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Of Embassies and Origins - Justice League International Part 2 (Eaglemoss Collection v77)

  Review: Since we are doing a series of reviews focusing on Booster Gold over his nearly 40-year history, we include this one as a collection of some of his earliest appearances, dating to late 1987. That places the original publish date of these tales while his original solo series was still going strong.  This book is a beautiful, glossy hard-cover with smooth and heavy-stock paper inside, although the sometimes-low print reproduction quality leads to blurred and hard to read word balloons on occasion. It is also a rare book here in North America, as Eaglemoss Collections targeted UK fans with this series. At this point in the history of the 1987-rebooted Justice League, they have gained official United Nations recognition and sanction. To ensure their reach truly is global, they rebrand as Justice League International (as does the title of the series!) and they open new headquarters buildings around the world: New York, Paris and Moscow are included here. As this is a product of 19
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Y: The Last Man Volume 6: Girl On Girl

   

Cover of Girl on Girl - Y The Last Man volume 6

Review:

High drama on the high seas.

In this sixth volume collecting issues 32 to 36 of Brian K. Vaughan's breath-taking series Y: The Last Man, Yorick, Dr. Mann and Agent 355 have set out to cross the vast Pacific Ocean, in a desperate effort to retrieve the stolen pet monkey Ampersand, who may hold the secret to curing the gendercide plague.

But this is not a relaxed pleasure cruise aboard the custom yacht The Whale. There are secrets in the hold, beyond just Yorick the stowaway. Pirates and traitors and illicit drug shipments and a submarine of the Australian Navy all mix into an explosive climax, both emotionally and literally.

Vaughan weaves another page-turner of a tale, filled with allusions and layers of nuance in the overlapping relationships. It is gripping, and every page ratchets up the tension.

Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan support the narrative brilliantly with their art. There is less need for nuance in rendering the individuals, especially among the mostly nameless sailing crew, as their physical traits vary starkly from one to another. Yet the subtle changes in eyebrow angle and facial dynamics continue to shine through with our main characters. Yorick's emotions continue to be pretty straight-forward, but the growing complexities in 355 and Dr. Mann are well handled.

Shout-out as well to the work of Massimo Carnevale, whose original covers continue to astound. Brilliant works of art and one-image distillations of a key theme of the issue.

And then there is the final chapter of the collection, #36. Beth's story, both her current state in the Australian outback and flashbacks of her evolving relationship with Yorick. This is the suma cum laude of the collection, powerfully told, beautifully rendered, strongly paced. It is moving, frustrating, informative, compelling story-telling, worth the price of the collection for this tale alone.

Again, very high scores for this collection, 4.5 capes out of 5.

Read all 10 reviews of Y: The Last Man here: Volume 1 Unmanned; Volume 2 Cycles; Volume 3 One Small Step; Volume 4 Safeword; Volume 5 Ring of Truth; Volume 6 Girl on Girl; Volume 7 Paper Dolls; Volume 8 Kimono Dragons; Volume 9 Motherland; Volume 10 Whys and Wherefores.

Description:

Accompanied by his mischievous monkey and the mysterious Agent 355, Yorick embarks on a transcontinental journey to find his girlfriend and discover why he is the last man on Earth. This volume finds Yorick, Agent 355 and Dr. Mann traveling across the Pacific to Japan in pursuit of Yorick's stolen monkey Ampersand, whose innards may hold the key to mankind's future. Collects issues #32-36 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 #32-36
Authors: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan
Published By: Vertigo
Published When: November 23, 2005
Parental Rating: Mature
ISBN-13: 978-1401205010
Language: English

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