Review:
Ah, California! As we reach the mid-point of the sci-fi classic comics series Y: The Last Man, our three heroes - Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth; Dr. Allison Mann a brilliant scientist working to isolate how he survived; and Agent 355 of the secretive Culper Ring - and pet monkey Ampersand, have finally reached their objective of the west coast of America.
The chapters in this collection include three separate stories. In the first, Yorick visits a Roman Catholic church and meets another Beth. Not his almost-fiancée Beth, she's still living in Australia, or so he believes. This Beth is a former student of theology and ex-airline steward, who has taken up residence in an abandoned church. As she tells her story of surviving the plague, we are immersed into her pain and her scars, physical, emotional and spiritual. This is a particularly touching story arc, as Yorick and Beth seek to give one another solace and support, through human touch and connection.
The second story is a single-chapter focus on Hero and her origin story, so to speak. It is well-told and expertly paced. Her relationships with her brother, mother and father; her past romances; her attraction to the Amazons and struggles with recovery from their brain-washing influence. It is touching, at times moving, beautifully drawn. A gem of a single-issue tale showing Brian K. Vaughan still at the top of his narrative game.
In the final four chapters of the collection, with our heroes now stationary in San Francisco, all their enemies converge on them. Hero tracks them down. The ominous, burka-clad Setauket Ring - a breakaway faction of 355's Culper Ring - confronts them. And a new foe, a mysterious ninja warrior, gets added to the mix.
Not every swing of the bat is a home run; not every music single tops the charts. Likewise, not every plot development and chapter is a success. And this San Francisco tale is the first real miss in this excellent series.
By now we have some well-established characters, and several moments of these chapters clunk compared to what we know of them now. The ninja Toyota is too awesome and lethal, the Setauket Ring not nearly lethal enough. And the whole "magical ring" brou-ha-ha is a disappointment, with all of our heroes succumbing too quickly to magical wishful thinking. And the end result of stealing Ampersand, who may be the key to solving the whole plague, forces our heroes back on their never-ending journey, lest they become too stagnant in SF-based research.
Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan continue their run of solid art work, with clever angles and tensely dramatic fight sequences. Their characters are beautifully consistent, intense, playful, such a range of expressions. And their vividly rendered settings draw us in.
For two awesome and one meh tale, I'll score this collection 3.5 capes.
Description:
Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth, finally makes it to San Francisco where his unbalanced sister, Hero, finds him seemingly succumbing to the male-killing plague after losing his still-unused engagement ring to the burqa-clad agents of the Setauket Ring. But is the ring really the key to his survival? And what does it have to do with the mysterious Amulet of Helene, which the Setauket leader is determined to take from Agent 355 by any means necessary. Collects issues #24-31 of the runaway hit Vertigo series by Brian K. Vaughan (EX-MACHINA, ASTONISHING X-MEN, RUNAWAYS) and Pia Guerra.
Collects: Y: The Last Man issues #24-31
Authors: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan
Published By: Vertigo
Published When: Aug. 1 2005
Parental Rating: Mature
ISBN-10: 1401204872
ISBN-13: 978-1401204877
Language: English
Pages: 192 pages
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