Y: The Last Man, Vol. 4: Safeword [Paperback]

Brian K. Vaughan (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 1, 2004

WINNER OF THREE EISNER AWARDS

After a devastating plague, Yorrick Brown is the last man left alive in a world of women. On the run from Amazon extremists who would be happy to see him dead, his friends leave him in the care of Agent 711. But 711 is not the tragic woman she seems to be and Yorrick is propelled into a drug-fuelled nightmare of blood and sadism. Collects issues #18-23 of the runaway hit Vertigo series by Brian K. Vaughan (EX-MACHINA, RUNAWAYS) and Pia Guerra.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Vaughan and Guerra have crafted a frequently funny, sometimes compelling, postapocalyptic American road story with a twist. A mysterious plague has wiped out every man around the globe, except for one: a sardonic 20-something romantic named Yorick. Poor Yorick, however, has to conceal his identity from man-hating Amazons, renegade separatists and all sorts of other female factions who want to use him for one thing or another. He's on the run with a government agent and a geneticist as they hope to figure out what caused the plague and how Yorick survived. This volume focuses on the character development of Yorick and geneticist Dr. Alison Mann. Vaughn spends three chapters on Yorick's past and present psychosexual traumas, as he encounters a very eccentric therapist; the next three chapters follow Dr. Mann down some dangerous roads. Vaughn is an excellent episodic writer, able to sustain a suspenseful arc of plot, themes and realistic characters from one moment to the next. Guerra's art is unremarkable but competently conveys all kinds of action. Most important, Vaughn makes readers care for his characters. In the tradition of much good sci-fi writing, his fantastic plague backdrop is a very clever way of isolating and expanding on simple human themes of love, loneliness, fear and, of course, gender relations.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

If the story tacked on to One Small Step [BKL My 1 04] was seventh-inning-stretch comic relief, the fourth installment of Y: The Last Man gets back to the game in high style. California-bound Yorick Brown, agent 355, and cloning expert Alison Mann reach deep-rural Colorado, where 355 leaves Yorick with former associate 711 while she and Mann get antibiotics for the only other living male, Yorick's monkey, Ampersand. Yorick isn't just getting stashed out of harm's way. Unbeknownst to him, 711 is to play with his head to curtail his penchant for life-threatening heroics. The treatment involves testing his sexuality as well as his will to live. Though lurid (think Kitten with a Whip meets The Evil Dead), it seems to work, and when Yorick's fellow travelers return, the little troupe heads further west. In Arizona, they encounter survivalist secessionists as dangerous as the self-proclaimed Amazons still pursuing them. The action blazes before a foreboding jump cut back to Kansas. Still artfully written and plainly drawn, Y remains a helluva trip. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo; 3rd Printing edition (December 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401202322
• ISBN-13: 978-1401202323
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.4 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian K. Vaughan is the Eisner Award-winning writer of Y: THE LAST MAN, EX MACHINA, RUNAWAYS, and PRIDE OF BAGHDAD. His newest work, with artist/co-creator Fiona Staples, is SAGA, an ongoing sci-fi/fantasy series from Image Comics that The Onion's A.V. Club called, "the emotional epic Hollywood wishes it could make." Vaughan lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a writer and producer on various film and tv projects, including three seasons on the hit series LOST.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gets better with each passing volume May 19, 2006

By N. Durham HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll be hooked! January 22, 2005

By Thomas D. Feeps

Format:Paperback

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).

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting even funkier! April 3, 2006

By Raymond M. Rose VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

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.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Put To The Test February 15, 2006

By Andrew VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

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!

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The Adventure Continues... October 27, 2005

By A. Ross HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

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. Read more ›