Y: The Last Man, Book Four

Y: The Last Man #7-8

by Brian K. Vaughan (Writer), Pia Guerra (Artist), Goran Sudžuka (Artist)

The continuation of Brian K. Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra’s acclaimed VERTIGO series Y: THE LAST MAN brings to vivid life the age-old speculation: What would really happen to the last man on Earth?

In 2002, the world changes forever. Every man, every boy, every mammal with a Y chromosome everywhere on Earth suddenly collapses and dies. With the loss of nearly half the planet’s population, the gears of society grind to a halt, and a world of women are left to pick up the pieces and try to keep civilization from collapsing entirely.

The “gendercide,” however, is not absolutely complete. For some unknown reason, one young man named Yorick Brown and his pet male monkey, Ampersand, are spared. Overnight, this anonymous twenty-something becomes the most important person on the planet—the key, it is hoped, to unlocking the secret of the mysterious sex-specific plague.

For Yorick himself, the most important person on the planet has been agonizingly out of reach. But now, after three long years and 10,000 arduous miles, the last man is closing in on the truth about his lost fiancée—and the shocking facts behind his own survival.

Collects Y: THE LAST MAN #37-48

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Dystopia, Comic Book

295 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 26, 2010

About the author

Brian K. Vaughan is the writer and co-creator of comic-book series including SAGA, PAPER GIRLS, Y THE LAST MAN, RUNAWAYS, and most recently, BARRIER, a digital comic with artist Marcos Martin about immigration, available from their pay-what-you-want site www.PanelSyndicate.com

BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

(A-) 84% | Very Good
Notes: Its flashbacks shine in muted tones and unshaded, retro art; rooting origin stories in loss, betrayal and lonesomeness.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic story and fantastic art

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the weakest Y volume to date, with piles of secret origins that aren't insightful enough and two modest stories. Fortunately, the later story is the better of the two, hopefully suggesting that the comic is gaining momentum again, heading toward its finale.

Paper Dolls (#37-39). Yorick stops in Australia; hi-jinx ensue. I guess it's nice to see a story about the possibility of Yorick being outed, but there's overall not a lot of bite to this story, other than the nice opportunity to continue Beth's story [3+/5].

The Hour of our Death (#40). This one-off about Beth II actually has some depth to it, since we've come to care about both her and Hero. The church-related satire doesn't quite work, but the interactions between the two women are interesting [3+/5].

Button (#41). The backstory for 355. There's nothing particularly surprising here, but it's nice to learn a bit of her history [3+/5].

One Thousand Typewriters (#42). The backstory for Ampersand. There's one interesting reveal and one plot point, which makes it pretty decent [3+/5].

Kimono Dragons (#43-46). In Japan we get action, adventure, and tension, characters with their lives in danger, some hints about what caused the plague, and interesting dynamics between Yorick and 355. It's all around a good story that moves along nicely [4/5].

The Tin Man (#47). Dr. Mann's backstory is more interesting than most because because it's got emotional resonance. There's also more hints at the story of the plague and a pretty horrid modern situation [3+/5].

Gehenna (#48). Alter claims she's not a monster, but she is. I don't really care about the sob story that made her that way [2/5].

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series now becomes a true globe-trotting adventure in this volume as Yorick and the gang make their way around the world in an effort to not only reunite Yorcik with his girlfriend, but also hopefully save the world while they're at it. This volume really amps up the action as well. Such immersive work!

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is really great. It's super immersive and I always get swept up by the story. I love Yorrick, he's adorable but also a complete idiot. Keen to continue on to the final book!

[Eilonwy · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review for Deluxe Volume 5 (coming soon!) for final thoughts on this whole series/novel.

[Mohamed Metwally · Rating 2 out of 5]

The core of this volume is about flashbacks that explain and add depth to the leading female characters, it would've been good to have this in the early stages of the story, so that we can move forward understanding more where each character is coming from, but this late in the story, when there is 1 more final volume to go, it feels like just prolonging it, if we have reached this far without the in depth character stories then it would have been fine if we go on without it just the same...

MiM

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books seem to get darker and darker as they go on. I loved it regardless. We get to see a little more of the character’s backstories here and I’m confident saying they’ve grown on me as much as they would have in a regular novel.

The artwork is fantastic. I love seeing the slow evolution of the characters over time and I’m glad they don’t stay stagnant.

Highly recommended.

[Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and exciting. Great series!

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Book 4 of “Y: The Last Man”, Brian Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s addictively exciting and thought-provoking science fiction graphic novel about a young man who has survived the global destruction of every male member of every species, some Australian hack reporter snaps a dick-pic of Yorrick and plans to sell it on the AP news wire unless Agent 355 can get to her first; Yorrick’s sister, Hero, finds one-night-stand-Beth (not fiancee-Beth) with a bun in the oven; we learn a bit more about Agent 355’s back-story and her work for the Culper Ring; Dr. Mann finds her mom, but that pesky ninja bitch shows up and ruins the moment; Yorrick and 355 go to Tokyo to find Ampersand, who is being held by a blonde Canadian pop star who also happens to run the entire Yakuza crime syndicate in Japan; Yorrick and 355 dance around the unspoken possibility that they have the hots for each other; Israeli super-soldier Alter has arrived in Kansas looking for Yorrick, claiming she wants to save him not kill him but who the hell can you trust?..

[Jenbebookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The saga continues...

Usually the boys are my favorite characters in books, but in this instance there's only the one;) And quite frankly he's the most boring character in this series!

((For awhile he was being drawn with a beard... They should have kept that up! Without it, he sorta reminds me of Archie!))

I don't have much new to add, somebody/somebodies keeps flagging my reviews for their spoilers even tho I always think I'm doing quite a good job at refraining from doing that very thing. The art is on point, characters and story lines too. My only complaint is maybe a little more flashbacks than I'd like, but truthfully it doesn't detract from the entertainment value or cause my interest to dwindle, so no harm done. More so just that I'm eager to get moving forward.

Starting off now on the last "book" that's available, book 5, aarrgh! I'd read 20 more of these if the quality didn't waver, I'm very VERY into this!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Now it’s time to get off the boat and look for the member of their crew who got taken. This book didn’t have that energy that book 2 and 3 had. This one seemed a little less electric. Some of the story beats weren’t quite as intriguing. Still decent, it’s just that books 2 and 3 had this thing going for it I can’t put into words that this book was missing. We got a lot of backstories tho. Got them for 355, Dr. Mann and the crazy Israeli general chick. There was a character that Yorick met in the last book that gets an interesting development here. That seems like it’s going to bring some drama later. But yeah, although a slight step down from the 2 previous volumes, this was still solid.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My least favorite of the four I've read, but it was still good enough to read in a single sitting.
A lot more backstory.
A lot less humor.
I saw Yorick's penis.

4 Stars

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was more in line with what drew me to the series. While I still feel like unnecessary slurs were thrown in and there's still some unfortunate, problematic themes, it's still a very enjoyable book.

Yourick and 355's friendship is one of he best aspects of this series and they grow even closer in this book. I love getting to see 355's childhood and the fact that she doesn't fall into the "independent don't need no man" stereotype often applied to black women. She's strong both physically and emotionally but that doesn't mean she doesn't have her low points, too. The fact that this moment has Yourick trying to help and support her was great, as well.

I'm still disappointed that they let 355/Dr. Mann happen and then tore it apart after like 5 minutes but it's interesting that 355 implies that she's not sure if Dr. Mann moving on bothers her or not. Not a fan of Dr. Mann and Rose together, though.

Beth meeting Hero was interesting. I'm glad she's finding family with them and I'm worried about the soldiers harming them.

Better than the last volume but, probably my 3rd favorite of the 4.

[Lucas Lima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great volume, man.

On this one, we see a lot of he background of some of our back up characters, as 355, Dr. Mann and Alter. Brian just creates an amazing universe for his Saga (no pun intended).

The art is great, but, really, if it wasn't for the summary on the beginning of the book, i probably wouldn't know who is the artist of eache issue. Goran really emulates well what Pia did on the first issues.

Going to the last book, and this series is just so amazing, that i'm really afraid what the ending will be. On to the last one!

[Brahm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting close to the finish line! One more volume to go. Book 4 was better than 3.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overview review on the whole series here.

[Whitney Jamimah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another mind boggling volume! Feels like things are ramping up for the finale!
I love Yorick and 355 with my whole heart.

[Stormcrow Hayes · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book seems to get more ridiculous with each page. From crazy Catholic nuns to crazy ninjas, to crazy Israelis, to crazy bad writing. I don't know where to being. First, there's the line about the hospital being full of glorified candystripers -- so I guess there aren't any other good doctors and nurses around that weren't men! Second... oh, there's just too much. The biggest problem is that we begin with a very interesting premise - what if all the men in the world died? And the answer we get seems to be, all women everywhere become psychotic and start acting like men. Seriously, it's three years since the event and society is still barely functioning? They weren't killed in explosions, they just dropped dead. Everything would still be functioning for a while, but I guess women are so incompetent that they can't keep things running. Then there's the line about one of the few remaining satellites. Did most of the satellites fall from the sky because men weren't there to guide them? Then the image of Israeli tanks charging through Kansas because apparently the American military is still so completely unorganized that they don't even know Israeli renegades are running amok. Nothing makes any sense in this world. I should abandon this series, but I grabbed all five volumes from the library and since I'm still waiting for my next book, I'll power through it just to see how badly it ends.

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review goes for the whole series. The comic is seemingly smart enough and self aware enough to be critical of its own misogyny. Or, it ought to be: it's full of bright, funny criticism of our society's misogyny and the entrenched, toxic objectification of women's bodies. Why, then, is there so much gratuitous objectification of nearly every female character? Why does every woman have a body of impossible proportions? Why is there so much senseless nudity? Either the comic isn't smart enough or woke enough to see its own TOO PAT BY FAR (given the subject manner) flaws, or it seems them and doesn't care. That leaves me to ask: why should I?

Some more pros and cons:
A world almost without men and the story focuses on a male protagonist who is endowed magically with the potent reproductive material to repopulate the earth--despite all the sardonic undercutting of the main theme, it's still the main theme. Lol?
So much casual misogyny in the dialogue! I find it so obnoxious and gross that there are so many moments of women slurring other women and that being "ok" because... Ugh!
It's porny! There is an issue titled "girl on girl."

It's really, really, really moving, emotionally realistic, fun, pretty, and tonally brilliant. The ending, also, is pretty amazing. The only reason this thing is getting 3 stars is because it's a glorious feat of comic art with some fucking crippling flaws.

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

After hating deluxe editions 1, 2 and 3, I wasn't expecting much from this one, but it turned out to be marginally better. For one thing lesser half naked women. For another, much less Yorick. Which is a good thing, because after 3 long years of being the last man in a world of women hasn't made him any less of a prick. You'd think he would have changed his attitude a bit. It just seems like back to back issues rather than character growth over a period.

Anyway, a lot of this deluxe edition focuses on the back stories of Dr. Mann, 355 and Alter, and all of those are more interesting than Yorick. Not that they make complete sense, or in the case of Alter, make her look sane, but it's still better than whatever it is we've been getting so far. But I think it kind of balances out - because I didn't hate the plot, I hated the art. I can't get over how close every face was to every other face, there really isn't much different between Yorick and a guy called Sunil from Dr. Mann's past. Alter looks a little like 355, if not for her hair. Natalya is almost the same as Sadie, except again for the color of hair. In some scenes Hero looks completely different from how she's ever looked in the comic. This is extremely annoying.

However, I'm one DE away from not having to read a Brian Vaughan comic again. That I'm looking forward to.

[Gabriela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Issues #7 and #8 intrude a whole bunch of characters and even a whole new country setting: Japan.
However, I just kept turning page after page and thinking to myself where the hell it was going and why should I care.

[RG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoying this. You think its going one way but then it goes somewhere else. Alot of new characters and plot developments. Always ends on a great cliffhanger.

[Shany · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5 stars

[Arimo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The end of the series is getting closer, but this isn't it, yet. Book 4/5 offers more of the same with few twists and little progress. It is still good, but I'm also glad that the series concludes with the next book.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The exploration of the back stories of many of the female characters gives a lot of depth to this volume, and I often found myself lost in their histories. All the connections between characters are becoming clearer and more interesting... hoping the next & final book doesn't disappoint!

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally across the pacific and we start to get an idea of the origins of the plague. A lot of back story on the characters here and a lot more cliffhangering than I usually like, but this book was ok. I would have liked the main plot to have advanced more, but I was still left intrigued enough to continue. Also seeing now how Brian K. Vaughan's reputation for randomly killing important characters came from.

I think now I will talk about the series' art which was provided by Pia Guerra. The art is fairly conventional for its time and Guerra does a decent job. She makes good use of style shifts to change the mood or to indicate a time-change/flashback (which makes sense given the Tarentino-esque world that this series inhabits). The style primarily reminds me of the work of Mark Bagley, but they were both pretty newish at this time.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series has hit new highs for character development. I'm totally invested in the story and mystery, yes, but I genuinely care about each of the characters despite the limited cast Vaughan is working with. I think that's what does it for me, actually. Not having to leap around to 30 different VIPs all the time really narrows the focus and allows you to really get to know the core group, and hope they make it out of all the various situations they find themselves trapped in. I also can't ignore how willing Vaughan is to give answers to pressing questions. I never feel cheated reading Y. This is seriously one of the best series I've ever read.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lol, ah a reference to us Canadians but unfortunately not a positive one - just a 'filty Cannuck' who later is called a 'second-rate karaoke singer from Saskatoon'. Being as I currently reside in Saskatoon, this was a surprise (Toronto or Vancouver are generally the cities of mention) and all though I recognize that not everyone in Canada or Saskatoon is a shining example of a human being, a small part of me still took personal offense at the insult. That said, they weren't inaccurate descriptions for the character in question. ;)

[Tanwen Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I'm enjoying the story, I felt like this volume jumped around a lot. There was a lot of flashbacks to pre-plague times without much context or reason, and the framing devices for those were often left unresolved. The end result is that the main story felt a little bit lost in the background, making this feel a bit fillery rather than the penultimate drive towards the conclusion.