Rating: 
Summary: amateur comic reader hooked on "Y"
Review: (Disclaimer: I likely don't have a good perception of what comics are usually like, because I've never read one before picking up "Y: The Last Man" - so take this with a grain of salt, willya?)
Not having grown up reading comics, I was hesitant to start reading one. But during a recent snowstorm a friend of mine handed this one to me, and I devoured it. For someone who's never been into comics before, I was sold. I even went out and bought my own copies of all the issues I could get my hands on. Now i'm hooked. This story is refreshingly not how I envisioned comics to be - it's about an average guy in extraordinary circumstances. Brian K. Vaughn has done a great job of envisioning this world and making the female characters believable individuals instead of empty yet attractive fantasies. Yorick's sense of humor, the relationships he develops with the various female characters, the timely references all make this comic appealing because its relatable in an everyday sort of way, not in an "I can see some of myself in that superhero" sort of way, as I always envisioned comics to be.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, get this one and the sequels!
Review: A friend gave this book (along with its first sequel) to me and my wife as a joint birthday gift -- what a great gift! The story's concept is thought-provoking (see the plot summary above or some of the other reviews for more details on the premise); the action, pacing, and characters are all great; and the art is really good. The protagonist, Yorick, is particularly appealing.I don't read a lot of comics (I pretty much only read a few trade paperbacks a year), so I probably would have never found this one if left to my own devices, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in a good story and a fascinating mystery. If you're a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre, you need to read this one. I can't wait to see how the plot develops as the series progresses! If you're looking for novels with similar premises -- albeit with the gender roles reversed from Y: The Last Man), I'd recommend Herbert's "The White Plague" and Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale."
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, get this one and the sequels!
Review: A friend gave this book (along with its first sequel) to me and my wife as a joint birthday gift -- what a great gift! The story's concept is thought-provoking (see the plot summary above or some of the other reviews for more details on the premise); the action, pacing, and characters are all great; and the art is really good. The protagonist, Yorick, is particularly appealing. I don't read a lot of comics (I pretty much only read a few trade paperbacks a year), so I probably would have never found this one if left to my own devices, but I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in a good story and a fascinating mystery. If you're a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre, you need to read this one. I can't wait to see how the plot develops as the series progresses! If you're looking for novels with similar premises -- albeit with the gender roles reversed from Y: The Last Man), I'd recommend Herbert's "The White Plague" and Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale."
Rating:
Summary: Great concept...even better execution!
Review: Be warned... Reading the Unmanned TPB may ultimately cost you more money, as the second you've finished this excellent story, you'll probably run to the nearest comic store to buy every issue of "Y the Last Man" you can find! This TPB collects the first five issues of "Y The Last Man". The lead character Yorich walks out of his house one day to learn that all the men of the world have mysteriously died... except for him. Yorich then seeks to learn why he is still alive. Meanwhile, female White House executives are scrambling to retain control over the U.S; a militant group known as "The Amazons" are attacking anyone who has "pro-male" views; and Yorich tries to learn the fate of his sister Hero, who hasn't been heard from since all the men died. Brian Vaughan is an expert storyteller who grabs you from the very first page and never lets go. The only negative I can say about this volume is that by the end, several questions posed have yet to be answered, so be warned that you're not getting the entire story. Still, if you buy this book, I guarantee you'll love every page of it.
Rating:
Summary: The best of what comics and science fiction can be.
Review: Even those who dismiss comics as escapist children's stories (and what's wrong with a little escapism?) will find themselves respecting this series. Set in an alternate present, it postulates what might happen were the Earth suddenly rid of all males (save, possibly, two -- the title character and his pet monkey). Smart, witty, and incredibly well thought-out. Like any great story, this one will leave you thinking about it long after you've turned the last page.
Rating:
Summary: the book that will save an imprint
Review: For a brief time a few years ago, it seemed that Vertigo might be in its death throes. Sandman had been over for a while, Preacher was ending, and Transmetropolitan had very little time left in its run as well. The new books being touted as flagship titles-books like Outlaw Nation, Swamp Thing, The Crusades, American Century-were not living up to expectations. But luckily the writer of one of those failed projects (Swamp Thing's Brian K. Vaughan) came along just then and helped revive the line. He and artist Pia Guerra created a book called Y the Last Man that has quickly become one of the hottest phenomenons in comics today. In the first trade paperback collection for the series, Y the Last Man: Unmanned, we are introduced to Yorick Brown and his monkey Ampersand, who are both somehow spared when every other male on the planet dies. This first book sets up many of the events that are to follow, establishing situations like that of Yorick's mother, one of the few female Congresswomen left who is now trying to rebuild the government, or that of the Amazons, a group of women who believe the Y chromosome was an aberration and the men deserved to die off. There is a great sense of mystery surrounding this series. Vaughan has done a wonderful job of leaving certain aspects of the story unresolved yet still maintaining the fans' interests in what the answers to those questions might be. Readers might wonder, for example, what causes the deaths of all the men on Earth. Was it the removal of a mystical artifact from its homeland or an experiment in cloning gone wrong that killed the men? Might the cause have been some kind of biological weapon created by the government, thus satisfying conspiracy theorists the world over? It could be any or all of those things. Y the Last Man defies easy classification, using elements of fantasy, science fiction and political intrigue as a backdrop for its characters to explore, all while weaving an atmosphere mired in the unknown that keeps the readers in suspense. But like all of the best Vertigo books, Y is driven by character more than anything else. Y rises above the standard plot devices that usually plague stories about the end of the world, because, despite being set in a post-apocalyptic world, it is not about that apocalypse. The reasons behind the deaths of the men are unimportant. Here the focus is instead on how the people left behind act when forced into this situation, and what is most amazing about this book is how true it seems, how real. Most of the credit for that belongs to artist Pia Guerra for making the world resemble our own so closely that it feels authentic. When we see the congested highways filled with cars, behind the wheels of which sit the bodies of dead men, we feel the anguish the characters must, and it leads us to contemplate how we would cope with such a predicament. Similarly, Guerra convinces us the characters are truly alive with facial expressions and mannerisms that would give the best actors in Hollywood a run for their money, especially in our lead character Yorick and one of the villains of the piece, the Amazon leader Victoria. Cleverly written and beautifully drawn, Y the Last Man is an incredible book that bursts through clichés and explores interesting characters in a world not too far removed from our own. The monthly adventures of Yorick Brown gain at least a thousand new readers each month, and as sales continue to climb, it is on pace to surpass Alias as the highest selling mature readers book on the market today. If you haven't yet jumped on the bandwagon and tried Y the Last Man: Unmanned, I can't help but wonder why. (And I promise that the book is really better than that pun was.)
Rating:
Summary: could not put it down
Review: I started reading this because the premise seemed interesting and I trust DC vertigo, but I didn't expect to like it this much. I literally had problems putting it down. I left a party early so I could find out what happened next. That makes more sense when you read it, these guys are masters of the cliffhanger. Definatly worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: could not put it down
Review: I started reading this because the premise seemed interesting and I trust DC vertigo, but I didn't expect to like it this much. I literally had problems putting it down. I left a party early so I could find out what happened next. That makes more sense when you read it, these guys are masters of the cliffhanger. Definatly worth your time.
Rating: 
Summary: Sexist
Review: I started reading this series, because the premise interested me. All creatures carrying the Y chromosome (in other words, all males) die in some unexplained event - all except twoo, a slacker named Yorick and his pet monkey. Yorick is trying to get to Australia to find his girlfriend. The new U.S. President has assigned an agent to protect Yorick, since he's the only hope for the survival of the human race. Other people are out to get or kill Yorick. I love female comic book characters, so I thought that I would love a series with a female majority. I dropped the series after a few issues. The original premise is good, but the results aren't. The writer seems to believe that men do everything; with most men gone, the women can't manage on their own. Months after the incident, there is almost no electricity; cars with dead male bodies still block the roads, making travel very difficult; and air travel is pretty much nonexistent. The reality is that women are in most or every professions as men, so the idea that civilization would collapse with all men gone is ludicrous. The writer tries to show that women can be just as bad as men, so he goes the usual route and has the women form weird groups, such as men-hating "[...]" that believe that all men were meant to die; they cut off their right breasts to become better archers (despite the evidence that there are apparently no men left to fight). This series is completely unrealistic. I wish that a woman had written it instead. Don't waste your money on it.
Rating:
Summary: You can't not enjoy this book
Review: I was very impressed with this title. I didn't quite know what to expect coming into it, but the premise is very unique and extreme. As with any "end of the world" story, there are many extreme parts that could or could not happen. In this case we have a bunch of very hasty women fighting and killing for both leadership and out of the hatred for men. It is kind of weird to have a story where there is only one male character, being so used to a man being the hero, but nonetheless, that is not a problem. It is just a wonderful story, very unique ideas being put forth, and all around just a great read.
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