Review:
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Y: The Last Man's debut, I'm reviewing the original 10 TPB collections. Find the other reviews here: Unmanned, Cycles, One Small Step, Safeword, Ring of Truth, Girl on Girl, Paper Dolls, Kimono Dragons, Motherland, Whys and Wherefores.
After the taut, fraught, tightly-paced blend of drama and horror of the first volume, this second volume of Y: The Last Man feels a little calmer, more pastoral in comparison.
Our main characters - Yorick, the titular last man on Earth; his pet monkey Ampersand; the severe and lethal Agent 355; and geneticist Dr. Allison Mann - embark on a classic quest. Their goal is to travel from Boston to California, to find hope for a cure in Dr. Mann's second lab.
Much of this volume takes place in small-town Ohio, a peaceful rural setting that feels far removed from the chaos, anarchy, death, and endless reminders of the recent gendercide we met in the urban centers of New York, Washington, Baltimore and Boston in the first volume.
But all is not as peaceful as it seems. The women of this small town are hiding some terrible secrets. And our heroes must stay here longer than expected while 355 recovers from injuries sustained while trying to rescue Yorick (yet again!). Which gives time for their pursuers, including the Amazons with Yorick's hate-filled sister Hero on their frontlines, to track them down and close in.
Brian K. Vaughan's story continues to be imaginative and absorbing. He blends a beautiful mix of humor, tenderness, drama, physical danger and conflict. It all culminates in an explosive confrontation between Yorick and Hero. Will she kill him in cold blood, as her Amazons demand? Can our escape-artist dodge an arrow? Will he put a bullet in his sister's head? Which sibling did Dad like best, anyway?
The art team of Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan Jr do some wonderful things with varying panel sizes and layouts, although overall the visuals feel a bit flatter than in volume 1. Maybe it is a deliberate choice, to better evoke the rural and small-town setting, but the art does not hold the eye and the interest quite as readily as did their earlier work.
The superb teaser on the final page - men! still alive, on the international space station! - means we can't wait to get volume 3!
Overall 4 capes out of 5.
Description:
In 2002, the world changes forever. Every man, every boy, every mammal with a Y chromosome everywhere on Earth suddenly collapses and dies. With the loss of nearly half the planet’s population, the gears of society grind to a halt, and a world of women are left to pick up the pieces and try to keep civilization from collapsing entirely.
The “gendercide,” however, is not absolutely complete. For some unknown reason, one young man named Yorick Brown and his pet male monkey, Ampersand, are spared. Overnight, this anonymous twentysomething becomes the most important person on the planet—the key, it is hoped, to unlocking the secret of the mysterious sex-specific plague.
For Yorick himself, the most important person on the planet has been agonizingly out of reach. But now, after three long years and 10,000 arduous miles, the last man is closing in on the truth about his lost fiancée—and the shocking facts behind his own survival.
Collects: Y: The Last Man #6-10
Authors: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan
Published By: Vertigo
Published When: Sept. 1 2003
Parental Rating: Mature
ISBN-10: 1401200761
ISBN-13: 978-1401200763
Language: English
Pages: 128 pages
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