Each issue of Y so far has offered me something mind-blowing to think about and a cliffhanger to die for, and I'd recommend it based on that alone. But there's more to it than that. Though Y is a post-apocalyptic tale, Vaughan isn't focusing simply on the struggle for survival, the basics of food and shelter. There are bigger issues, like what happens to our culture, that make for fascinating reading. Issues addressed in this chapter of the story include new philosophies, the mourning process and the effect that the death of all the men would have on an important aspect of pop culture, and thanks to Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan, it all looks great as usual.
What impresses me most about Y: The Last Man is that Vaughan balances the epic side and personal side of the story so well. While it's important to see what has become of the world and how it has changed in the wake of the big event, it's just as important to see how it affects a couple of people, or the whole thing might feel too big to wrap your head around. While Vaughan is taking advantage of an unlimited scope and cast of thousands of random encounters, the focus on Yorick means that we get to see all of this from a specific point of view. I also really enjoy the buddy movie relationship developing between Yorick and the enigmatic Agent 355.
I love the characters, but the big ideas aspect of this book shouldn't be underestimated. There's a scene in this issue where Yorick sits down and talks to someone about the effect that the event has had on an important aspect of American and world culture, and it's both shocking and a fascinating insight. It's one of those things that is all around us, but we rarely think about until it's gone, and it was probably the most effective part of the issue for me. Until the ending, which was a shocker I didn't see coming, but should have.
Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan, Jr. really bring the world of Y: The Last Man to life as well, creating a world that seems empty, desolate and hurt, but not destroyed. I love the costumes that they give the various characters, which are mostly street clothes but with a more practical and less flashy approach that seems appropriate to a more serious and focused world in the wake of a disaster. And Guerra's work on the self-mutilation of the Amazons is fantastic, making them seem just odd enough without turning them into the equivalent of post-war mutants that are often the bad guys in your average post-apocalyptic tale.
With such a wide scope of story possibilities and a daunting high concept, many creative teams would have faltered. Vaughan, Guerra and the rest started strong and have continued in that same vein, delivering perhaps the most compelling new book of 2002. It's got humor, horror, action and fascinating ideas, and each issue leaves me impatiently awaiting the next.
