I AM THE LAW! (Geek Week 2004, Part 2): “Like Luke and Leia, without the kissing”
Let’s put the Battle of the Sexes aside for a moment, and get back to some goode-natured Geekiness. Today’s I AM THE LAW! Is all about a comic book series that I’ve long heard great things about, that Jeanie and I have recently started reading, called “Y: The Last Man.”
Okay, okay—wait! No, really, don’t go. Not yet, I know you heard “comic book” and were all, “forget this, I’m going to go search for some nubile all-legal cheerleaders,” but if you do, you’ll regret it (seriously, you’ll regret it—Ashcroft may be gone, but he’s not forgotten, and now he only has more time to watch you.). In seriousness, though, Y: The Last Man is not your classic comic book. There are no capes, no tights, not a superpower to be found. If it’s anything, it’s just tremendous science fiction, but even classifying it as that is a stretch. For, like all great science fiction, it’s short on the science, and long on the allegory/social commentary/examination of the human condition.
Before I start digressing about great science fiction (of which the world we live in has precious little to offer (here’s hoping BATTLESTAR GALACTICA re-brings the goods this winter)), let’s get down to the nitty gritty of ‘Y.’
‘Y’ is for “Yorick” the name of our protagonist. I hesitate to say “hero” because through the first trade paperback (which collects issues 1-4 (of 28..we’ve got a lot of catching up to do)), Yorick doesn’t really do anything heroic. Here’s the premise. What would happen to the world if, suddenly, every male mammal on the PLANET died instantly. Except one man and his pet monkey. That man is Yorick, an unemployed, uninspired English major/ part time escape artist/ full-time smartass. His trusty sidekick, the monkey Ampersand, is anything but trusty. In fact, he’s barely trained and he causes poor Yorick more trouble than good. But the fact remains, for some reason, when all the males die, those two are left with nothing but each other.
The story picks up about two months later, and we start to get some incredible insights as to what an all-women world is like. And no, I’m not about to say anything chauvinistic at all, it’s not portrayed that way. Many of the women suffer from survivor’s syndrome, having lost their brothers, husbands, and sons. Others, the “Amazons,” believe that God killed all the men to finally liberate the fairer sex, and have started a crusade to hunt down any surviving males and destroy them, along with every sperm bank along the way. Others gather around the Washington monument (for obviously phallic reasons) and turn it into a memorial for all lost men. In a poignant moment, a disguised Yorick talks with a woman about all the rock stars the world has lost, and you really get a tangible sense of male-centricity (which isn’t a word) of our government and popular culture. Then there are the little things you’re amazed the writer, Brian K. Vaughn, even thought about. For instance, Yorick runs into a beautiful garbage woman who collects the corpses of dead single men that were never claimed, and turns them into the government for food. The twist is that she’s a former model, and that’s the best work she can get now. For really, what good is it to have a great pair of implants in a world populated entirely by women?
It’s truly an amazing premise, that I just can’t wait to see play out of the rest of the series. (And I will be catching up on the rest of the series.)
The characters and dialogue are amazingly true-to-life, funny, and diverse. Yorick, especially, cracks jokes and makes his smarmy quips, but it never seems out of place. He’s obviously coming to grips with what it means for him to literally be the last man standing, and using humour as a defense mechanism. All he wants to do is find a way to Australia so he can find his girlfriend (maybe fiancée) and start re-populating the species. It’s a harder challenge than you would suspect. The plague happened at rush hour, so the highways are littered with crashed cars, the airlines and communication systems are nearly non-existent, and the government is in shambles. Yorick’s mother, a US Representative is of little help, as she sends him to Boston to find the woman who blames the plague on her cloning of a human boy. She tends to think that God punished her crime against nature, Yorick’s mother thinks she could clone her boy, and humanity can survive. Thus, as Yorick unwillingly heads to Boston with his bodyguard, a special ops badass by the name of Agent 355, we find that just by being himself, he has countless enemies. And what has happened to his girlfriend? Or his sister, Hero (Dad was an English professor)? Are there any other men? What does the doctor know? Will Ampersand ever stop throwing his poo? All this and more will be answered, or at least addressed, as the series progresses.
In my humble opinion, this is one of the greatest comic book stories I’ve ever read. Although, artistically, it doesn’t fully take advantage of the medium, the art is solid to above average, clean, and easy to follow. The writing is the true star here, and I someday hope to be able to write something half as good as this series is so far. As a more serious, non-superheroy tale, this is the sort of book I would recommend to anyone who wants a good, suspenseful, yet funny read. This is the kind of book that shows how the comic book is one of the true uniquely American artforms, and how comics are, simply put, art. And literature. Rolled into one. Someday, if I ever figure out how to write my story, Olympus: Gods Among Men, if it’s anything like ‘Y,’ I’ll be a very proud papa.
So give it a look and see what you think. Just cuz it’s a comic, doesn’t mean it’s kids stuff. You can find the trades at most bookstores or comic shops. I honestly believe that whether comics are your thing or not is irrelevant, this is just good reading. Give it a shot!
FINAL VERDICT: With an AMAZING story with more than serviceable art, ‘Y: The Last Man” issues 1-4 is a breakneck start to what I’m sure will be an unforgettable series. Sure, I’m more than two years behind, but it’s going to be a LOT of fun catching up!
Until next time, I love you all. Even you, KLE.
-apk
Okay, okay—wait! No, really, don’t go. Not yet, I know you heard “comic book” and were all, “forget this, I’m going to go search for some nubile all-legal cheerleaders,” but if you do, you’ll regret it (seriously, you’ll regret it—Ashcroft may be gone, but he’s not forgotten, and now he only has more time to watch you.). In seriousness, though, Y: The Last Man is not your classic comic book. There are no capes, no tights, not a superpower to be found. If it’s anything, it’s just tremendous science fiction, but even classifying it as that is a stretch. For, like all great science fiction, it’s short on the science, and long on the allegory/social commentary/examination of the human condition.
Before I start digressing about great science fiction (of which the world we live in has precious little to offer (here’s hoping BATTLESTAR GALACTICA re-brings the goods this winter)), let’s get down to the nitty gritty of ‘Y.’
‘Y’ is for “Yorick” the name of our protagonist. I hesitate to say “hero” because through the first trade paperback (which collects issues 1-4 (of 28..we’ve got a lot of catching up to do)), Yorick doesn’t really do anything heroic. Here’s the premise. What would happen to the world if, suddenly, every male mammal on the PLANET died instantly. Except one man and his pet monkey. That man is Yorick, an unemployed, uninspired English major/ part time escape artist/ full-time smartass. His trusty sidekick, the monkey Ampersand, is anything but trusty. In fact, he’s barely trained and he causes poor Yorick more trouble than good. But the fact remains, for some reason, when all the males die, those two are left with nothing but each other.
The story picks up about two months later, and we start to get some incredible insights as to what an all-women world is like. And no, I’m not about to say anything chauvinistic at all, it’s not portrayed that way. Many of the women suffer from survivor’s syndrome, having lost their brothers, husbands, and sons. Others, the “Amazons,” believe that God killed all the men to finally liberate the fairer sex, and have started a crusade to hunt down any surviving males and destroy them, along with every sperm bank along the way. Others gather around the Washington monument (for obviously phallic reasons) and turn it into a memorial for all lost men. In a poignant moment, a disguised Yorick talks with a woman about all the rock stars the world has lost, and you really get a tangible sense of male-centricity (which isn’t a word) of our government and popular culture. Then there are the little things you’re amazed the writer, Brian K. Vaughn, even thought about. For instance, Yorick runs into a beautiful garbage woman who collects the corpses of dead single men that were never claimed, and turns them into the government for food. The twist is that she’s a former model, and that’s the best work she can get now. For really, what good is it to have a great pair of implants in a world populated entirely by women?
It’s truly an amazing premise, that I just can’t wait to see play out of the rest of the series. (And I will be catching up on the rest of the series.)
The characters and dialogue are amazingly true-to-life, funny, and diverse. Yorick, especially, cracks jokes and makes his smarmy quips, but it never seems out of place. He’s obviously coming to grips with what it means for him to literally be the last man standing, and using humour as a defense mechanism. All he wants to do is find a way to Australia so he can find his girlfriend (maybe fiancée) and start re-populating the species. It’s a harder challenge than you would suspect. The plague happened at rush hour, so the highways are littered with crashed cars, the airlines and communication systems are nearly non-existent, and the government is in shambles. Yorick’s mother, a US Representative is of little help, as she sends him to Boston to find the woman who blames the plague on her cloning of a human boy. She tends to think that God punished her crime against nature, Yorick’s mother thinks she could clone her boy, and humanity can survive. Thus, as Yorick unwillingly heads to Boston with his bodyguard, a special ops badass by the name of Agent 355, we find that just by being himself, he has countless enemies. And what has happened to his girlfriend? Or his sister, Hero (Dad was an English professor)? Are there any other men? What does the doctor know? Will Ampersand ever stop throwing his poo? All this and more will be answered, or at least addressed, as the series progresses.
In my humble opinion, this is one of the greatest comic book stories I’ve ever read. Although, artistically, it doesn’t fully take advantage of the medium, the art is solid to above average, clean, and easy to follow. The writing is the true star here, and I someday hope to be able to write something half as good as this series is so far. As a more serious, non-superheroy tale, this is the sort of book I would recommend to anyone who wants a good, suspenseful, yet funny read. This is the kind of book that shows how the comic book is one of the true uniquely American artforms, and how comics are, simply put, art. And literature. Rolled into one. Someday, if I ever figure out how to write my story, Olympus: Gods Among Men, if it’s anything like ‘Y,’ I’ll be a very proud papa.
So give it a look and see what you think. Just cuz it’s a comic, doesn’t mean it’s kids stuff. You can find the trades at most bookstores or comic shops. I honestly believe that whether comics are your thing or not is irrelevant, this is just good reading. Give it a shot!
FINAL VERDICT: With an AMAZING story with more than serviceable art, ‘Y: The Last Man” issues 1-4 is a breakneck start to what I’m sure will be an unforgettable series. Sure, I’m more than two years behind, but it’s going to be a LOT of fun catching up!
Until next time, I love you all. Even you, KLE.
-apk
2 Comments:
Love Y. Love Fables. Now its your turn to give me recommendations.
By
mjs, at 2:34 PM, November 18, 2004
Well, I'm a very superhero-guy, I'm not sure if it's your flavor. My current favourites are Astonishing X-Men (i think i've got all but one of the run for myself right now) and The Ultimates (The 13-issue "First Volume" is collected in two trades. I have the second. If you want to check it out, and could catch you up to where the trade starts pretty easily.) The second "Volume" starts in December, and I can't wait. It's been delayed for close to 9 months, now.
All time favorites are Kingdom Come, for the art alone (the story's nothing spectacular) and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, which is probably my favorite comic story ever. Just amazingness. Watchmen is good too, and is widely considered one of the three greatest stories ever (with Dark Knight and Maus). Personally I didn't "get it" the first time I read it, but would love to give it another go. It really takes superheros in the 'real world' and builds a dark, almost noir, kind of detective story up, leading to a confrontation that no one wins. Good stuff.
-apk
By
apk, at 12:48 PM, November 19, 2004
Post a Comment
<< Home