It's rather difficult to describe, but this series strikes me as being important. Vaughan has taken us into the realm of fantastic fiction like most comics writers, but this dark fantasy is grounded so much in the here and now, it's more compelling and thought-provoking as a result. This series should be dissected by university women's studies and sociology classes. Y sparks discussion and reflection.
Yorick and Agent 355 reach Boston and set out to find geneticist Dr. Allison Mann, whom they and the women in Washington hope might be able to find a way to restore the male gender and therefore, secure the future of the human race. Mann's turned her attention to other concerns, though, as a result of the burden of guilty she carries. Meanwhile, the Amazons continue to track and hunt Yorick, and his sister faces an even more horrifying rite of initiation than her first one.
Pia Guerra may boast a simple style, but she nevertheless captures the complexities and stark reality of this series with seeming ease. This book is, obviously, dominated by female characters, but Guerra differentiates them quite clearly. There's never any confusion. And I loved the final splash page, as we're provided with a big symbolic representation of one of the title's core themes: choices. The immensity of the problems presented by the premise of the loss of all men offers so much potential that the characters are understandly drawn in so many directions. And the uneven crossroads sum that notion up so well.
The most fascinating aspect of this issue is Dr. Mann, whom we met briefly in the first issue. It's not her nature as a scientist that interested me. Instead, Vaughan offers some insight into her character; we get to know her quickly. First, we see that she blames herself for the eradication of half of mankind, and she strives to make up for that transgression. But it points to a self-centered personality. The simulataneous loss of all men on the planet doesn't point to a plague, but Mann can't help but imprint herself on the disaster. And one of her first reactions to seeing Yorick is to unburden herself of the guilt, to shift it to him, not in an effort to understand it, but to reaffirm the value of her work. It makes for some intense characterization and riveting reading.
The other key bit of characterization in this issue involves Hero, Yorick's sister. It was a shock to learn last month that she was among the zealots known as the Amazons, and here, Vaughan hints at how that could have come to pass. It's easy to imagine that a woman, overcome with grief as a result of the deaths of those close to her and filled with shame from her past relationships, would feel the need to lash out, to find blame. Though Hero is shown to be violent yet weak-willed here, Vaughan also paints her in a sympathetic light all at the same time.
