Title: Y The Last Man
Genre: Graphic Novel
Year: 2002-2008
Pages: 1,500 (approx)
Origin: read from the collection of Mr. C
Nod Rating: 4 nods out of 5
‘When the mother of the race is free, we shall have a better world, by the easy right of birth, and by the calm, slow, friendly forces of evolution.’During much of September and October of this year, the Worm was involved in the reading of the comic series Y The Last Man. Spanning six years of publication history and sixty issues, the story finds the reader following the adventures of Yorick Brown: the last man on the planet. All other mammals – bar his pet monkey (not a euphemism, you dirty minded readers) – have been wiped out in a quick, bloody and – ultimately – mysterious plague.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra (and including the additional talents across the long run of Goran Sudzuka, Paul Chadwick, and Jose Marzan Jr.), Y The Last Man ticks the boxes of the sci-fi, dystopian adventure genres. The annihilation of the human race is not an original concept, but this particular story deviates from the central idea in a number of interesting ways. Visually, instead of the usual bleak, dark city skylines so often employed in these stories, Y The Last Man is filled with bright skies and grassy fields. Of greater difference is the lack of male characters; what could be deemed a risky strategy in what is a male dominated comic market, both in terms of readership and the characters (for every Wonder Woman there are hundreds of Batmen, Supermen and X-Men); something the story’s creators should take full credit for.
The central characters include the never-do-well Yorick, his monkey sidekick Ampersand, his assigned tough-guy bodyguard Agent 355, and the brains of the operation Dr. Allison Mann. Across sixty issues, this team traverse the North American continent, across the Pacific, Australia, South East Asia before finally ending in Paris – all in the hope of finding answers and a way of saving the human race (along with locating Yorick’s girlfriend, Beth). Throughout this series various characters and plots unfold, including love affairs for all central characters, a Russian solider, Israeli commandoes, a ninja in the vicious form of Toyota, and – as obligatory fare for end-of-the-world dystopian fiction - a crazy doctor who is intend on killing all.
Earlier storylines (including ‘Unmanned’, ‘Cycles’, ‘One Small Step’ and ‘Ring of Truth’) see the series at its ramping finest in the establishing of the narrative. They are aided with the addition of smaller stories that build upon the theories of man’s destruction and the role of gender (including ‘Comedy & Tragedy’). It is a shame that the stories become all the more convoluted and sensationalist in later issues (including a contrived naked lesbian scene). The series suffers by an overload of back-story issues of central and minor characters; a clear indication that the creative team were running out of ideas of where to take the main storyline. Such a decline is alleviated – slightly – by the pitting of rivals in a fight to the death in the later storyline of ‘Motherland’; but even this fails to recapture the earlier spirit of the series. The original intentions of the comic’s length is left uncertain, but a journey that did not extend beyond the confines of the United States could have resulted in a happier, more succinct conclusion for all – readers and creators alike.
The Worm is not adverse to including a “spoiler” or two in his reviews; the ending issues of Y The Last Man reveals a late – almost forced – romance, followed by the shock death of a principal character in the rather rushed storyline ‘Whys and Wherefores’. The final issue (‘Alas’), set decades in the future, unsuccessful attempts to resolve the various question marks surrounding the central characters. It is regretful that this future society, in which countries continue the old fears and suspicions of the past, but with a certain stabilisation in the clones of Yorick’s genes, is not developed in greater detail. Although the fate of Yorick himself is, thankfully, left open-ended for the reader.
The feminist aspect to this series remains its strongest attraction. Previous works of fiction have pondered a world without men, including Mary Shelley’s The Last Man and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s fantastic Herland. Vaughan offers glimpses as to how society may unfold: some believing that all is lost without their husbands, brothers and sons to those who seek to avenge the servitude of the female race by grabbing power (as shown in the group the Amazons). Attention is paid to how dominant the male gender is within key professions, including the armed forces, transport and politics (the new President of the USA being the holder of the unknown post of Secretary of Agriculture). And although Yorick may be the chief protagonist, the success in their adventures is down to the females surrounding him: the fighting is done by his protector, Agent 355, whilst the lion’s share of the thinking by their companion Dr. Allison Mann.
The mystery that is the plague remains to the final page, with no definitive answer given. Vaughan himself noted the delight in teasing the audience: ‘I feel that there is a definitive explanation, but I like that people don’t necessarily know what it is. In interviews we always said that we would tell people exactly what caused the plague. The thing was, we never said when we were going to tell. We weren't going to tell you when we were telling you, I should say. We might have told you in issue #3. There might have been something in the background that only a couple people caught. It might have been Dr. Mann's father's very detailed, scientific explanation. It might have been Alter's off-the-wall conspiracy theory. The real answer is somewhere in those 60 issues, but I prefer to let the reader decide which one they like rather than pushing it on them.’ Theories include the time-bomb trigger that was the first human clone; mysticism in the form of a sacred ring; religion playing a part in the Rapture taking all men from the Earth as punishment for original sin; or perhaps even by ‘death-by-chick-flick.’ In the manner of all great question marks, the origins of the plague will hopefully continue to keep the flames of debate stoked for many years to come between the series’ faithful readers.
Talk of a big screen adaption have been mooted for years. However, the Worm is of the firm opinion that such a movie – in one-off form – would not serve such a long-winding narrative. As one-time slated director of the project D.J. Caruso stated, it wouldn’t do the story ‘justice’. Other options include a possible TV series; but, perhaps the beauty of the comic book format is the prospect of telling an extended story, with various subplots and character develop, in a way that no other medium can offer (as Alan Moore argued in a book reviewed on the pages of this blog just a month or two ago). For readers who want an adventure story with a brain, Y The Last Man is a series to be enjoyed. The Worm highly recommends the series to serious readers of dystopian fiction.
Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Man-Deluxe-HC-Vol/dp/1401219217/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353856226&sr=1-1
