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