Y: The Last Man, Vol. 5: Ring of Truth [Paperback]

Brian K. Vaughan (Author), Pia Guerra (Illustrator), Jose Marzan Jr. (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2005

WINNER OF THREE EISNER AWARDS

Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth, finally makes it to San Francisco where his unbalanced sister, Hero, finds him seemingly succumbing to the male-killing plague after losing his still-unused engagement ring to the burqa-clad agents of the Setauket Ring. But is the ring really the key to his survival? And what does it have to do with the mysterious Amulet of Helene, which the Setauket leader is determined to take from Agent 355 by any means necessary. Collects issues #24-31 of the runaway hit Vertigo series by Brian K. Vaughan (EX-MACHINA, ASTONISHING X-MEN, RUNAWAYS) and Pia Guerra.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An adolescent male daydream becomes a nightmare in this convoluted SF thriller. Having somehow survived a plague that instantly killed all the other men on Earth, Yorick Brown finds himself the object of universal desire. Unfortunately, some of the women frantically chasing him are members of a lesbian Amazon cult that wants revenge for centuries of masculine oppression. Others are more interested in exploiting Yorick's unique immunity than in having sex with him. In this collection of eight issues of the monthly comic, Yorick bounces from one group to another as he also tries to discover why he was spared and whether there is any way to make the world safe for other men. Meanwhile, women debate whether the world is really a better place without men—although the story so far shows that women are fully capable of taking over male roles in violence, conceit and general obtuseness. Guerra and Marzan's sedate art makes the extreme situations look convincing, and Vaughn's script keeps the interplay of different factions moving briskly even if readers can't be sure what each represents. Despite its outlandish premise, this works much better than it has any right to. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Though it begins with a relative lull (and some sex), the fifth and longest story arc from Y: The Last Man seems to accelerate the comic's already feverish pace. It has been more than two years since a flash plague killed all males except for Yorick Brown. Now he and his monkey; the scientist Alison Mann, whose research might enable keeping future males alive; and agent 355, their escort, have reached California, where the data Mann lost in Boston is backed up. Yorick's sister, Hero, still tracks him and is still, unfortunately, affected by the Daughters of the Amazon brainwashing she underwent that tells her to kill, not save, him. Rogue former colleagues of 355 are after her to get an amulet they believe has special powers, and a ninja is out to steal Yorick's monkey, Ampersand. Flashbacks reveal more about Hero and begin disclosing the fate of Yorick's fiancee in Australia. Oh, and Yorick gets sick with symptoms like those that killed the other males. Busy, busy, white-knuckle stuff: the series just gets better. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401204872
• ISBN-13: 978-1401204877
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.5 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reasons, Origins, and Complications, February 17, 2006

By 

Andrew "Radaar" (Chicago, IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Y: The Last Man, Vol. 5: Ring of Truth (Paperback)

In the fifth trade paperback of Brian K. Vaughan's Y: The Last Man, we finally see Yorick's girlfriend Beth for the first time since the first story arc, we get a glimpse into Hero Brown's troubled past, a new girl named Beth complicates things with Yorick, and the reason that Yorick and Ampersand survived the plague is revealed.
In the story arc "Tongues of Flame", Yorick goes to a church in order to repent for the girl he killed in the previous arc. While there, he meets Beth, a girl who has become the de facto caretaker of the church. They comfort each other and provide company that each desperately needs. Yorick also helps her deal with a group of Amazons.
In "Hero's Journey", we see scenes from Hero's past, which was fairly traumatizing. From feeling neglected by her parents to being afraid of her grandfather for dark (and implied) reasons to overcompensating sexually for a bad case of acne, we are able to see why the Amazons were so successful at brainwashing her. We also learn what happened to her between her "incarceration" in Marrisville and her situation now.
Finally, in "Ring of Truth", having finally reached California, Yorick, Agent 355, and Allison try to isolate the reason why Yorick and Ampersand survived the "gendercide", but things get complicated when some ex-Culper Ring agents show up. And just as the answer is revealed, a mysterious ninja named Toyota kidnaps Ampersand again (she was responsible for his kidnapping in "Comedy & Tragedy").
This may be the best Y trade paperback yet. While "Safeword" may be the best arc, these three arcs are all very good and very intriguing. The story only continues to get better, and the next leg of the journey of Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth, should prove to be very interesting indeed.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Y just keeps getting better., November 8, 2005

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Y: The Last Man, Vol. 5: Ring of Truth (Paperback)

Brian K. Vaughan, Y: The Last Man: Ring of Truth (DC Comics, 2005)

Y: The Last Man just keeps getting better as it goes. Vaughan takes his characters to new levels of psychological depth with every collection. (For those who haven not yet gotten far in the series, be warned that here be spoilers.)

Yorick, the doc, and 355 have finally made it to San Francisco, where Yorick is undergoing a battery of tests to figure out why he's immune to the plague. Needless to say, there are still loads of people chasing the intrepid trio (and Ampersand), some of whom we know, others we've had only vague recollections of. Vaughan finally gets us back to Beth, Yorick's kind-of-fiancee, and finally starts us on the road to figuring out why Yorick is immune. (Don't worry, you will have more questions when you finish this one than you did when you started it; there's still a lot more of this series to go.)

Vaughan has created something fierce. You want to read this. ****

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 8 comics collected together in this groundbreaking series, November 18, 2008

By 

TammyJo Eckhart "TammyJo Eckhart" (Bloomington, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Y: The Last Man, Vol. 5: Ring of Truth (Paperback)

In eight individual comics of a series a lot can happen and a lot does happen to Yorick, 355, and Dr. Mann. First Yorick has an adventure of his own in a Catholic Church then as a mascot for a basketball game and finally a break through in Dr. Mann's lab as she discovers a reason for his and Ampersand's survival. In between we learn about what happened and is happening in the lives of two more women important to Yorick: His girlfriend, Beth, in Australia, and his sister, Hero, battling the Amazon brainwashing. But all the positives seem to fly out the door as another secret group destroys a sacred artifact that they believe led to the plague and a ninja, yup, a ninja, steals Ampersand.