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The
New Standard:
Y:The Last Man - Unmanned
DC Comics/Vertigo trade paperback review
By
Troy Brownfield
Writer:
Brian K. Vaughan
Art: Pia Guerra and Jose
Marzan Jr.
More
Info: www.dccomics.com
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Extreme
praise for Y: The Last Man has come so fast and so
often since the book's inception that it's almost become a
cliche. Seemingly universally lauded, Y then faces
the burden of having to live up to the hype. But that's the
trick: it does.
One
of the best series to come down the pike in quite some time,
Y takes some of the oldest science fiction cliches,
totally shakes them up, and delivers an ongoing tale that
is surprising, intelligent, and involving. Suddenly finding
himself the last male on Earth (along with his monkey, Ampersand),
Yorick Brown stands out as a fascinating protagonist both
for what he is and what he isn't. A thinker, escape artist,
and obviously not a fighter, Yorick goes against every post-apocalyptic
hero archetype you can imagine. "Hell Comes to Frogtown"
this ain't.
It's
hard to say anything new about this title when faced with
the mountain of praise that has come before. What exactly
makes it work so well? Well, the art for one. Guerra and Marzan
render the world simply, cleanly and vividly. Characters have
distinct appearances, and the women come in a variety of realistic
body types. It's actually fairly refreshing.
Vaughan's
writing is razor-sharp; the whole "Terrorists?"-"Worse.
Republicans." exchange was simply hilarious. Plot developments
follow logically, and actions have consequences. The reactions
of the remaining women are uniformly fascinating.
Quite
honestly, this a book that just demands to be read. It sets
a great paradigm for comics in the new century. It's compulsive
reading, rooted in strong plot and art. It dispenses with
the obvious, both in comic cliche and sci-fi pastiche. There
are interesting forces at work, and fans need to latch onto
this.
Y is that book that we'll still be talking about in ten
years. If you haven't read it, Y wait?
Troy
Brownfield is the Editor-in-Chief around here. If he were
the last man on Earth, there's a couple of girls from the
day who still wouldn't be interested. Their words, not his.
Email him at psikotyk@aol.com
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