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Absolute Y: The Last Man #1

Y. Последний мужчина. Том 1

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В 2002 году мир навсегда изменился. Повсюду на Земле все мужчины и мальчики, все млекопитающие с Y-хромосомой разом упали и умерли. Из-за гибели более чем половины человечества шестеренки общества застопорились. Теперь перед женщинами стоит задача: собрать мир по частям и уберечь цивилизацию от полного коллапса. «Гендерцид», впрочем, оказался не вполне тотальным. Молодой человек Йорик Браун и его ручной капуцин Амперсанд остались живы.

Так начинается удивительное путешествие: два последних носителя Y-хромосомы пытаются раскрыть тайну эпидемии, уничтожившей других мужчин, и сохранить будущее человечества. Но как одному человеку спасти целый вид, если его сердце принадлежит единственной женщине — а та на другой стороне земного шара?

В первый том графического романа "Y. Последний мужчина" вошли первые 20 выпусков комикса, эскизы Пиа Гуэрры, оригинальный сценарий первого выпуска комикса от Брайана К. Вона, галерея оригинальных обложек делюкс-издания «Y. Последний мужчина», примечания от переводчицы Екатерины Доброхотовой-Майковой и биографии творческого коллектива авторов, работавших над комиксом.

528 pages, Hardcover

First published June 23, 2015

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233 people want to read

About the author

Brian K. Vaughan

1,056 books14.2k followers
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.

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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Profile Image for Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈.
2,046 reviews6 followers
September 6, 2019
This is one of those series where knowing the ending makes every re-read even more bittersweet and meaningful. I didn't realize just how much foreshadowing was put into the start. It's awe inspiring to be honest.

This time around, the reveal about Yorick's childhood trauma hits even harder. Honestly, that entire arc does. At the heart of it, Yorick's tasked with helping to repopulate the earth when he inherently finds sex repulsive and the result of "weakness". So, it's that classic joke about how being the last man on earth would be a "blessing" - and the guy "lucky" enough to find himself in this situation is the last man on earth that would ever want this kind of responsibility. I can't believe I didn't quite realize just how heavy that is the first time around.

Anyway, I really enjoyed revisiting this series. Most days, I consider this series my all time favorite comic for multiple reasons. Re-reading it reminds me just how much it meant to me that first go around. I can't wait to dig into the others!
Profile Image for Siona Adams.
2,619 reviews54 followers
March 18, 2019
This was an amazing first volume of Y: The Last Man! The story is really interesting, the characters were well written (except for one scene with Agent 355 that felt a little out of her character), and the humor was right up my alley. Would highly recommend!
Profile Image for Vasilis Manias.
381 reviews104 followers
March 29, 2020
Καραντίνα, μέρα 15η.
Τέλος πρώτου τόμου. Μένουν άλλοι δύο.
Προχωράμε.
Profile Image for Relstuart.
1,248 reviews113 followers
July 10, 2015
Hmmmm. The art work had a vintage feature where some of the panels just had a random color in the background with people in the fore. It works well, I just don't notice that a lot on newer things. I looked inside a TPB copy of this story once and wasn't sure I liked the art but it works better on the very large pages.

Interesting sci-fi concept brought to life by the story. All the males of every species die except one young man and his male monkey. In the post apocalyptic world here is some significant break down of law and order along with the problems that come from massive amounts of dead people everywhere. The main character is the one man left who just want to get to Australia to find his girlfriend(did BKV draw this idea from the classic western, Support your Local Sheriff?). Splinter groups rise to prominence, like the self titled Amazons who cut off a breast and begin tearing down anything male related, burning sperm banks, and talking about how mother earth has finally saved them from the evil males (it's not quite cutting your nose off to spite your face, but it's pretty much the same thing).

Still not sure what to think of this one. Some obvious social messaging going on. I do want to see how things are resolved eventually. Vol 2 comes out early next year.
Profile Image for Matthew WK.
525 reviews5 followers
July 23, 2021
An interesting premise, a fun read, but at the end of this volume I don't really have a driving urge to continue. I plan to complete the series, but if I didn't, I'd be ok with that too. It's an decent enough tale, but I don't see ever wanting to re-read this volume (that may change after reading the entire series, but that's where I'm at right now).
Profile Image for Andrew.
518 reviews11 followers
September 8, 2016
What a ride.

This is one of those comics I can't believe I haven't read until now, but with so many people's high praise and recommendation, I decided to dive right in with the first Absolute edition, thanks to an incredibly good price (~30% off on B&N.com, plus a 40% coupon they sent out).

And I definitely wasn't disappointed. I've loved Vaughan's work from Saga, Paper Girls, Private Eye, and We Stand on Guard, but I hadn't yet read his most famous work (at least until Saga came around). His writing is amazing as usual, and paired with Pia Guerra this is an incredibly beautiful-looking book. Guerra is a great artist, and her style fits perfectly with the words. Not to mention, of course, how well the Absolute format complements it.

Highly recommended--September 21st can't come soon enough for volume 2.
Profile Image for Matthew Lloyd.
753 reviews22 followers
February 20, 2018
Even though it was only a couple of weeks ago, I'm not quite sure what made me decide that this year was going to be the one in which I finally read all of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man. Previously, I had only got as far as volume one of the Deluxe edition, which I reviewed here after the last time I tried to read the whole series and got no further than re-reading that volume.

I don't hold to a lot of what I wrote in that review any more. I think it's harsh on the wrong aspects of Y, and gives too much credit to Vaughan (as writer) over Guerra in the creation process. Furthermore, I think that I've changed my perspective on Ammonite , although I'm yet to re-read it. I now think that Y's male-centricism is one of its flaws, although as the story develops Yorick himself becomes clearer, his experience is explained a little more, his character is more developed. There are other aspects of the first two parts of the story that I once thought were laziness and now see were foreshadowing. Much like Wynonna Earp: Strange Inheritance (Wynonna Earp I think that the story could perhaps be improved by a female-majority creative team, but I'm not so sure that I think as much needs to be changed in this story as with Earp.

Getting to the meat of the content: the setting is the USA (and Israel, briefly) after something wipes out every mammal on Earth with a y-chromosome - except for two: Yorick Brown, unemployed escape artist, and the assistant monkey he was training, Ampersand. The story mostly follows Yorick as he finds his mother (a member of congress), Dr Mann, a geneticist who may have some insight into the virus, and travels the USA with the mysterious Agent 355 to look for a way to continue the human race - and a way to Australia, to find his girlfriend. On the way they encounter escaped convicts, a theatre troupe, astronauts, and others, most notably the radical feminist group the Daughters of the Amazon (usually just called 'Amazons'), who believe that the extermination of the men was Mother Earth cleansing herself. The Amazons are the part of the story about which I haven't changed my mind: I'm still uncomfortable with the way their feminism is characterized, and their prominence early on in the story as if to say "this will not be a feminist tract". It's compounded by the way in which discussions about challenging gender norms are usually played for jokes, rather than the serious consideration about how to maintain a society in which all of the men are dead. Perhaps it's because this is a comic book, and it's difficult to effectively show internalized, repressed pain in this format (although it is managed pretty well with Yorick himself). On the other hand, there's still Marrisville, Ohio. Again, I don't think I've changed my viewpoint there.

A glaring flaw is the transphobic language used throughout; as with the negative characterization of feminism, I suspect that had the story been written more recently these elements would have been better written. It is, however, an element in which I think that focusing on the world surviving beyond Yorick would have been an angle on the story with potential that's explored only a little (largely in the story arc "Comedy & Tragedy"). What is the role of transmen in this society? Thus far, it's been touched upon, but only briefly. Perhaps, as with certain elements of the first two story arcs, I should reserve judgement until I finish reading the whole thing.
Profile Image for Nicolás Briozzo.
464 reviews34 followers
September 25, 2018
El inicio de la trama (una supuesta plaga que mata todos los individuos del planeta portadores del cromosoma Y -machos- excepto un joven y su mascota, un mono capuchino), sirve de disparador para hablar del sexismo, feminismo, las relaciones... y cuanto tema sociológico y antropológico se venga a la mente.
Inteligente, bien escrita, graciosa, con arte sencillo pero explosivo, con ritmo cinematográfico. El resultado es una GRAN novela gráfica. Con las posibilidades que permite el formato del comic de un presupuesto ilimitado, termina siendo una suerte de road trip dando la vuelta al mundo, en un viaje mesiánico pero también de autodescubrimiento.
Uno se enamora tanto de estos personajes tan profundos, que parece mentira que sólo nos acompañaron durante 60 números; parecen demasiado pocos. Hay un despliegue y un crecimiento de los mismos que algunas series de televisión no logran ni en 6 o 7 temporadas.
Sin caer en spoilers, puedo decir que el final es agridulce. No dejará conformes a todos. Aun no sé si me doy por satisfecho, pero tal vez ese sea justamente un punto fuerte. El autor, como el dios que maneja los hilos de su historia, nos cuenta cómo las cosas son, y no cómo quisiéramos que fueran. Y es que, si bien la premisa es la de la ciencia ficción, el resultado es un drama tan emocionante como real. Y el final es injusto, como muchas veces la vida también lo es.
344 reviews23 followers
September 14, 2021
Carefully constructed, deeply erudite, relevant and self-aware. But is it good?

Well it ain't terribly bad. It's a page turner, for all that there may be some eye rolling involved. There's an unevenness that can be disconcerting, not in the art or the essential quality of the story, but in the underpinning structure. Many characters, especially the baddies (a psychotic soldier, a psychotic cult leader, crazed republicans, uptight community organizers) are cartoonish in their motives and thought, resembling nothing so much as one-dimensional cut-outs from a morality play. Other characters are more engaging, flawed but sympathetic. Vaughan revels in this inequality, throwing his primaries into interactions with silly single-minded ninnies to further their growth, but it's not very convincing.

The end of vol. 1 was particularly disappointing. A goofy and pretentious play within a play and an even more goofy and pretentious psychological shadow-boxing session, both of which emphasize the author's awareness of his place in a cultural context, but also a certain shallowness of discernment toward that context. I may read the subsequent volumes, as I hope that Vaughan will pull together the positive qualities and stop relying so heavily on insane stupidity to drive his plot.
Profile Image for Aphrael.
294 reviews2 followers
May 1, 2020
I'm using this edition as a stand-in for having read the whole series (digital). The premise and how it was handled is pretty imaginative. The story was really suspenseful, but it still had a wide variety of emotions in it. I thought the ending was pointless, a bunch of stuff happened that had no buildup, which meant it didn't pay off either. It felt rushed, 355 got killed for no reason and the explanations for the plague were pretty dumb. I did appreciate that Yorick and Beth realized they were different people, since they were apart so long, although having her wanting to break up was very on the nose. Apart from the ending I did really enjoy it, and I'm glad I could read all of it at once.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
5 reviews
August 18, 2022
You know how Marvel movies constantly undercuts dramatic moments with jokes? This did it 20 years earlier. So many interesting concepts, dilemmas, and characters are unfortunately squandered. You can tell how white Brian K. Vaughn is. He was just aching to write the n-word in this book. A lot of characters tend to sound like mouthpieces for Vaughn and I can't help but wonder how much better the book would be if a woman helped write it? The dominatrix suicide intervention went off the deep end into stupid territory for me. The rubicon argument was so terrible, almost all of the humor is cringeworthy, it doesn't linger on the interesting stuff in this story (the Amazons), Israel is fine, it's just very paint by numbers and I've seen this done WAY better (Children of Men, The Last Of Us)
185 reviews1 follower
April 18, 2017
Starts off both stylish and strong before hitting a comfortable groove. It would be too simple to boil everything down in terms of gender, as inescapable a theme it may seem this early in the series, but the fact that Vaughan is so confident in his storytelling here, and having a lot of fun with the world he has created, is what I feel is giving Y it's greatest appeal. It's a thrilling tale that looks at many themes beyond the obvious gender politics such as love, sex, the fragility of social structures, and the strength of ideological convictions against the ties of family.
Profile Image for Eliatan.
624 reviews9 followers
January 20, 2023
I was excited for this series, being a massive fan of Saga and hoping for similarly sassy characters in this particular brand of manless apocalypse. While the story, world building and side quests are great, the key characters just annoy the crap of me. Not sure if I’ll continue with this one.
60 reviews
May 6, 2020
Fantastic artwork, amazing story line and concept, just loved it - a must read and one of my favourite comic books !
16 reviews
August 17, 2020
READ IT! APPROVED BY ME! I'VE READ A LOT OF COMICS.... A LOOOOOOOTTTTTTTT! Not tracked on here cause ive been reading comics for 30years....
Profile Image for Andrey Tolstov.
19 reviews
September 28, 2025
Не понять, за что тут такие высокие оценки

Херня-хернёй

Как будто твиттер хорни фикрайтера почитал
Profile Image for Nicholas.
8 reviews
September 6, 2015
The reason I decided to read this series is because I had previously read the first volume and had heard tons of praise for the series, so I was meaning to finished it off.

The character I enjoyed the most was... Honestly I could not chose what character I liked more - Yorick or Agent 33, So I decided to go with both of them and their relationship. Yorick - He's super likeable and over the series he evolves from a giant dork to a giant badass. With Agent 33 she goes from a tough a nails guardian angel to a incredibly sympathetic character. But their relationship is the heart of the book. As they grow closer and their friendship develops so does the readers attachments to the them. Which makes the conclusion of the series even more heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

My favourite quote from the series was in the third to last issue. When Yorick says "No, No - It's perfect really." This is in one of the most beautiful moments in the series and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside... Just until your heart is ripped out on the next two pages. But still, when I look back on the series this scene and this quote will be the thing I think off straight away.

Something this book made me think about was the answers. In this series answers are the main focus and something we really don't get in the end. But unlike any other series you might finish and feel unsatisfied about not getting all the answers with this, the series reaches its natural conclusion and you are content. You feel you know all you need to know and you got all you needed out of the series, you loved and lost with the characters and you experienced the adventure and like life, nothing was wrapped up in a nice wee bundle.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Darth Reader.
1,119 reviews
January 18, 2016
This book is truly beautiful, physically. It's full color, tightly bound, and with a thick, shiny hard cover.

I'd highly suggested getting this copy of Y the Last Man if you do plan to read it.

I saw this one available at one of the libraries in the state I live in and picked it up for two reasons: a) it's freaking gorgeous to behold and 2) I was worried I may have missed or skipped some of Y the Last Man.

Similar to Sandman, unless you know your way around comic publications, it's hard to navigate the issues of Y the Last Man; there are just so many. In this case, there appear to be three different kinds of releases, the issues, the volumes, and then larger collections of those volumes. My neighborhood librarians even struggled with ordering these as they have two of the same pieces of Y the Last Man, just different versions of them.

I'm glad I picked this version up because I did indeed skip two of the issues. One about astronauts and one about a traveling band of actors. Both were fantastic, and added hugely to the story.

I really enjoyed both of these issues, especially the one about astronauts, and, honestly, they changed my opinion of this series. I think Vaughan knows what he's doing and knows he has all this power in his hands to pull this off...or fail miserably.

Of course, being me, I am still skeptical of this ending well, but there is a bigger bloom of hope that is spreading within me. Brian K. Vaughan is a good writer, and I trust him.

Profile Image for Dude. Beard. Comics..
28 reviews
July 10, 2023
"Y: The Last Man" takes you on a thrilling ride that will leave you reeling from its twists and turns. From the very first issue to the last in this Absolute edition, I was fully engrossed in this captivating story.

The writing is thought-provoking, diving deep into the aftermath of a catastrophic event and how the world changes. The main characters must navigate not only the horrors of the post-apocalyptic world but also the struggles of the pre-apocalyptic world, making for a compelling read.

The characters are well-crafted, with clear motivations and distinct voices. Their camaraderie is heartwarming, adding to the story's charm and making them endearing to readers. However, the lack of a prominent antagonist is a drawback, with only minor antagonists appearing in the first volume.

Guerra's artwork is a standout, with well-drawn panels and breathtaking full-page shots that complement the story's color palette perfectly. The visuals are stunning and enhance the storytelling experience.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the first volume of "Y: The Last Man." It's a captivating story with endearing characters and unresolved mysteries that will keep you hooked until the very end. It poses thought-provoking questions that prompt reflection on our world today. If you're unsure about this series, I urge you to give it a chance. I certainly did and had a fantastic time reading it.
Profile Image for Erica Hughes | ericasbookshelves.
159 reviews11 followers
November 13, 2018
Actually a ⭐⭐.5/5
Sure, this will probably end up being another in a long line of emotionally crippling misadventures..but let's try to have some fun along the way
This is the only graphic novel I read this month and I want to preface this by saying that I’m very new to the graphic novel game so that may play a part in my thoughts. I’m conflicted about this one because I found the story and overall plot to be very interesting and engaging. However, I wasn’t a fan of how a lot of the women were portrayed in this one. We have a tribe of women called the Amazons who are essentially out there to create chaos and brainwash people to join their cause. They think that anyone who thinks that the world needs men again are wrong and should be killed. The way this group was handed really rubbed me the wrong way. I also feel like pretty much all of the women in this novel either want to kill the main character, Yorick, or they want to sleep with him. I get it, he’s the last man on earth but can some of these women please just want to be friends with him?!
Profile Image for Jamie.
73 reviews29 followers
October 18, 2015
loved this graphic novel can't wait for the next absolute edition. beautiful art, great action, great story.
Profile Image for darce vader.
181 reviews
November 20, 2015
There's something about this series that doesn't sit well with me. Something about it I just don't like.
Profile Image for Brent.
41 reviews1 follower
April 6, 2017
Y the last man! Being a fan of apocalyptic stories I had to read this. The artwork is great and the book itself is one to add to the collection. The storyline for me didn't grab me as much as I thought though. The political undertones just didn't get me sucked in but this is part of the story and overall I enjoyed it and think you will too if this is your genre!
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