Man Alive!

So my latest obsession these days has been catching up on the back issues of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man. And I know, I'm kinda late in the game since the series just ended this month, but that's how this kid rolls sometimes. Plus I'm still recovering from Strangers In Paradise lag and need a fresh start, and I am notoriously hard at starting things. But Y has seduced me. Maybe Guerra's line work and Pamela Rambo's color remind me distinctly of Steve Dillon's style from The Preacher (Y's protagonist Yorick even carries a lighter with the words "Fuck Communism" engraved on the side, as a tribute (perhaps from Vaughan himself) to Preacher's Jesse Custer), and as a big Preacher fan myself it certainly takes me back, but I have found myself really and most indelibly drawn in.

And why? Because I have always been a fan of the "last man on earth" scenarios. But in the case of Y: The Last Man the twist is literally, what if you were the last man on earth? What if a mysterious plague wiped out every single Y chromosome on the planet, except for one young man and his male pet monkey? And even worse, what if you were the last chance of ensuring the survival of the human species and yet you were still trying to remain faithful to your girlfriend who lives halfway around the world? Y: The Last Man paints a fascinating and potentially realistic portrait of what the world could be like when governments and infrastructures collapse, and chaos reigns as the women of the world struggle to regain control and sus out life without their fathers, their husbands, their brothers and sons, and cope with their own survival as well as their own survivor's guilt. Female factions break out, and Yorick -- the last man -- is subjected to the ulterior motives of radical feminists, lonely women, and even his own politician mother and bitterly angry older sister as well as learn what could potentially be the very price of a healthy young man alone in a world of desperate X chromosomes. Yorick's chance for survival rests on his body guard, Agent 355, a young woman from the secret government agency known as the Culper Ring, and Dr. Allison Mann, a biogeneticist seeking to discover the cause of the plague and why Yorick and his monkey survived. Her research in human cloning is possibly their last chance at saving the human race. Yet all Yorick wants more than anything in the world is to be reunited with Beth, his girlfriend in Australia -- although that doesn't mean that there are other obstacles, and even temptations, along the way.

It's been a truly engaging story so far. The serious subject matter is perfectly balanced with Yorick's witty wiseacre attitude, his one liners bringing levity to Agent 355's rather stoic demeanor. Not to mention the way the writing as well as the art draws you into this reality, the way the little details flesh things out. Cans of food become national currency as women take whatever job they can to survive. Little things we take for granted like air travel and electricity are gone due to the proportional lack of female pilots and electricians in the world. And yet, women are surviving. Communities of females pulling together and trying to go on with their lives. Some to great success. Some, not so much. And some, like even the most warmongering of men, have their own plans for the future of the world. And for Yorick as well.

Don't tell me how it ends! The last issue is out in stores right now and I have been steadily resisting buying it, and even flipping through it, even though I have some vague idea how it might all go down. I just finished book five and ahhhhhhgggghghghh I have no more money to buy the rest of the books until Yod knows when! Okay, just tell me one thing... does that damn monkey die? NOW WAIT! NOOOO! LALALALALACAN'THEARYOUUUU pffffffttttttt.... (no, tell me?)