Y: The Last Man
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Y: The Last Man is a comic book series written by Brian K. Vaughan and published by Vertigo, about the sole survivor of the spontaneous, simultaneous death of every male on Earth. The series has received considerable acclaim from a wide array of critics.
The series' art is handled primarily by series co-creator Pia Guerra. Much has been made of the fact that Guerra is a woman, but Vaughan insists that her gender is incidental. He says that Guerra's work simply fit best with what he had in mind for the series.
The series is planned to run for 60 issues.[1][2]
Story
Y: The Last Man is Vaughan's attempt to subvert the classic male fantasy of being the last man on earth. In the series, something (speculated to be a plague) simultaneously kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome - including embryos, fertilized eggs, and even sperm - with the exception of Yorick Brown, a young amateur escape artist, and his Capuchin monkey, Ampersand.
Society is plunged into chaos as infrastructures collapse and the surviving women everywhere try to cope with the loss of the men, their survivors' guilt, and the knowledge that humanity is doomed to extinction. Vaughan meticulously crafts the new society that emerges out of this chaos, from the conversion of the phallic Washington Monument to a monument to the dead men, to the genesis of the fanatical ultra-feminist Daughters of the Amazon, who believe that Mother Earth cleansed itself of the "aberration" of the Y chromosome, to male impersonators becoming valued romantically and professionally.
Over the course of their journey, Yorick and his friends discover how society has coped in the aftermath of the plague. However, many of the women they encounter have ulterior motives in regards to Yorick. Though the subject matter of the series is entirely serious, Y: The Last Man is also noted for its humor. Yorick in particular is a source of one-liners, although the other characters have their moments as well.
Characters
Yorick Brown
Young amateur escape artist, the last man on Earth. Yorick is often reckless and tries to defuse tense situations with his humor. He is an under-achiever, a slacker, but actually quite bright. He has his degree in English, knows far too much about pop culture, and has "Fuck Communism" engraved on his lighter, a sly reference either to Garth Ennis' opus Preacher or to the gifts that John Wayne made to many troops in Vietnam (or both).
Agent 355
Yorick's intelligent, mysterious, tough-as-nails bodyguard. Her real name has never been revealed. Possibly responsible for the plague, as the moment the plague struck, she removed an artifact called the Amulet of Helene from the nation of Jordan. The amulet's deceased owner warned that if it was ever taken from its homeland, it would create a tragedy greater than the Trojan War. She is part of the Culper Ring, a mysterious US government agency. Her parents and sister were killed in a car accident when she was young and she was recruited while fleeing a foster home following a fight with two racist boys. Her name is pronounced "three fifty-five", not "three-five-five."
Doctor Allison Mann
Expert geneticist, seeking to discover the cause of the plague and why Yorick survived. Allison is a lesbian and has developed feelings for Agent 355. Mann believes she may be responsible for the plague, since it happened the instant she gave birth to her non-viable clone. She is Chinese and Japanese by parentage, and changed her name to Allison Mann (from Ayuko Matsumori) to annoy her Japanese father.
Ampersand
Yorick's Capuchin monkey, and the only other male mammal to survive the plague.
Hero Brown
Yorick's older sister, a paramedic who joined the Daughters of the Amazon after the plague and was brainwashed against him. Since then however Hero has been deprogrammed and is helping her mother find Yorick. There is a strong implication that Hero was sexually abused by her grandfather as a child. In "The Hour of our Death" Hero and Beth (from "Tongues of Flame"), who is eight months pregnant with Yorick's child go on the road together back to Kansas.
Beth Deville
Yorick's girlfriend, originally stranded in the Australian outback but now on her way to Paris because a hallucination she experienced convinced her Yorick would go there.
Victoria
(Deceased) Charismatic leader of the Daughters of the Amazon, who claimed to have been a master chess player before the plague. Now dead by way of an axe to the head. Victoria still exists, in a way, as an image and voice in Hero's mind.
Alter Tse'elon
New chief of the general staff for Israel, leader of an Israeli commando unit to acquire Yorick Brown for her nation. Faced court-martial, but managed to escape by convincing her guards to join her and to shoot the judge.
Representative Jennifer Brown
(Possibly Deceased) Mother of Yorick and Hero Brown, who informed Alter Tse'elon of her son's existence. Later on in the series Alter Tse'elon shoots and supposedly kills her.
Toyota
A mercenary ninja who stalks and abducts Ampersand and takes him back to Japan, on the orders of "Doctor M". She is short-tempered and violent, going so far as to cut off a part of Ampersand's tail every time he misbehaves.
Rose
A spy for the Australlian navy, and quasi-girlfriend of Dr. Mann. Recently joined with Yorick, 355, and Dr. Mann on their quest to rescue Ampersand, but her true agenda is not yet clear.
Beth II
A former flight attendant who was in the air when the plague hit. She forcibly landed the plane, though most passengers died during the crash. She later takes up residence in an abandoned Catholic church, where she meets Yorick. The two have unprotected sex, and it is eventually revealed that she is pregnant with his child (of which an ultrasound showed is a girl). As of issue 44, Beth II has given birth, and named her daughter Beth.
Dr. M
Only seen inside a biohazard suit with an opaque helmet, he/she seems to be responsible for Ampersand's surviving of the plague, due to testing of a special serum. When the plague hit, he/she had Toyota get him back. Current speculation is that Dr. M is in fact Dr. Mann's father, who somehow also survived.
Softcover Trade Paperback Reprinting
- Unmanned: Issues #1-5
- Cycles: Issues #6-10
- One Small Step: Issues #11-17
- Safeword: Issues #18-23
- Ring Of Truth: Issues #24-31
- Girl on Girl: Issues #32-36
- Paper Dolls: Issues #37-42 (Outs May/17/06)
Story arcs
Template:Splitsection Template:Cleanup-date
"Unmanned" (issues #1-5)
On July 17, 2002, a mysterious plague strikes, killing every male animal on earth except for Yorick and his monkey Ampersand. Two months later, Yorick arrives in Washington, D.C. and finds his mother, Representative Brown. The new President assigns Agent 355 to escort Yorick to Boston, the last known location of the geneticist Dr. Mann. They hope that Mann can study Yorick, discover the reasons behind Yorick's survival, and help repopulate the world. Three days later, Alter Tse'elon, new chief of the general staff for Israel, is informed of Yorick's existence. Israeli soldiers destroy Dr. Mann's lab, forcing her, 355 and Yorick to travel to California to her backup lab. All the while, Yorick is more concerned with finding his girlfriend Beth Deville, on vacation in Australia, to whom he proposed over the phone the instant the plague hit.
"Cycles" (issues #6-10)
The three hop a train and find themselves in a strangely idyllic town in rural Marrisville, Ohio run by Criminals. After only a brief rest, Yorick meets and is instantly attracted to one named Sonia who is a convicted drug dealer. The Daughters of the Amazon and Yorick's older sister Hero track Yorick to Marrisville, Ohio and threaten to destroy the town if they can't kill the last man alive. In the end Victoria dies at the hands of Sonia, before she can kill Yorick. Hero kills Sonia and Yorick asks the town people to lock up The Daughters of the Amazon and Hero his sister.
"One Small Step" (issues #11-15)
In Oldenbrook, Kansas Yorick, 355 and Dr. Mann help a Russian woman named Natalya Zamyatin race to recover two male and one female astronauts forced to return to Earth after being trapped inside the International Space Station, the day the plague hit. In Oldenbrook, the four meet twins named Heather and Heidi who are geneticists working in isolation. After Alter Tse'elon acquires Yorick for her nation, 355 tells Alter of the two men coming down in exchange for Yorick. Alter tries to use a surface-to-air missile to kill the astronauts but is stopped by Yorick. Both male astronauts die, but Dr. Ciba Weber is pregnant. The three go back on the road, leaving Natalya Zamyatin and the Twins to look after Weber and her unborn baby.
"Comedy & Tragedy" (issues #16-17)
A travelling group of actresses find Ampersand and put on a play called The Last Man.
"Safeword" (issues #18-20)
In Allenspark, Colorado, 355 and Dr. Mann fix up Ampersand while retired Culper Ring agent 711 forces Yorick to confront his survivor guilt.
"Widow's Pass" (issues #21-23)
In Queensbrook, eight well-armed women from Arizona have cut off the interstate making travel to Dr. Mann's lab in California nearly impossible.
- This story is nine months after the One Small Step arc. In Oldenbrook, Kansas Ciba just gave birth to a male baby, who is being kept in the hot suite until the geneticists can confirm there is no remaining trace of the plague in the air.
"Tongues Of Flame" (issues #24-25)
Yorick and company finally reach California. The story takes an interlude wherein Yorick leaves a sleeping Dr. Mann and 355 behind to examine a nearby church. There he meets a girl named Beth whom he confesses the events of "Widow's Pass" to. After a brief sexual encounter they are threatened by Amazons, whom Yorick scares off using parlor tricks. Yorick then leaves Beth to continue his journey to San Francisco.
"Hero's Journey" (issue #26)
The backstory of Yorick's sister Hero, including the day the Plague hit, how she became a member of the Amazons, what happened after "Cycles", and ultimately, how unbalanced she is.
"Ring of Truth" (issues #27-31)
After two years of roaming the country Yorick reaches San Francisco. Dr. Mann finally discovers the answer to how Yorick & Ampersand survived the Plague. Yorick's sister Hero tracks him to San Francisco. A new adversary swoops in and steals a major key to the cure.
"Girl on Girl" (issues #32-35)
Yorick and company begin a new quest to retrieve the stolen Ampersand. They join a ragtag band of female sailors on a voyage to Australia aboard an old cruise ship named The Whale. Yorick falls for the ship's captain, and the relationship between Dr Mann and 355 takes a new turn. Alter Tse'elon, former Chief of General Staff of the IDF, manages to escape court martial by shooting the judge.
"Boy Loses Girl" (issue #36)
The backstory of how Beth Deville met and fell in love with Yorick and her life before and after the Plague hit. In the end, Beth has a cryptic dream that convinces her that Yorick is alive.
"Paper Dolls" (issues #37-39)
Yorick is caught by a reporter while looking for his girlfriend in Australia. Alter Tse'elon shoots and supposedly kills Representative Brown, Yorick's mother.
"The Hour of our Death" (Issue #40)
Hero delivers a letter from Yorick to Beth (from "Tongues of Flame"), who is eight months pregnant with Yorick's child. The two women go on the road together back to Kansas.
"Buttons" (Issue #41)
The origin of Agent 355, Yorick's loyal protector. A stand-alone issue in which the secrets of the mysterious Culper Ring and its most famous female agent are finally revealed.
"1,000 Typewriters" (Issue #42)
Explores the past, present and future of Ampersand, Yorick's missing pet, including how the male monkey ended up with Yorick, as well as where has the animal been since he was kidnapped by Toyota.
"Kimono Dragons" (Issues #43 - 46)
Template:Future comic Yorick and his companions finally reach Japan in search of Ampersand, the key to mankind's return.
Movie Adaptation
The film rights to the series have been acquired by New Line Cinema, and as of April 2006 Vaughan is writing the screenplay. There is no scheduled release date. [3]
External links
- Vertigo
- PopImage Interview with Pia, April 2002
- Y_The_Last_Man at themovieinsider.com
- Article at Joblo.comde:Y: The Last Man
et:Y: The Last Man fr:Y, le dernier homme pl:Y, ostatni człowiek