Y: The Last Man, a Graphic Novel Review

Y: The Last Man
Writer: Brian K. Vaughn
Artists: Pia Guerra, Goran Sudzuka and Paul Chadwick
Published by Vertigo
60 Issues / Collected in 10 paperback issues

Have you ever fantasized about being the last man on earth with oodles of unrealistically beautiful babes throwing themselves at you? Well, try throwing in a Capuchin monkey, a clever plot and more twists than a washing machine and you’ll get Brian K. Vaughn’s “Y: The Last Man.” The graphic novel follows the adventures of Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand in a post-y chromosome world. It all starts out when an unknown epidemic causes every living thing with a y chromosome to spontaneously die. The world is thrown into a state of chaos as most of the world’s public leaders, soldiers, pilots and half the entire population bite the dust. For some reason, Yorick and Ampersand were the only male mammals who survived.

Their adventure starts after a phone call with his girlfriend, who was in Australia at the time, gets cut off. With no idea of what the hell was happening, the main character makes it his ultimate objective to find and rescue his girlfriend. Unfortunately, things aren’t as easy as going from point A to point B and we’ll often see our hero sidetracked from his true objective. With the company of a couple of friends he meets along the way, Yorick travels the world to find the woman he loves and to discover the secret behind the plague.

If you picked up this graphic novel expecting tons of orgies and graphic girl on girl sex then you’re reading the wrong book! Okay, there is a bit of sex here and there (and a bit of nudity too) but that’s not the great part of this comic at all. It’s the story, it draws you in completely. I found it unbelievably hard to put this book down. And every issue had me biting my nails in anticipation for the next one in the series.

The writer did an awesome job with the characters. They are deep, interesting and absolutely entertaining. My favorite has got to be Yorick because I believe that he’s the most human in the group. Instead of a powerful superhero with laser eye beams and large wings we have an unemployed English major who likes to pass the time replicating Houdini. I find it brilliantly hilarious that he’s the only hope of the world! Besides being nearly useless I respect the fact that he chooses to search for his girlfriend instead of bonking every woman in sight. I mean, if Duke Nukem was in his shoes it would be Operation Repopulation time!

Overall, this graphic novel is a must read for both avid comic book readers and casual readers alike. The great thing about Y: the Last Man is that anybody can easily get hooked because it caters to a general audience. I greatly enjoyed this graphic novel and when I showed it to my girlfriend she felt the same way about it too! Definitely a great read!

Score:

I give it five chromosomes out of five!


/ 5

What is a Graphic Novel?

One day, as I was browsing one of my most favorite bookstores, a new section quickly caught my attention. The sign above it said:

GRAPHIC NOVELS

"Wow!" I thought to myself. "It sounds so sophisticated!"

So I broke my intended route in order to investigate this alien part of the bookstore. I stood in front of the shelf, gawking at its colorful exterior. All of a sudden, familiar names sprung up as I traced their spines with my eyes, such as; Marvel, X-Men, DC, Wolverine, Avengers and Superman! I hastily grabbed the most accessible book and flipped through its pages; this gave me a realization of some sort (something like an Aha! moment but not really). I held in my hands a comic book, but on steroids!

"Cool."

Another realization hit me as fast as the first one did as I flipped the Graphic Novel over; it was expensive! Nevertheless, I still thought it was pretty cool so whenever my parents were extra generous with my allowance I would save up and buy one.

This happened years ago when bookstores wouldn't really know where to index these thick clumps of paper so they decided to create whole new sections for them. Today, the term "Graphic Novel" has tremendously increased in popularity. Though it's not really a household term just yet, most avid comic book readers know what the term means. Well, they think they know what it means. Why do I say this? It's probably due to the fact that there is still no proper and universally accepted definition for "Graphic Novel."

In this article, I will not undertake the colossal task of defining the Graphic Novel. I'll leave that to experts who have more experience in that craft. Instead, I aim to give you, the reader, a general understanding of what Graphic Novels are. Okay? Let’s start.

WHAT IS A GRAPHIC NOVEL? (for general understanding purposes)

Graphic Novels came from Comic Books. I know that this is a pretty obvious statement and most of you who are probably reading this right now already knew that to begin with. I mean, the evidence is right there once you open the graphic novel—you see comics. The content of any one of these books will show you forms of paneling, plots and premises; and combinations of pictures and dialogue that we have already come to know and love from reading comic books. But why do people call them Graphic Novels? They have the same content anyway so why don’t they just call them long Comic Books? What sets them apart from their Comic Book forefathers? Let’s take a look at a couple of differences between the two:

1. Comic Books usually range from 12-24+glossy pages covered by material used for magazines. For Graphic Novels, It’s very uncommon to find these with less than 30 pages; most Graphic Novels easily reach 60-100+. Though they also use glossy pages for the inside, most of the bindings now use the same material as conventional books. Most of them also have dust covers.

2. Most comic books are usually parts of a series, meaning you wouldn’t really get the whole story by just buying one. Graphic Novels, on the other hand, have complete stories inside their covers, even if they’re just collections of a number of comic books. You’d still have the complete satisfaction of having a beginning and an end, just like normal books.

3. For some reason, libraries and bookstores prefer to stock Graphic Novels instead of normal comic books. Even though it’s a compilation of numerous comics you’d still probably find it under the Graphic Novels section. Moreover, they are more library-friendly than their thinner counter-parts.

As you can see, there is still a very fine line between comic books and graphic novels. The examples that I gave above are only differences that are easily observed or interpreted. The truth is, I don’t think most people would even complain if you called a comic book a graphic novel or vice versa.

Which brings us to this question; “So if they’re just almost the same thing, why did they have to make up the term Graphic Novel?”

Well, dear reader, I believe that this is due to the fact that the term Graphic Novel is just much more pleasing to the ears and eyes than its counterpart. When we hear the word comics, most often then not, we immediately attach the idea of funny or humorous to it. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise to us. So if I wanted to submit a comic that was darker, brutally realistic and shockingly mature; how do I get rid of the comedic connotation? We exchange Comic Book with a much more “sophisticated” term, such as Graphic Novel (notice how I used the quotation marks there). I have no qualms against this though, I mean it’s really up to the writer/artist to call his work whatever he wants to and if he’s calling it a Graphic Novel then fine, no problem. It can also be a good way for comic books to “grow up” and reach for more mature audiences and wider markets, gaining the attention it rightfully deserves. So, I really don’t think it’s a bad thing at all.

In my opinion, Graphic Novels are essentially just comic books too. Someone just had to repackage it in order to get more readers or to change it’s image or whatever, I’m not sure. It all boils down to what’s in between the covers anyway.

Hope this helps even though I’m not sure how it will.

By the way, KEEP READING!

KBGBDK4CATVV

I, Graphic Novel Writer

Welcome Graphic Novel enthusiasts and Comic Book connoisseurs (yes, i had to google that to check if it was spelled right) to my wonderful site about the fascinating bastard child of words and pictures that is the Graphic Novel (or comic books, whichever floats your boat).

You probably stumbled upon my site in search of mind-blowing reviews of newly released issues, in-depth knowledge on the art of Graphic Novel writing and maybe for a couple of godly written and expertly illustrated online comics to pass your time.

Or, you could have just ended up here searching for free downloads.

I don't care how you got here. You're here now. So READ.

Though I'll try my best to give you what i mentioned above (except the free downloads , of course) I must mention that I'm fairly new in the Graphic Novel universe and the adjectives i supplied above may very well be exaggerations of my current skills. But don't let my inexperience fool you. I KNOW comic books. Well, that's what i think at least.

Since this is the first post i guess this would be a good time to introduce the author of the blog.

Me!

I used to think that Graphic Novels and Comic Books were for nerds and geeks until i actually tried reading some a year or two ago. I got hooked. From that point on i started hoarding as many as i can, i just kept on reading and reading and reading. It was like a drug that fed my imagination and my addiction just worsened as i went along.

After a year or so, I thought, "Hey! Why can't I make my own Graphic Novel!"
I had this realization after watching a Harry Potter movie (yes, i still struggle thinking about the connection up to this day). And thoughts of making tons of money in Marvel or DC started entering my mind.

Well, after around 5 months of writing and paneling i have 3 PAGES OF MY FIRST ISSUE!

Woohoo! .. :(

Yeah, i know it's kind of sad.

So i decided to make this site in the mean time to talk about what i love, Graphic Novels. And you're welcome to watch me as i struggle to finish my own Graphic Novel!

Great right? Great.

Anyway, this is where my first post ends. Please check back once in a while for updates!

KEEP READING!