Y: The Last Man

Index of reviews
Click on a cover to skip to review

Y: The Last Man Book 1 - Unmanned

Apocalyptic scenarios abound in science fiction. In fact, the concept of being the last member of the human race is about as popular as you get. As its name suggests, Y: The Last Man falls along these lines. But in a subtle twist, its main protagonist, Yorick, isn't the last human left alive. He's just the last man. All the women are still there.

In fact, it's not just humans. Some kind of strange phenomenon (is it a disease? A virus? Something from outer space?) has killed off everything male on the planet, except for Yorick and his pet monkey. Luckily, Yorick's mother is a US Senator, so has the wherewithal to round up an FBI agent and send the both of them off to see if they can find out what's happened.

If this all sounds particularly far fetched, even for sci-fi comics, you'd be right. The cynical will find all sorts of questions popping up in their minds, such as why they're letting the last known man wander off on a cross-country adventure before testing whether he can help produce male babies.

But suspend your cynicism for a while and you'll find a fun apocalyptic adventure story with a twist - a 21st century Planet of the Apes. Vaughan's writing isn't quite as sharp as in his later Ex Machina series, but his characters have depth and inspire empathy. Guerra and Marzán use clean lines, ensuring everyone has a fresh-faced and youthful look about them. But the characters are otherwise mostly normal looking - that this isn't a babe parade, relying on far more than its high quota of female characters, is an obvious bonus.

With a twist in its tail that's bound to leave you screaming for the second volume, Unmanned is a harmless enough speculative sci-fi adventure for those willing to suspend a bit of disbelief for the sake of entertainment. But pickier sci-fi fans may consider its avoidance of some of the more obvious questions surrounding the fate of the last man on Earth a trifle irksome.

Verdict
Story:
Art:
Overall:

Back to top

Y: The Last Man Book 2 - Cycles

This second book in the Y: The Last Man series covers the start of Yorick and the gang's trip to California to find Dr Mann's research. By trading a motorbike for a small corner in a pig-transporting train, they set off at good speed. But a bandit attack leads to them abandonning their carriage and exposing their secret to a town with more than a few heavy-duty secrets of its own. Meanwhile, the Daughters of the Amazon (featuring Yorick's psychotic sister Hero) are still hot on their tale, keen to rid the world of its last Y-chromosomes.

While the plot initially feels like an interesting aside, giving the impression that the stop-off might be little more than a bit of a side-plot to pad the story out a little, it accelerates to a frenetic pace by the end. And as with the last volume, Vaughan shows himself to be the master of the contrived cliff-hanger, ensuring that if you've already come this far, there's probably very little point continuing if you're not thinking of shelling out for volume 3 while you're at it.

This is well-crafted intelligent sci-fi that continues to bring up stories that make you think in an entertaining yet grown-up way.

Verdict
Story:
Art:
Overall:

Back to top

Y: The Last Man Book 3 - One Small Step

Well, if the last book felt like an aside, volume three ups the ante, as two men and a woman, stranded on the International Space Station, attempt a safe re-entry in an aging Soyuz capsule. If they make it, Yorick won't be the last man left on planet earth - he'll have America and Russia's finest to stand alongside him.

This plot twist, introduced as a cliff-hanger in the previous volume, is handled deftly throughout the book, building tension upon tension as previous plot strands twist together. The Israeli army also catch up with Yorick, bringing them head to head with Yorick's American protectors, while back at the White House, Yorick's politician mother seems to be having second thoughts about sending the last man on Earth on a dangerous mission across America.

Yorick's pet monkey, Ampersand, scuttles off for a two-chapter adventure of his own at the end of the book, which makes for a slightly disconcerting epilogue, especially given the typical cliff-hanger we're left with before he does. But by placing the action in an all-female theatre company, it gives Vaughan the opportunity to explore a little of what life might be like in an all-female world.

This all makes for an exciting new chapter in the series. It's refreshing of Vaughan not to leave difficult loose plot threads hanging around for ever, and he has a deft touch for pulling them all together in such as way as to keep the reader on a tight leash.

Verdict
Story:
Art:
Overall: