid titles that find their own fan following. Comic books are a portal to infinite imaginary universes and it is about time that non-super-hero books become more mainstream.

If you're a comic book fan and you want to try something different, pick up a copy of Y: The Last Man. There are trade paperbacks available for the first few story arcs so it's a good idea to pick them up to read. The art is decent and the writing is top notch. There's no fake violence here, just great character stories and some awesome mystery as well.

Dragoncrypt - 2/5/2006