Customer Reviews

Y: The Last Man, Vol. 4: Safeword

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Safeword, the fourth collected volume of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's smashing Vertigo title Y: The Last Man, continues the journey of Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth. When his pet monkey Ampersand (who is the only other living male mammal left on the planet) gets sick, Yorick's cohorts Dr. Mann and Agent 355 drop him off with 355's old partner, the sexy Agent 711. What happens next tests everything that Yorick has come to known, and he makes a startling discovery about himself in the process. The second storyarc finds Yorick and co. stuck in the desert and up against a crazed militia who have their own agenda. With tough choices and revelations abound for everyone involved, the direction that the series will go in is shaped more clearly now than ever before. Like previous reviews have stated, Safeword is easily the most mature of the series so far, with Vaughan's storytelling getting better panel after panel. Pia Guerra's artwork serves it's purpose as it has before, but it's Vaughan who steals the spotlight here. If he keeps this up, his name will be in the same breath as modern day masters Ennis, Ellis, Morrison, and maybe even Moore.

I'd heard great things about Y: The Last Man and picked up an issue (I think #28) to give it a shot. The premise seemed pretty far fetched to me, and the issue left me a bit confused. The dialogue and art were OK, but I decided not to keep up with it.

Then I started with the first TPB, and COULD NOT GET ENOUGH OF IT!! You really have to start back at the beginning with Yorick, or else you won't know who Agent 355, Dr. Mann, Hero, or Ampersand (sp?) are--and you should! I went through all four tpb's in two days!

This is a journey saga, and as we travel with Yorick across the country we find that his friends, allies, and enemies are ALWAYS more than they seem and despite my earlier concerns, always very well written. Vaughan does an excellent job of pacing the story with physical action, mental intrique, and pschological probing. The dialogue that I thought was "OK" before, I now see as natural and envigorating. He teases us, releasing information at just the right time--in this tpb we learn why Yorick isn't just bedding down with every women he meets. It's not an earth shattering reason, but somewhat unexpected and yet profoundly believable.

I've heard this series is supposed to last sixty issues. Although I'll be sad to see it go, the fact that this story has a beginning, middle, and end certainly shows. The focus is refreshing, and adds a level of realism.

I'm not sure how much you'll enjoy book 4 if you pick it up cold, but try the first tpb (or the comics) and I guarantee you'll still love the story by issue #23 (where this one ends).

Things never seem to go right for Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth. Nearly two years ago, a mysterious plague wiped out every mammal with a Y chromosome except for Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand. Along with the mysterious Agent 355 and geneticist Dr. Allison Mann, the trio is going to California in order to get to some research that could be mankind's last hope. After the mysterious events of the mini-arc known as Comedy & Tragedy, 355 and Dr. Mann leave Yorick in the care of one of 355's former colleagues, Agent 711 (remember that the numbers are pronounced Three-Fifty-Five and Seven-Eleven, making for a great one-liner) while the two ladies go to a hospital to help the wounded Ampersand. Of course, something unexpected occurs, and Yorick has to question certain things that he once believed. We also get a glimpse into the history of the Brown family, including a hint at a traumatizing event in his sister Hero's past.
Furthermore, yet another militant women's group makes an appearance, though this one has a much different political agenda than ones previously seen. The end leaves Yorick in a strange place emotionally that will be very interesting to explore in future issues.
As usual, Brian K. Vaughan doesn't disapoint. The story remains engaging, and the humor is great, while the overall dark tone remains. The art is great, and may even be improving. If you haven't started Y yet, get on it soon!

The way Brian K. Vaughan plots out his series is very interesting. Something happened to me while reading this book, and I recognized the feeling as one I got while reading the third volume collection of "Runaways," another BKV series. Vaughan creates likable, flawed characters in interesting situations and writes enjoyable stories about them. The stories are consistently entertaining and the dialogue is always quotable, but not quite... as astounding as you'd hoped. However, right when you think you know what the series is all about, he hits you with a powerful punch out of no where. That punch was this volume.

The first three issues here (the titular "Safeword" arc) are the best in the series thus far. BY far. We get essential character development for Yorick, and my enjoyment of the series--and respect for Vaughan as a writer and chance-taker--has literally multiplied four times over after reading this arc. There is psychology at work and character depth that aspiring story-tellers like me yearn to achieve. The greatness countinues in the next three issues (the "Widow's Pass" arc), and--though it isn't as groundbreaking as "Safeword"--you will not be let down by the end of this book.

If you haven't yet become addicted to "Y: The Last Man," this is the book that will reel you in.

9/10

Warning! Spoilers ahead!

This struck me as not quite as good as previous books mainly because not quite as necessary. The series at this point is tracking the journey of Yorick and his entourage from Boston to California and it is as if Vaughan decided he had to create events at the Great Divide and in Arizona to pass time before finally arriving at Dr. Mann's lab. The section where Agent 355's former colleague tortures Yorick as a form of suicide intervention is easily the worst segment of any part of the series to this point, with the possible exception of every mention of the Amazons (as a historical note, the myth that the Amazons cut off a breast in order to aim a bow more efficiently is not a part of the early progress of the Amazons). And I definitely didn't care for the ultra-right-wing Sons of Arizona that occupied the second half of the book.

Still, there were some major new revelations. Let me enumerate. 1) We learn that Dr. Mann is gay and may have an attraction to Agent 355. 2) There are members of the Culper Ring who have a different agenda than 355 and are ruthless in pursuing it. 3) Hero hasn't gone away, but is searching for her brother. 4) The pregnant astronaut from Book 3 has given birth to a son. 5) Dr. Mann did not clone her nephew, as she previously told 355 and Yorick, but herself.

While not as good as previous books, this is still a worthy contribution to one of the most compelling long series in graphic art. It is highly recommended because the series as a whole is highly recommended.

I'm a big fan of Brian K. Vaughan's comic book work, so I jumped on this series recently, and although I loved the first story, I found myself disappointed by the second, and while the third trade did win me back over, I still felt like this book wasn't quite living up to my expectations--until Safeword. Both stories contained in this trade are excellent; the characters feel more real than ever here, and both stories have extremely serious ramifications for the future of the series. Pia Guerra is not an innovator, but her work is definitely solid enough to sell me on these stories. She knows facial expressions and anatomy, and considering the level of the writing, that really is enough. Absolutely recommended.

So now things are getting a little weirder. As if being the last man on the planet (along with your pet monkey) and having half of the women want to kill you for what you represent, having a quarter not want you at all because they are playing for the other side, and having the last quarter want to jump your bones wasn't weird enough, let's make it weirder. We now get into Yorrick's head and man, it isn't pretty.

Vaughan, the genius that he is, dials it back for a second or two in the area of action and the usual one-thing-after-another-after-another plotting that comic book series fall victim to. Instead he takes a moment to dive into the head of the main character and give us some reasons for some of the crazy crap that he does. It's great, peeling away his layers, because when he's whole again, Yorrick is a totally different character. Trust me, you'll know what I mean when it happens.

I missed all the hype about this series, and just happened upon the trade paperbacks at the library. The premise, as the title says, is that some kind of plague spontaneously kills every male on earth at the same instant -- except a 20something slacker named Yorick and his monkey Ampersand. Following the events of the first three books, this fourth picks up the story of Yorick, his government agent bodyguard (Agent 355), and the geneticist (Dr. Mann) who might be able to solve save humanity. On their way to a genetics lab in California, they trek though Colorado, where they find the cabin of ex-Agent 711, an old friend of Agent 355. It's decided that Ampersand's wound (sustained in the last book) needs antibiotics, so Agent 355 and Dr. Mann head to town to find some, leaving Yorick in the care of Agent 711. The first half of the book is just him and her, and involves some totally ridiculous therapy (if you know what a "safeword" is, you can guess what's involved). The only thing this does is deliver some of Yorick's backstory, and attempt to explain Yorick's celibacy over the course of the previous books. Major issues like survivor's guilt and suicide are dealt with in a totally unconvincing way, and the whole thing is pretty laughable and gratuitous.

In any event, Agent 355 and Dr. Mann return for Yorick and the trio moves on into Arizona. The second half of the book details their adventures when they come up against a roadblock of I-40. Apparently an octet of survivalist secessionists has disrupted all interstate commerce, causing food shortages on either side. It's not clear why all the truckers can't just detour around this one stretch...but whatever... It's also not clear how these paramilitary ladies have managed to be so disruptive. Their camp is in a depression between two hills, so any reasonably intelligent attacker should be able to devastate them. Not to mention the panel on page 101 that shows all six able-bodied women coming out into the open in a group to confront one unarmed person! Granted, it makes for a nice composition, but one grenade from someone hidden in the bushes and the problem is solved... And yet, they are described as having killed 11 of the 12 Texas rangers who attacked them? Anyway... rather implausibly, the trio gets involved in all this and there's plenty of bloody action.

It should be noted that the penciling in the second part of the book switches from co-creator Pia Guerra to Goran Palov, and it's pretty jarring. Palov's action scenes are nice and fluid, but the main characters' faces look radically different, which is a big no-no to me in such a character-driven story. All in all, the book operates at the same level as the rest of the series, if you like 1-3, you'll probably like this one.

This volume collects six issues instead of the five of Books 1 and 2. Yorick, Agent 355, Dr. Mann and Ampersand continue across the Midwestern US, ultimately toward a radical Arizona group that is blocking the interstate and crippling the fragile national supply chain. These issues offer several surprises that rejuvenate a storyline that had stalled by the end of the last collection. I enjoyed this more than Book 3 and will continue reading the series.

Y is the male chromosome.

Y is the Yorick Brown.

Y is the last man.

In this graphic novel series, we follow the adventure of Yorick, the last know man alive after a sudden plague wipes out the mass of male humanity - and all the male mammals except for Yorick's helper monkey-in-training, Ampersand.

I cannot give you an accounting of the individual books. After reading the initial book on a Tuesday, I had to go and get what I could to finish reading the series. I was able pick up all but the last volume. Having read through the next eight volumes, I sit and wait for the final volume to be sent to me. I can't wait.

I want to know just what caused the plague. I want to know if there's a cure. I want to know if our hero (not our Hero) finds his love. The narrative is compelling and I fell in and I need a resolution. I have to give credit to the collaborative team behind the creation and continuation of the series. I literally couldn't put the books down and I was at a loss when I had to stop with the story arc unfinished.

Read these books, they might not be deep, but they sure are entertaining.