“Y: The Last Man” #56
By Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan, Jr.
Brian K. Vaughan’s “Y: The Last Man” is often compared to a similarly well-written, addicting and entertaining cultural phenomenon: ABC’s “Lost.” It’s fitting, then, that Vaughan was recently brought on as a writer for the show. While it’s great to see Vaughan lending his prolific talents to a number of projects, perhaps he’s spreading himself a bit thin.
Take the latest issue of “Y,” for example. A lot has changed for Yorick Brown and his monkey Ampersand, the sole survivors of a plague which wiped out every mammal with a Y chromosome. In the past seven issues, the cause of the plague was finally revealed. Unfortunately, this was underwhelming and frankly something of a cop out. Further, this sense of the wheels coming off has extended to another series-long story line: Yorick’s quest to be reunited with Beth DeVille, his girlfriend who was studying in Australia when the plague hit.
The latest issue follows Yorick and Agent 355 as they track Beth down in Paris. By issue’s end, however, as Yorick and Beth are finally reunited, there isn’t a sense of payoff or satisfaction. Instead, the sentiment is more along the lines of, “That’s it?”
The reunion of Beth and Yorick just sort of happens, and in the most cliche way possible: they run into each other in the middle of Paris. Never mind that, for whatever reason Yorick is walking around uncovered (he usually disguises himself to keep from drawing attention since he’s the last man on Earth) and no women seem to bat an eye. For an unpredictable series to have a huge plot point come to a head in such a conventional way is disappointing, to say the least.
“Y” is still doing at least one thing well ““ the relationship between Yorick and his protector, Agent 355, has progressed wonderfully. 355’s abrupt disappearance before issue’s end packs a lot more emotional weight than Beth and Yorick’s reunion, suggesting that maybe Beth isn’t the right girl for Yorick. After all, we’ve watched Yorick and 355 bond for years; we’ve barely seen any reason why Beth is the one for Yorick.
Pia Guerra’s artwork is still as lively and fantastic as ever, continually complementing Vaughan’s writing. The characters look like they’re made to speak Vaughan’s words, and that’s a testament to how well Guerra and Vaughan work together.
Why is “Y” running out of gas? When the series began, it was essentially the only thing Vaughan was doing.
With success, however, comes a price. Here’s hoping Vaughan refocuses and delivers a satisfying conclusion to one of the best books of the decade.
““ Mark Humphrey
E-mail Humphrey at mhumphrey@media.ucla.edu.