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Y: The Last Man #5-6
Y: The Last Man - The Deluxe Edition Book Three
Alternate Cover Edition for ISBN: 9781401225780
Y: THE LAST MAN is the gripping saga of Yorick Brown, an unemployed and unmotivated slacker who discovers that he is the only male left in the world after a plague of unknown origin instantly kills every mammal with a Y chromosome. Accompanied by his mischievous monkey and the mysterious Agent 355, York embarks on a transcontinental journey to find his girlfriend and discover why he is the last man on Earth.
Now, the entire critically acclaimed Y: THE LAST MAN saga written by Brian K. Vaughan, one of the writers of LOST, is collected into a series of oversized, hardcover editions. In this third volume, Yorick's unbalanced sister Hero tracks him to San Francisco, only to find him seemingly succumbing to the male-killing plague after losing his still-unused engagement ring to agents of the Setauket Ring. Plus, Yorick, Agent 355 and Dr. Mann ship out across the Pacific to Japan in pursuit of Yorick's stolen monkey Ampersand, whose innards may hold the key to mankind's future
Collects: Y: The Last Man #24-36.
Y: THE LAST MAN is the gripping saga of Yorick Brown, an unemployed and unmotivated slacker who discovers that he is the only male left in the world after a plague of unknown origin instantly kills every mammal with a Y chromosome. Accompanied by his mischievous monkey and the mysterious Agent 355, York embarks on a transcontinental journey to find his girlfriend and discover why he is the last man on Earth.
Now, the entire critically acclaimed Y: THE LAST MAN saga written by Brian K. Vaughan, one of the writers of LOST, is collected into a series of oversized, hardcover editions. In this third volume, Yorick's unbalanced sister Hero tracks him to San Francisco, only to find him seemingly succumbing to the male-killing plague after losing his still-unused engagement ring to agents of the Setauket Ring. Plus, Yorick, Agent 355 and Dr. Mann ship out across the Pacific to Japan in pursuit of Yorick's stolen monkey Ampersand, whose innards may hold the key to mankind's future
Collects: Y: The Last Man #24-36.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 27, 2010
105 people are currently reading
1245 people want to read
About the author
Brian K. Vaughan
1,024听books13.9k听followersBrian K. Vaughan is the writer and co-creator of comic-book series including SAGA, PAPER GIRLS, Y THE LAST MAN, RUNAWAYS, and most recently, BARRIER, a digital comic with artist Marcos Martin about immigration, available from their pay-what-you-want site
BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.
BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 379 reviews
August 1, 2020
(A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: It鈥檚 about self-reproach, misbelief, and how emotional compulsion breaks wills and vows once the nomads habituate.
Notes: It鈥檚 about self-reproach, misbelief, and how emotional compulsion breaks wills and vows once the nomads habituate.
August 19, 2018
This was my favorite of the whole series I think. A lot of the questions I've been waiting to have answered finally received some explanation. We see a little bit of what's going on with Beth in the outback which was fun (and sort of bizarre).
Yorick's good natured, light hearted facade crumbles a bit which is to be expected and honestly gave his character a little more believability. 355's true feelings start to show a little bit, and she seems much more vulnerable in this book than she has in past books.
The artwork as always was impeccable. The setting of this book was different from past books because some it takes place in San Francisco, so there some more cityscapes instead of the North American wilderness seen in book two.
I've already got the next two on hold at the library so I'm excited to pick them up and finish this series out!
Yorick's good natured, light hearted facade crumbles a bit which is to be expected and honestly gave his character a little more believability. 355's true feelings start to show a little bit, and she seems much more vulnerable in this book than she has in past books.
The artwork as always was impeccable. The setting of this book was different from past books because some it takes place in San Francisco, so there some more cityscapes instead of the North American wilderness seen in book two.
I've already got the next two on hold at the library so I'm excited to pick them up and finish this series out!
February 10, 2018
No matter how annoying Yorick gets, by showing his unwavering dedication to scouring the Earth for his true love, and by showing his general positive attitude toward what might end up being the end of the world, Brian K. Vaughan makes it almost impossible not to love the guy and root for him. Add the rest of the rich cast of supporting characters, and this series is turning out to be one that I'll really miss when I finish.
September 1, 2021
This brought it back up for me.
This has all the moments you'd love. Yorick meeting someone new and starting to catch feelings. A lot of sexual situations from all characters. Everyone is slowly losing their mind, feeling lost, wanting someone close to them, leading to some sexy moments and brutal kills. The ending is a bit of a shocker too and I can't wait to read volume 4.
I'm being vague but everything I say about the actual storyline would be spoilers at this point.
This has all the moments you'd love. Yorick meeting someone new and starting to catch feelings. A lot of sexual situations from all characters. Everyone is slowly losing their mind, feeling lost, wanting someone close to them, leading to some sexy moments and brutal kills. The ending is a bit of a shocker too and I can't wait to read volume 4.
I'm being vague but everything I say about the actual storyline would be spoilers at this point.
October 7, 2019
I'm plugging along with this series, and have shifted from the collected volumes to the deluxe editions. General rambling thoughts follow:
The intrigue continues and deepens, as the story has shifted from travelling across the post-apocalyptic US to now travelling across the globe. I'm giving Brian Vaughan big credit for his Big Picture plan for this series, and how the plot is taking the story setting to so many different locations and possibilities. I'm also tickled to find out .
I'm also giving the story credit for ironic self-awareness. Here you have a comic where, for once, nearly 100% of the characters are women -- but it's told through the eyes of a man, and the main female characters' purposes all revolve around this one man. Which is slightly annoying. But at least the characters actually point this out once in a while, which makes it slightly less annoying.
My one beef with the arcs in this volume was the way the women on Captain Kilina's boat were drawn. Wow, they exist for the gaze of male comic book readers, with their exaggerated female forms and skimpy clothing. I've never sailed or worked on a ship, so I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that these women were dressed much less practically than I would expect.
By this point, I'm having trouble keeping track of all the plot threads. The Amulet of Helene, from waaayy back in the early issues, got mentioned again, and I could barely remember why anyone might care about it. And I don't dare Wiki it for fear of spoilers about later developments.
Also, there is still a fair amount of violence that I could personally live without. ("I managed to go 32 years without anyone pointing a gun in my face," says Dr. Mann, "and now it's an everyday occurrence." Yep.) I was reading this before bed for a while, but kept finding myself so wired up that I couldn't sleep, and I suspect it's from all the blood. (Plus it is just hard to stop reading this; there's a cliffhanger every other page, it feels like.)
Overall, this is still a really interesting story, and I'm glad it was popular enough that it got to get to an ending, whatever that ending turns out to be. (Seriously, how DO you end this?)
So, on to Deluxe Edition #4!
The intrigue continues and deepens, as the story has shifted from travelling across the post-apocalyptic US to now travelling across the globe. I'm giving Brian Vaughan big credit for his Big Picture plan for this series, and how the plot is taking the story setting to so many different locations and possibilities. I'm also tickled to find out .
I'm also giving the story credit for ironic self-awareness. Here you have a comic where, for once, nearly 100% of the characters are women -- but it's told through the eyes of a man, and the main female characters' purposes all revolve around this one man. Which is slightly annoying. But at least the characters actually point this out once in a while, which makes it slightly less annoying.
My one beef with the arcs in this volume was the way the women on Captain Kilina's boat were drawn. Wow, they exist for the gaze of male comic book readers, with their exaggerated female forms and skimpy clothing. I've never sailed or worked on a ship, so I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that these women were dressed much less practically than I would expect.
By this point, I'm having trouble keeping track of all the plot threads. The Amulet of Helene, from waaayy back in the early issues, got mentioned again, and I could barely remember why anyone might care about it. And I don't dare Wiki it for fear of spoilers about later developments.
Also, there is still a fair amount of violence that I could personally live without. ("I managed to go 32 years without anyone pointing a gun in my face," says Dr. Mann, "and now it's an everyday occurrence." Yep.) I was reading this before bed for a while, but kept finding myself so wired up that I couldn't sleep, and I suspect it's from all the blood. (Plus it is just hard to stop reading this; there's a cliffhanger every other page, it feels like.)
Overall, this is still a really interesting story, and I'm glad it was popular enough that it got to get to an ending, whatever that ending turns out to be. (Seriously, how DO you end this?)
So, on to Deluxe Edition #4!
May 18, 2024
By Book Three Vaughan has got me deeply invested in this series.
"Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret."
"Why should I keep working on some piece of crap, navel-gazing first novel, when I could be out there doing something that actually helps people?"
"Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret."
"Why should I keep working on some piece of crap, navel-gazing first novel, when I could be out there doing something that actually helps people?"
February 14, 2025
And here comes part 3, the middle book in this 5 book journey, and it is the transition to the other half of the story, whereafter Dr. Mann's medical discoveries reach their max, the trio heads on to another journey, that is imposed upon them to head towards Japan, yet the progress of events takes them to Australia, where Beth is! and since the last chapter is all about Beth, it's not much of a guess that book four will be about their attempts at re-union.
This volume was a bit heavy on text bubbles, with so much being said by thee characters, would love to see more panels that speak for themselves...
MiM
This volume was a bit heavy on text bubbles, with so much being said by thee characters, would love to see more panels that speak for themselves...
MiM
October 6, 2016
YEAH so I really loved this one. The story was awesome and that ending! I don't have much to say about this series that I haven't already. I feel like it gets better with each book so we shall see if it keeps getting better. I want to continue this but also my bf and I are saving to go overseas so he won't be buying another one for a while :(
September 22, 2021
Tongues of Flame (#24-25). California! And though this is another short story that only features Yorick, Vaughan manages to make it feel entirely important and tense. Plus, there's some great character study for Yorick, growing out of the previous story, and a nice, harrowing flashback [4+/5].
Hero's Journey (#26). It's great putting together the pieces of Hero's story, and perhaps giving us a little empathy for the insane monster that we saw in the first two years of this book. The dead-person-in-her-head trope feels really overdone now, but was probably fresher fifteen years ago. [3/5].
Ring of Truth (#27-31). It's middle story of Y: The Last Man, and Vaughan makes full use of it. He delivers us to San Francisco, at last, but more importantly he directly addresses the questions of what caused the plague and how Yorick survived. We get two of the artifacts from issue #1 center stage, and we actually get some questions answered. There's also some great action and a surprising change of focus. Overall, a very fulfilling story (4+/5).
Girl on Girl (#32-35). We've reached the west coast, but the road trip continues right on into the Pacific! This is a good story. It gives us a look at the larger world and how it might have changed due to the loss of men and it gives us a glimpse of all-female militaries, which turn out to be just as scary as when men were around. Like the whole Y series, it's also got strong new characters and heart-breaking results. [4/5].
Boy Loses Girl (#36). I'd expected to hate a dreamtime story, but instead we get a great history of Beth and Yorick that gives her depth beyond just being a MacGuffin, and a pretty moving ending [5/5].
Hero's Journey (#26). It's great putting together the pieces of Hero's story, and perhaps giving us a little empathy for the insane monster that we saw in the first two years of this book. The dead-person-in-her-head trope feels really overdone now, but was probably fresher fifteen years ago. [3/5].
Ring of Truth (#27-31). It's middle story of Y: The Last Man, and Vaughan makes full use of it. He delivers us to San Francisco, at last, but more importantly he directly addresses the questions of what caused the plague and how Yorick survived. We get two of the artifacts from issue #1 center stage, and we actually get some questions answered. There's also some great action and a surprising change of focus. Overall, a very fulfilling story (4+/5).
Girl on Girl (#32-35). We've reached the west coast, but the road trip continues right on into the Pacific! This is a good story. It gives us a look at the larger world and how it might have changed due to the loss of men and it gives us a glimpse of all-female militaries, which turn out to be just as scary as when men were around. Like the whole Y series, it's also got strong new characters and heart-breaking results. [4/5].
Boy Loses Girl (#36). I'd expected to hate a dreamtime story, but instead we get a great history of Beth and Yorick that gives her depth beyond just being a MacGuffin, and a pretty moving ending [5/5].
May 22, 2019
Yorrick finds shelter in a church in California and gets it on with a blonde named Beth, who is not his fiancee, Beth, who is still stuck in the Outback in Australia. His sister, Hero, has found redemption (kind of), and is now on a quest to find her brother and ask for forgiveness for trying to kill him. In San Francisco, rogue agents of the Culper Ring have taken Yorrick鈥檚 ring, the Amulet of Helene, and shortly thereafter, Yorrick starts spitting up blood, which lends credence to his theory that the ring has supernatural properties that protected him from the plague that wiped out every other male in the world. So, 355 is on a mission to find the ring. A ninja wants Yorrick鈥檚 monkey, Ampersand, really badly. Our heroes sneak on board a freighter crossing the Pacific, only to find that it鈥檚 carrying a shit-ton of heroin, and the Australian Navy has sent a sub to destroy it. Oh, and 355 and Dr. Mann get it on, and Yorrick walks in on them. Awkward!
I don鈥檛 know why, but every time I write the plot synopsis of Brian K. Vaughan/Pia Guerra鈥檚 latest compilation of 鈥淵: the Last Man鈥� (this is Book Three), it ends up sounding ridiculous. But it鈥檚 so not. It鈥檚 great. I can鈥檛 get enough of this series. Seriously. It鈥檚 like a drug...
I don鈥檛 know why, but every time I write the plot synopsis of Brian K. Vaughan/Pia Guerra鈥檚 latest compilation of 鈥淵: the Last Man鈥� (this is Book Three), it ends up sounding ridiculous. But it鈥檚 so not. It鈥檚 great. I can鈥檛 get enough of this series. Seriously. It鈥檚 like a drug...
October 10, 2016
The story continues...!! I'm still enjoying the ride, and finally at the very end of this one, we've made a little progress in Yorrick's storyline. There are only two other books left that are out in bookstores, and I'm still very excited and very much looking forward to getting to them, but dreading reaching the end and having to continue issue by issue.
August 26, 2021
Ahhh another great entry. This one had a lot going on and I was digging it. There was this necklace or trinket that 355 had and was not going to relinquish it. They did some cool things with its backstory. Was it just a thing or was it magical? They did the same thing with Yoricks ring he bought for his girlfriend, Beth. Really had me going for a sec. We also maybe find out why Yorick survived all the men dying. However, right after that, one of our original crew gets kidnapped and the chase is on. This person is trying to take them to Japan. So off onto a boat we go! This book had all kinds of action, adventure and the return of Yoricks sister. We even finally get to check in on Yoricks GF Beth and see what she is up to. Looking forward to the next book.
March 24, 2018
Such a cool story and great character development. They always finish on great cliffhangers.
January 2, 2020
The volume just seemed to be firing on all cylinders as the story, art, and playful twists had me putting it in front of everything else I was reading. Disillusion sets in making for more narrative depth. Vaughan has a real gift for creating these fictional worlds you want to return to and explore (I'm not generally a huge fan of series and I'm definitely not the type of reader or viewer who enjoys reboots and sequel after sequel. There's a natural story arc and character development here without anything feeling forced or serving as mere setup.)
July 14, 2016
Not my favorite out of the 3 so far. That being said, I still enjoyed most of this. The pirate subplot was interesting to a point. I've found Yourick's romantic partners thus far where the story drags a bit for me. His quest started out being about Beth and developed from there and now that we're finally seeing what happened to her, I'm finding it hard to care.
I've been waiting for 355/Dr. Mann to happen, it finally did and it looks like it's ending just as quickly :( Or devolving into a love triangle possibly and that makes me sad. I hope they pull that back together in the next one.
Overall, I think the last 2 books were better but this series continues to be stronger than a lot of other series out there.
I've been waiting for 355/Dr. Mann to happen, it finally did and it looks like it's ending just as quickly :( Or devolving into a love triangle possibly and that makes me sad. I hope they pull that back together in the next one.
Overall, I think the last 2 books were better but this series continues to be stronger than a lot of other series out there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 21, 2015
Much better than volume 2. This one really shoots along and has a lot going on in it.
October 16, 2021
Overview review on the whole series here.
December 15, 2020
Next!
These remain fun and since I have the whole stack there's no reason not to keep going!
These remain fun and since I have the whole stack there's no reason not to keep going!
February 21, 2024
4.0 stars. Still thoroughly enjoying this sci-fi drama series!
February 10, 2022
The most visually stunning issues of the series. Yorick was way less annoying and the middle of the story was better paced. However, a lot of nonsense and "crazy woman" everywhere is pretty much Brian's only plot device.
April 8, 2019
It was okay. The more we go, the more repetitive and outlandish this seems to be. Still very entertaining though. The one major negative that irked me : there seems to be a subtle, unconscious homophobia from the characters that may be coming from the author. The reaction of the MC to 2 of the trio partaking in sapphic pleasures was just grating...
September 11, 2020
Essa est谩 sendo, sem d煤vidas, a melhor s茅rie de fic莽茫o que leio! Esse terceiro volume s贸 melhora o que j谩 era 贸timo. Um narrativa p贸s-apocal铆ptica inteligente e divertida, tensa e p茅 no ch茫o em diversa maneiras. Provocativa, instigante e com a dose certa de sensualidade.
January 28, 2024
4.5 stars
July 7, 2019
Continue the tale of Yorick, whose resolve to stay true begins to fall apart. Plus his monkey is stolen. What is the Last Man on Earth to do? Go to Sea. Loads of snappy dialogue and fun art.
December 17, 2011
This volume got the series back on track for me. I really appreciated the back story issues in this collection. And I liked the new characters introduced much better than ones we met in the last volume. Although I don't think I liked the reintroduction of Alter. Bringing back old villains often seems gimmicky to me.
The other thing that troubles me a little bit is the passage of time. I like that years are passing, but that seems to work better when you are reading the series in monthly installments. The jumps forward seem to come a little more sudden when reading each issue in quick succession. It is more jarring, but still a better choice than having the whole story take place in a shorter time span.
The other thing that troubles me a little bit is the passage of time. I like that years are passing, but that seems to work better when you are reading the series in monthly installments. The jumps forward seem to come a little more sudden when reading each issue in quick succession. It is more jarring, but still a better choice than having the whole story take place in a shorter time span.
February 6, 2017
Book 3 and still smitten as a kitten.
These women are not weaklings, and their strengths, which may have been hidden or overshadowed previously, are emerging rapidly. I'm still on the fence about who I can and cannot trust. I'd be a completely gullible fool in these times and probably would have been offed long ago for my jacket or a can of mandarin oranges.
May I also put in a(nother) plug for the amazing illustrations? I want my life to be illustrated like this. If it was, I'd just be putting away dishes and would look both hot and smart doing it.
5 STARS
May 27, 2015
We start to learn what happened to Beth, Yorrick's maybe-fiance, in the outback, we see more of Hero's history of what happened to her after the plague, and we learn why Yorrick & his monkey survived the plague. Still plenty of under-dressed, tight-clothes-wearing women. *eye-roll* Also, Yorrick is bizarrely upset about lesbianism. There are *only women left* Yorrick, and you've made it clear you don't want to play stud to humanity.
May 20, 2018
I'm glad I stuck around as this series just gets better and better. I was unsure of continuing after the first book (1 of 5), but glad I did. Book three is the best so far, and I can't wait to dive in to book four! The highlight of this volume: finding out why Yorick and his monkey friend, Ampersand survived the man-plague!
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
May 21, 2014
Some of my least favorite stuff from the series in here - the Australian navy stuff just strikes me as too implausible, and the magic ring going missing/botulism plotline is just silly. That being said, some great stuff here with Hero!
June 26, 2017
Yorick Brown is still on his trip with Dr. Mann & Agent 355 to search for the cause & cure for whatever killed off every male on Earth except for him and his helper monkey, Ampersand.
Although Yorick is still a smartass and given to moments of immaturity, I find him far less annoying than I did in the first book. It looks like the lessons learned in Book Two are sticking, and I am all for that.
I have never been particularly fond of post-apocalyptic stories. Nor have I ever held the belief that being the last man on Earth in a world of women would be particularly pleasant. So this title had two strikes against it in my eyes from the beginning. That is why I did not read it when it came out fifteen years ago.
But it has two things going for it which over-ride my qualms.
First is Brian K Vaughan. I have read some of his other work. I enjoyed Pride of Baghdad. I am currently reading Saga. And I adore his work on Paper Girls. BKV has shown that he can write compelling characters of any gender and that his plot developments and action sequences are well thought out.
Second is Pia Guerra. Her art in these books is superlative. Too many artists draw all women with the same faces. But Pia's characters are all different. All expressive. And they can convey as much with a wry smile as with a left hook.
Yorick is actually my least favorite part of these stories, and I am pretty sure that is by design. He has a good heart, and I like him more than I expected. But more than once I find myself thinking, "Yorick! Sit down. Shut up. And let the women handle this."
And that is the point, isn't it?
I love how realistically the political situation arose.
I love how women are complete characters with varying motivations & conflicts of interest (which sadly does not happen in much of pop culture.)
I love that the destruction of men did not erase prejudices.
I love that the story is so much bigger than one man saving the world. Is he even necessary? Can humanity be saved without him?
I'm not going to answer that. This was only Book Three. There are two more books to go. But as we move past the midpoint, we see how far we have come, and how much farther we have to go. And I am definitely along for the ride.
Although Yorick is still a smartass and given to moments of immaturity, I find him far less annoying than I did in the first book. It looks like the lessons learned in Book Two are sticking, and I am all for that.
I have never been particularly fond of post-apocalyptic stories. Nor have I ever held the belief that being the last man on Earth in a world of women would be particularly pleasant. So this title had two strikes against it in my eyes from the beginning. That is why I did not read it when it came out fifteen years ago.
But it has two things going for it which over-ride my qualms.
First is Brian K Vaughan. I have read some of his other work. I enjoyed Pride of Baghdad. I am currently reading Saga. And I adore his work on Paper Girls. BKV has shown that he can write compelling characters of any gender and that his plot developments and action sequences are well thought out.
Second is Pia Guerra. Her art in these books is superlative. Too many artists draw all women with the same faces. But Pia's characters are all different. All expressive. And they can convey as much with a wry smile as with a left hook.
Yorick is actually my least favorite part of these stories, and I am pretty sure that is by design. He has a good heart, and I like him more than I expected. But more than once I find myself thinking, "Yorick! Sit down. Shut up. And let the women handle this."
And that is the point, isn't it?
I love how realistically the political situation arose.
I love how women are complete characters with varying motivations & conflicts of interest (which sadly does not happen in much of pop culture.)
I love that the destruction of men did not erase prejudices.
I love that the story is so much bigger than one man saving the world. Is he even necessary? Can humanity be saved without him?
I'm not going to answer that. This was only Book Three. There are two more books to go. But as we move past the midpoint, we see how far we have come, and how much farther we have to go. And I am definitely along for the ride.
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