A Decent Start
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When reading a long graphic novel series you have to usually remember that for the most part they get better as they go along. The first volume will lay the groundwork and this will often lead many to say that a comic is boring.
Y The Last Man Vol 1 is good enough to make you want to read the next one but has some serious flaws. For starters women are portrayed as rather one dimensional and Yorick can be a little annoying in his single minded attempt to get to his girlfriend when humanity is obviously in danger. On saying that
I raced through this book and while I did find it annoying in parts it is a good start and I will be picking up Volume 2.
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A males dream come true?
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Imagine waking up one morning and finding out you are the very last man alive on Earth. Billions of women and your the only hope for the survival of the human race. Sounds like a dream come true, endless late nights and not a headache in sight....Right.....Wrong!
Speaking totally from a male perspective it really does seem like heaven on earth, but throw in violent hoards of vigilante lesbian biker chicks, Israeli special forces on a mission to kidnap you for mass fertilization, an american government in complete chaos with no policing and countless numbers of lady nutters taking full advantage of the situation, you soon find yourself in a complete nightmare not too far off a George A Romero script.
I myself have only read the first five books and they are absolutely gripping, i have the other books on order and i am chomping at the bit waiting for them to arrive.
This is an absolutely brilliant comic series and a must have for anybody who is interested in appocolypse theories.
Oh yeah, and theres a monkey in it too.
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Interesting, but could be better...
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I agree with most of the positive comments about Brian Vaughn's writing - he is an original voice, and his storytelling and ideas are top drawer. However, what really let's this down - and renders it inferior to the far less-hyped but much more fully-realised 'Ex Machina' - is the artwork.
It's not that the art itself is bad - it isn't; it's just that somehow it just isn't fully evocative of the tone and feel of the writing. This is thoughtful stuff, but the art is pretty basic one-dimensional comic art. This would have benefitted from a much more lavish treatment, lending some atmosphere and sophistication.
If you find this, do read it - it is intriguing stuff; just be prepared not to be as wowed as some reviews might lead you to expect.
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One of the best titles available...
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This series is pure class. Brian K. Vaughn is one of the most talented and original writers working in graphic novels today. His contributions to Ultimate X-men have been excellent, 'Runaways' was relevant and enlightening and 'Ex Machina' is a political pleasure to read.
However, 'Y - The Last Man' is his masterpiece. I don't want to offer any spoiler information but the basic premise is that Yorrick Brown, a young and slighly daft escape-artist, is the only man left alive after a mysterious infection/reaction wipes out the entire Y chromosome. Accompanied by his pet monkey, Ampersand, tough secret-agent 355 and geneticist Dr Mann he sets out to discover why he survived and locate his fiance-to-be Beth who was in Australia when the illness struck.
This is outstanding science fiction writing - Vaughan soon gets past the male fantasy aspect of being the only surviving male on the planet: such childish whimsy is quickly replaced by the actual fear that would emerge when you lose your identity and simply become an anomaly. Yorrick is a walking sperm-bank/threat to world peace/key to the human race's survival. Only once in a while does Vaughan allow him to be a regular guy seeking his girlfriend. There are too many original touches to mention here...I would implore you to start with the first volume of stories (Unmanned) and then move through the titles in order. Plenty of action, smart dialogue, pitch-perfect artwork: this, along with Bill Willingham's 'Fables', is the finest, most satisfying and original graphic novel available right now. I've been reading this sort of stuff for twenty years and 'Y - The Last Man' is right up there.
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Nothing special
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This book has a great start - one day all the male mammals (including humans) die coughing up blood. The cause of their death is unknown. A young man named Yorick and his pet monkey somehow survive, and the book is about what happens to Yorick afterwards. I enjoyed this book, enough to have asked the library where I got it from to buy volume two, and to pay a pound towards the cost. It's nothing special though: the writing and artwork is average to fair, and 128 pages of comic book doesn't last me very long. As one of the other reviewers said, reading this is like watching the first episode of a TV series. It has promise, but I will have to read volume two to see whether I am going to stick with it.
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