This month we honour Y: The Last Man’s final issue
By Miles Baker and Owen K. Craig
(Note: There will be spoilers after the big bold text)
Miles’ Book of the Month
Y: The Last Man #60
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Penciled by Pia Guerra
Inked by José Marzan Jr.
Vertigo, 2008
This would have been a very hard month to pick a “Book of the Month” if it wasn’t for this issue, since there were some fantastic comics out this month to choose from (Captain America, Astonishing X-Men, The Spirit). But then I read this comic and it almost made me cry. Thinking about scenes in this comic still make my eyes water — it’s so beautiful. In my best of I talked a bit about my love for this series and how it’s been wrapping up. Well, I can just keep going with that sentiment. This has been a tough review to write because my fingers don’t know when to stop. I want to shake all of you and scream, “wasn’t this so good? Wasn’t this the best issue of comics ever?”
SPOILERS FOLLOW. SO STOP IF YOU’VE NOT YET READ IT. THEN RUN OUT AND BUY IT. UNLESS YOU’RE WAITING FOR THE TRADE, IN WHICH CASE I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU, AS THE WAIT MUST BE UNBEARABLE.
The device to set this story 60 years in the future is not a new one. I’ve seen that before; we’ve all seen that before. But do you know why? Because it’s a good device. The same goes for Harry Potter too — when you follow characters in a serial for years, you want to know how their entire life goes. You can leave blanks, you don’t need them on their deathbed, but you need to see the legacy play out. And, boy did it ever here. I’m glad things weren’t wrapped in a bow for anyone, that would have been too easy, but the Y team gives us what we need: what happens to all-important characters like the Beths and Hero and Dr. Mann. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this is the creative team’s best work. The script is tight, gripping, melancholy, and hopeful. The art is better than it has ever been. Seriously, each panel is wonderfully composed; the characters’ expressions are spot on, and everyone ages so realistically. I would say that Guerra’s art has never been better than on this issue. In all, the best issue of Y: The Last Man is Y: The Last Issue.
And so you know, the part that made me cry was when Ampersand died. The reason is indicative of what I like in this series: the details and the reveals. I like the small things, like old Yorick begging Amp to eat the grape, and the reveal that he’s going to 355’s grave and that he’s wearing the scarf she knit him. I can’t believe the expression in Ampersand’s eyes as Yorick tells him he knows. I can’t believe how much I felt for that monkey, even though he really was a shit pet.
Owen’s Book of the Month
Y: The Last Man #60
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Penciled by Pia Guerra
Inked by José Marzan Jr.
Vertigo, 2008
While I admit that agreeing with Miles again (see November’s Book of the Month column) is a little jarring, in this case I’m not surprised. Even though he’s more Marvel-leaning and I’m more DC-leaning, we are both huge Brian K. Vaughan fans. So when one of our favourite writers turns in some work that is among the best in his career, it’s a cinch for the spot of book of the month. (Hell, I know it’s only February but this is easily in competition for book of the year.)
The issue itself serves not so much as an ending to the story plot-wise (we already got that last issue with the elimination of the primary antagonist); this is more of a thematic ending. Taking the form of an epilogue, the final issue of Y: The Last Man focuses on where the main characters and their descendants are 60 years later. And what a payoff it is! Seeing Yorick wrinkled and grey-haired, and barely clinging to his sanity, is heart-breaking, moving, and above all else, thought-provoking. We’re forced to wonder how that lines up with what came before. How would Yorick have dealt with losing his one true love? What happened in the 60 year gap that took place? We’re offered glimpses into that space, but that’s all they are: glimpses. For the most part, things are kept ambiguous.
I’ve spoken mostly of the writing so far, and that does tend to be my focus when I review. I’m more into writing than I am into art, and as such, I tend to follow writers more than I follow artists. That said, whatever Pia Guerra is doing next, I am there. Her work over the course of this series has been remarkable. Her characters in this book are so expressive, so detailed, and so genuinely real that the series would not have been the same without her. The story is Yorick’s journey from boy to man, and she drew that journey beautifully. The best teams are the ones where writer and artist work together, trusting each other. This is a case of each one building on the other’s strengths.
I read the book as soon as I got home Wednesday, and I’m writing this review on Friday. I have been thinking about this issue steadily since I read it. I keep discovering new facets to it, new thematic layers. This is a wonderful end to a spectacular story. I wouldn’t have it end any other way.
I ADMIT IT. I’m a TRADEWAITER!
Then this must be TORTURE for you.
Just seeing the cover is driving me crazy!