Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1 (Deluxe Edition) [Hardcover]

Brian K. Vaughan (Author), Pia Guerra (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo; Deluxe edition (October 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401219217
• ISBN-13: 978-1401219215
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.8 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Science Fiction
  • #56 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > DC Comics

More About the Author

Brian K. Vaughan has previously written episodes of Swamp Thing and The Hood mini-series. His current work includes Runaways and Y: The Last Man.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Greater Wrath, October 28, 2008

By 

Sky (New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1 (Deluxe Edition) (Hardcover)

Plague? Black Magic? Terrorism? Act of God? Could / would something simultaneously kill every mammal possessing a Y chromosome? Even unborn mammals in the womb? Well, according to Y: The Last Man, on July 17, 2002, that's exactly what happened...with the exception of one male human being and one male Capuchin monkey.

Y: The Last Man chronicles the life of Yorick Brown and his pet monkey Ampersand as they are thrust into a female-only society. And society is in chaos. The realization that the planet is doomed without a reproducing, intelligent species is not lost on its inhabitants. Some accept their fate; some fight to find a way to reverse the annihilation; and some even denounce any fight to survive as opposition to God's will.

Hence, to some, Yorick Brown is the ultimate opposition to God's will....A sole human male survivor. So when Yorick teams up with a government agent and a genetic scientist on a journey across the country to get to a laboratory to find out 'what makes him different', or to try to discover if there's a genetic 'solution' to this disaster, you can bet the band of travelers run into some hostile forces.

The storyline is not without some controversy....Well, I see no controversy, but I'm sure that certain groups might view the nature of a population unable to civilly function without men a bit 'controversial'. Regardless, Y: The Last Man is very well told, exciting, twist-filled and keeps you pressing on. It took me just under 2 hours to get through Book 1.

The stories originally were delivered in 10 Volumes (collecting the 60 individual newsstand comic books). Book 1 is a Deluxe, Hardcover combination of "Unmanned" (Volume 1) & "Cycles" (Volume 2).

Volumes 3 - 10 are readily available individually if you don't want to wait to collect the rest of the Hardcover Book compilations. Fair warning...Volumes 6 - 10 start getting a little (just a little!) long in the tooth, as perhaps more of an attempt to drag the story out and keep a great revenue generating series alive, but nevertheless, Writer Brian Vaughan keeps readers compelled to press on.

Rumor has it (according to [rumored] Director D.J. Caruso) that a movie adaptation will come out in three films...the first of which could be released as early as 2009 (with [rumored] Shia LaBeouf as Yorick). Hopefully, Hollywood will maintain the integrity of the series and not dumb down this fabulous "controversial" tale that the authors created.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poor Yorick! I knew him..., October 29, 2008

By 

Ryan Bonneville (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1 (Deluxe Edition) (Hardcover)

Like seeing an old friend again. It's an awesome marketing strategy by DC to put out a deluxe version of the beginning of Y just after the series finished. Crank up the nostalgia factor and run with it.

Now, on the merits, it's interesting to go back to the beginning and see where Vaughan was going with it. He's already starting to layer in the plots and hints that carry throughout the entire series. Yorick's confused and easily-sidetracked quest for Beth; the beginnings of the fraught relationship between Dr. Mann, 355, and Yorick; Natalya, the astronauts, and Kansas; even feces-flinging Ampersand. Vaughan's gift for interspersing bizarre facts and general geek chic isn't in the sort of full swing you get from Ex Machina yet, but his knack for the cliffhanger is in top gear.

All around, an excellent collection of the material. It's nice to see in an oversized hardcover, where Pia Guerra's art - and outstanding feel for human expression - is on full display. My only complaint is that a "deluxe" edition really could stand to have some more extra material. The sketches are fun, but I'd love love love to see a Vaughan script in raw form. I bet that would be downright revelatory.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific story, March 21, 2009

By 

Trevor Burnham (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1 (Deluxe Edition) (Hardcover)

I haven't enjoyed a graphic novel this much since Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. Y: The Last Man is everything a great comic should be: dark, funny, wildly original and fiercely compelling. If you've never read a graphic novel before, but enjoy TV series such as Lost (which Vaughan became a writer on starting with season 3), Heroes or Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (which now has an eighth season in comic form), you owe it to yourself to read this one.

But should you get the softcover versions (both Volume 1: Unmanned and Volume 2: Cycles are included in this single book) or this "Deluxe" hardcover version? The cost is about the same. The hardcover is more impressive, with larger pages that do a great job of showing off the vibrant artwork. But the softcovers are sleek and portable, and contain all of the same content except for a few pages of sketches. No matter which you choose, you won't be disappointed.

Y: The Last Man Book Two continues the story. You won't want to miss it.