This issue officially closes out the first year of Y: The Last Man, and I'm struck by how much potential the story still has, even as I'm pleased that Vaughan hasn't just been spinning his wheels in the first two arcs. This issue, the second part of "One Small Step," delivers some interesting revelations about Yorick's mother, Colonel Alter, the Culper Ring and various other elements of the story while retaining plenty of mystery for each of them as well. Certainly there's a feelings of things building up, and I expect that we'll be seeing some pretty spectacular fireworks in the next couple of issues as the plot points that Vaughan is laying down begin to come to a boil.
One thing that I love about Y is that everyone has their own believable agenda. Characters are not just acting in service to the plot, or acting as heroes or villains. About as close as we got to true villains was the demented leader of the Amazons, and with her gone, we're back to much stronger moral ambiguity. Yorick's mother is taking actions which seem awfully dangerous, but she's acting in her son's best interests, or so she thinks. Colonel Alter's motives remain a mystery, even to her own troops, but I don't get the sense that she's an unthinking zealot... it's clear she's got a plan. And 355 and Mann, while undeniably important to Yorick and probably on his side, have their own private agendas as well.
Leaving aside the larger implications of the arc, from the discovery of other living men to a revelation about a secret government facility to the truth behind Colonel Alter's source, we still have strong characterization and smaller moments. The relationship between Mann, 355 and Yorick grew strong in "Cycles" and has become even more interesting with the addition of Natalya. I love the way Natalya and 355 seem a little stilted and uncomfortable speaking a language other than their own. And I really enjoyed the brief moment between Yorick and Natalya, not to mention 355's reaction to it.
Pia Guerra is a godsend for this book, as important to Y as Steve Dillon was to Preacher. I don't make that comparison lightly, either, because I think that Guerra has a lot of strengths that Dillon had, notably expressive characters and the ability to tackle a wide variety of settings and details surrounding them. In a "road trip book" like the one Y seems to be developing into, the ability to capture everything from a farmhouse to a military helicopter to a space station is absolutely crucial, and the ability to make the characters seem real just as important. Guerra and Marzan Jr. bring that to the page every month.
With a perfect blend of tension, humor and engaging plotting, Y: The Last Man remains at the top of my favorite books list every month. The third arc promises to answer a few of the questions lingering since the first issue, and as always the end of each issue finds me anxiously awaiting the next chapter.
