Graphic novel review: Y, The last man complete series

Genre: All male mammals are dead except for one man and his monkey. Drama and suspense.

Writer: Brain K Vaughan
Pencillers: Pia Guerra, Goran Sudzuka and Paul Chadwick
Inker: Jose Maran Jr.

Series details: Total of 60 issues, collected as 10 trade paperbacks.

With a premise of only one surviving male, this book generated a lot of positive hype. After reading through the entire series, I don't think it lives up to its hype. At the start of the series we are introduced to the end of all males, all but one Yorick and his pet monkey. Yorick is not a likable character to start with, nor does he grow into a likable character as the series progresses. A large amount of the drama in the series ends up being Yorick or some other character doing something stupid, getting into trouble and having to be rescued.

The story elements in the series are the mystery surrounding this plague and how women would deal with a world without men. The origins of the plague which should have been the driving point for this book is not revealed and we are given several possible causes, none of which seem plausible. The plot lines involving the women are pretty insipid. While you have the token women jock characters in this book, some diversity among the women for example strong and inspiring leaders would have been welcome. Lacking a true story the writer tries to inject some emotion and drama using some cheap shots, like killing characters for no particular reason.

This series is too long, there isn't enough story to be told for 60 issues. There is some humor and plenty of pop culture references. The dialogues and writing in this book is pretty average. The art of the book is functional, not bad in any way but nothing noteworthy.

All in all I would not recommend this series. If you do want to try it however, here is the Amazon link for the series. I suggest you only try the first trade paperback, and note that while it does get a bit better in the latter issues, the improvement is not enough to redeem the series.

Rating: 2.5 / 5, Not recommended, there are better series around.