"Tongues of Flame" is a short story arc, but it might just be my favorite Y: The Last Man story thus far, an exploration of post-plague faith with a human face to it. Despite the brief nature of the arc, Vaughan gets a lot done here, which includes introducing a couple more interesting characters, letting Yorick be the cool guy again and finally revealing the answer to a question that has been lingering since the very first issue. While this is another patented Vaughan shocker ending, however, the meat of the issue doesn't rely on surprises and plot twists, but on some very well-written and well-illustrated character interaction.
One of the things I really love about Y: The Last Man is that, with a few exceptions, the characters tend to be on the normal side, adjusting for the natural effects of living through a plague that wiped out all the men. The interaction between Yorick and Beth is very sweet and real, and the angst that Yorick feels about betraying his girlfriend is equally real. The conversations between the characters are a little more witty and on the spot than most of us tend to be, but within the tolerances of real conversation, and it is this verisimilitude that keeps Y: The Last Man interesting as much as (if not moreso than) the science fiction elements.
The notable exception to this real dialogue is that Vaughan has a tendency to show off factoids that he's found in his research (or that he just knew) in the characters' dialogue. The best example here is when Beth starts off on a lecture about Magdalene Asylums in the middle of having arrows pointed at her by the amazons. Some folks really hate this stuff, but I love it, because I find the context of history that Vaughan places this story in to be one of its strengths, and that means that hearing the little anecdotes about society and how men and women interacted is an important part of the story to me. You can argue that this is a bit intrusive, but I'd argue that it actually shows how little respect Beth has for the amazons, that she's not threatened enough not to talk to them like she would fellow students at theology school.
I've mentioned the strength of the dialogue several times, but I would be remiss if I didn't also credit Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan Jr. for their work on the book. There are a lot of unspoken but crucial moments in this issue, like the intelligent amazon staring down Beth, the expression Beth gives Yorick when he reveals the bit about his girlfriend or even the cliffhanger moment, and Guerra nails them all. She also gives the characters movement and emotion that highlights the script, most notably when Beth hisses in Yorick's ear, giving the line a little bit of a sexy, flirtatious punch.
As much as I enjoyed the first twenty pages of this comic, it is the last two pages that really grabbed me and wouldn't let go. After a nice little visual fakeout, Vaughan and Guerra reveal the answer to a question a lot of us have been asking, and I was very surprised to be given any kind of answer this soon. The only question left now is, is this cliffhanger a tease to be resolved in the next story arc, or, as I suspect, is it just a heightening of tension that will leave us wondering even more when the story returns to Yorick, 355, Mann and the rest in the next issue? Either way, I'm here for the long haul, and issues like this one are the reason why.
