Much like Judd Winick and Warren Ellis, who's works we've looked at previously, Brian K. Vaughn is a name much in vogue these days. With notable runs on comics like Runaways and Batman, original series Ex Machina and Pride of Baghdad, and his work on the much anticipated fourth season of LOST, Vaughn has been on a rampage of late.

While he has been writing in the comics industry since 1997, it wasn't until 2002 that he really began to get noticed. It was then that his new comic for Vertigo sold out its entire print run for the first two issues and became a comics sensation, thrilling fans and critics alike. So what's the big whoop? Sit back my friend, and I will tell you a tale as old as the oldest trashy pulp magazine. A tale about the last man on Earth, trapped in a world of women: Y: The Last Man.

The series opens in New York City, on July 17, 2002, with every male mammal on Earth dying at the exact same moment. Corpses litter the street, planes fall from the sky, infrastructure all over the planet goes down. Chaos is rampant. Among this madness, there are two male survivors: a New York City street magician named Yorick Brown (gotta love that happy little Y-chromosome reference there, one of the many many allusions to literature, history, and pop culture that are woven throughout the series), and his pet monkey Ampersand.

Yorick and his pal escape from New York, and soon team up with Agent 355 of the Culper Ring (another allusion, check Wikipedia) and Dr. Allison Mann, the world's foremost geneticist (since all the other prominent geneticists were, you know, guys), in order to figure out why all the men died and Yorick and Ampersand survived; a mission which includes crossing the entire United States, fighting escaped convicts, street gangs, militias, the Israeli Defense Force, and the hordes of desperate women trying to make sense of a world gone sideways; all while trying to keep Yorick's existence a secret.


Told in 'real time' (the timeline in the series moves in sync with the release of the original issues, taking place over a period of about 5 years), we see (wo)mankind slowly recover and adapt. The series takes a very serious look at the world in the style of classic SF. While the series is supposed to be about the last man on Earth, the real story is about the women. Vaughn dialogs heavily about issues of gender and gender politics, sexuality, and the issues that women have faced throughout history. He works to deconstruct gender stereotypes on both sides of the fence, and presents a host of strong female characters.

Through the death of the male gender, issues regarding the implicit stratification and sexism in modern society is addressed. Because of the overwhelmingly male populations in positions like government, or among airline pilots, the die-off is much, much worse than it could have been. Later, as society begins to recover and adapt to the new world order, other questions are raised including issues of religion and warfare. Vaughn tries to take an even hand, often posing counter and counter-counter points through his character's attitudes and actions.

The series is primarily penciled by co-creator Pia Guerra, and inked by Jose Marzan Jr. The line work is very strong, and the characters look and move like real people, emphasizing the seriousness of story and giving a lot of weight to the violence that the characters experience.


Y: The Last Man is one of the deepest comics around, running circles around many of the 'art house' indy comics that try to wax philosophical about society and gender. It's also a rocking good time, featuring plenty of action and a decent volume of T&A (thankfully not gratuitous). Issues 1 through 48 are available now as 9 trade paperbacks, and the last 12 issues will be collected in volume 10 soon after the 60th and final issue is released in February 2008.