A review of Y The Last Man

Tonight I read a comic book series that I have been curious about, but I don't remember what got me interested in it in the first place. On the cover there is a quote by Wizard Magazine that says, "This book blew us away." It was probably some crap from Wizard that got to me.

Y is written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Pia Guerra. It is a story about a man and his monkey. Well the plot involves a little bit more than that. At the end of the very first issue something, possibly a virus, kills all males in the world. All of the men except for the main character and his male monkey. Yorick, who believes that his Shakespearean name was a joke put on him by his father, and his monkey named Ampersand (sounds like a joke name to me, hmmm) find themselves to be the only males left alive on the planet.

Yorick manages to get himself from New York City to Washington DC where his mother is a congress woman. Upon getting to Washington, Yorick is sent out to track down a scientist expert in cloning. The hope is that the scientist will be able to figure out why Yorich was spared death. He is accompanied by a secret-agent-type bodyguard who is assigned by the ex-Secretary of Agriculture and new President of the United States. Agent 355 is a tough commando type who has a no nonsense attitude that counters Yorick who make light of every situation.

While traveling to Boston in search of the cloning scientist, Dr. Mann, Yorich and 355 get into a confrontation with a group of militants who call themselves Amazons. The Amazons pursue Yorick and 355 with the intention of killing to last male aggressor on the planet.

The trade that I read was only the first four issues of the series, which originally came out in 2001. There is nothing terriblely original in any of it. It is adequately written, in that the story is communicated, but nothing very complicated is delivered so telling the story isn't a great feet. I would be interested in learning what happens to these characters, because the adventure looks like it is going to be entertaining. I won't be running to the back issue bin of the comic book store to find out what happens. There is little depth to the characters. None of them stand out as anything noteworthy.

I give the first four issues of Y The Last Man by Brian Vaughan and Pia Guerra a two out of five. Pick it up if you are looking for a solid story that does not involve an superheroes. Pass on it if you are looking for an entertaining read. I imagine that it does get better. I only read the first four issues.