She-Geeks discussion

:) Love this book. Will start re-reading asap.

I read the whole series in Italian... I'd re-read it anytime! I think it's a great story and good art! :D

I wanted an excuse to re-read this series ;)

Same here, Rose! It's been years since I read it. One of the first graphic novels that got me really into comics.

I loved this! Great premise, nice artwork, good writing and believable characters! I will most assuredly continue the series! Great suggestion!

I actually picked up the deluxe edition from my library which contains issues 1-10 a few weeks ago and was happy to see it won the vote this month. I just finished reading it today, though I'll keep my comments to the first five issues.

Overall I liked it, there's definitely a good mystery surrounding why this happened and why Yorick and Ampersand are alive. It did bother me how much society failed without men. Granted it does show how prevalent the glass ceiling is in different facets of society, but I would prefer to think that we wouldn't be so bad off.

Also I just did not understand the point of view of the amazons given that they didn't know that there were any males till issue 4. What were they fighting for beforehand? Just any remnants of patriarcy?

I'll continue reading the series, especially since I got my library to order the rest of the deluxe editions :) I do hope future issues will show better parts of society and more information of what happened in that 2 month period between issue 1 and 2.

I love the story! I'm already hunting for the next in the series...I must know what happens!

Natalie - having read the whole series myself already I'll hold off on any spoilers, but I will say keep reading and your questions will be answered.

I think you bring up an interesting point about how society denigrated. As I was reading the series I read this more as "half the population is gone" as opposed to "all the men are gone". BKV, in my opinion, writes this in such a way as to suggest that if all the women were lost, almost the same result would occur (with some variation obviously).

I realize that losing half the world's population would adversely affect society, but it seemed like it was specifically since the men were gone it was so bad, for example no planes since all pilots were men, a disorganized government since all the top leaders were men, etc. I was just hope that left alone we would not be so bad off.

One interesting thing I forgot to mention earlier. I didn't see any children. Obviously no boys would be alive, but there should be female children and I don't remember seeing any in the first book. Either way, I do look foward to continuing the series. Book 2 is on hold and I am not so patiently waiting till it's available...

Natalie wrote: " for example no planes since all pilots were men, a disorganized government since all the top leaders were men, etc. I was just hope that left alone we would not be so bad off."

Interesting that you read it that way - I took a different meaning from all of that.

It's pretty well established that men are in the top positions of government, science, engineering, etc. I read that more as a scathing remark about how perhaps those fields aren't as open to women, and therefore a detriment to our society, rather than "men can only do these jobs, so if we loose them, we're hooped and can't pick up the pieces". That was my interpretation of what BKV was saying.

Take commercial airline pilots - I did a quick google search and the number in the US seems to be between 4-6% (depending on what you read) of pilots are women. Let's say there's 100,000 of these commercial pilots in the US at any given time. That leaves approximately 5000 pilots left who are women after all the men are gone (if we go with the median of 5%). These women, which I'm assuming include co-pilots, have licenses for lots of different aircraft - not everybody can fly a 747. That leaves 5000 people who are capable of flying some kind of commercial plane or helicopter spread out all across the country. You then factor in how most of the people who build/take care of airplanes are gone, and those planes would deteriorate pretty quickly, leaving fewer planes for those female pilots to fly around. The number just keeps dropping and dropping, not because it's women, but because there just isn't the force required to keep something like commercial aviation afloat. At least, not in the way we have it today, and not for very long in any capacity I'd imagine.

Travel becoming harder is also a big part of any post-apocalyptic type story, whether or not there are both men and women, so there's that aspect as well. Same with denigration of government, telecommunications, law enforcement, and the forming of gangs, etc.

Anybody have any different thoughts/interpretations of this aspect of the book? It never even occurred to me to read into it differently than I had, so I'm really interested to see what other people thought too.

As a side note: I love that we're having a sociological conversation that was initiated by a comic book. Take that people who think comics are just books written for people who don't want to really read! ;)

Kelly wrote: "I think you bring up an interesting point about how society denigrated. As I was reading the series I read this more as "half the population is gone" as opposed to "all the men are gone"

This is how I took it also. Losing half the population, whether it's all men or all women would be absolutely devastating, just in the sheer amount of jobs and services those people performed. I think society would absolutely fall apart at first. Kelly, that info on pilots is fascinating and kind of scary.

Now if I'm taking a deliberately feminist look at it, that first page does makes me cringe. The cop shoots herself because all the men have died? Great. Yes, I realize her husband and her partner both died, but did she have to off herself on the first damn page?

Strangely, there was one scene in Last Man in particular that made the idea of losing all the men tangible for me. It's when Yorick stops at the Washington Monument (which appropriately is now a monument to all the dead men,*chuckle*) and he talks to a woman about all the male musicians that are gone.
Woman: Don't get me wrong, I don't miss anyone like I miss my pals, but it suddenly hit me today...The Rolling Stones are dead.
Yorick: In one day we lost...
W: Dylan
Y: Bowie
W: The rest of the Beatles
Y: All of the Eels
W: The who?
Y: Them too.
W: U2
Y: Radiohead
W: Tom Petty (noooo)
Y: Tom Waits
W: Neil Young
Y: The Motherfuckin' D
W: Everyone!

This was a re-read for me. I was quickly reminded why I LOVED Yorick so much. He's a goofy, Houdini-obsessed, adorable man-child. (BKV's sense of humor is just great.) 355 is so butch at the beginning! Ampersand is a real shit pet, but man...Oh, I'm thinking about the last book now. If you guys make it to the last book it's a stunner in so many ways. I cry every time I read it.

Last thought, I felt bad for Hero straight off the bat when she loses her man. In those few panels with her and the firefighter, Joe, I got a feel for their relationship. They seemed very sweet together. I didn't particularly like Hero throughout the book, but I liked her then, partly because of this too: (said to her mother over the phone) "Well, if the professor wanted kids who love him, he shouldn't have given us such stupid names...Yes, I'm kidding."

(view spoiler)[ Oh, and I still hate Beth. (hide spoiler)]

Anna (Bananas!) wrote: "Now if I'm taking a deliberately feminist look at it, that first page does makes me cringe. The cop shoots herself because all the men have died? Great. Yes, I realize her husband and her partner both died, but did she have to off herself on the first damn page?"

Yes, that actually bugged me quite a bit too - it seems a little over dramatic, doesn't it?

Very.

Mia wrote: "I love the story! I'm already hunting for the next in the series...I must know what happens!"

I feel the same! Immediate investment in the story and characters (:

Kelly wrote: "Anna (Bananas!) wrote: "Now if I'm taking a deliberately feminist look at it, that first page does makes me cringe. The cop shoots herself because all the men have died? Great. Yes, I realize her ..."

Agreed!

Kelly wrote: "Natalie wrote: " for example no planes since all pilots were men, a disorganized government since all the top leaders were men, etc. I was just hope that left alone we would not be so bad off."

In..."

I think it's too schway that a deep, socialogical discussion has come from this read also! That's what you hope for when joining a group! Girls rock! She-Geeks rule! (so much for depth, hunh?!?!?)

Cyndi wrote: "Kelly wrote: "Natalie wrote: " for example no planes since all pilots were men, a disorganized government since all the top leaders were men, etc. I was just hope that left alone we would not be so bad off."

In..."

I think it's too schway that a deep, socialogical discussion has come from this read also! That's what you hope for when joining a group! Girls rock! She-Geeks rule! (so much for depth, hunh?!?!?) "

Agree with you both!
I've never heard 'schway' before. Where are you from, just curious?

I use schway because of Batman Beyond, I am from Virginia :)

What does it mean? I thought maybe it was a local saying or word. :)

They use it in BB as triple awesome, cool! I like the way it sounds so I use it :)

Thx Cyndi! My curious mind is satisfied.

So, what does everyone think about:
Yorick
Hero
355
Dr. Mann
Beth
And anyone else you care to talk about


For those that read it for the first time what do you think about the story thus far?
For re-readers, did you catch anything new this time? Or do you have a different perspective on it?

Interesting points. I also thought the disintegration of society was an immediate effect of not only half the working population being gone, but a population that's also more trained and prepared than the other half in an event of a "gendercide." The last page of the first issue with the statistics and percentages of men working in crucial fields is an eye opener. Roughly 85% of all government representatives in the world are men, and their successors are most likely a majority of men too. In the comic, the line of succession was narrowed all the way down to the Secretary of Agriculture. Imagine that, the person in charge of grasslands and what you eat is now the final yeasayer to all our national problems. Of course, this isn't saying that women are incapable of taking care of themselves and the world. It's saying that qualified women are hard to come by especially considering the still relevant hardships and prejudice that we are faced with (i.e. equal pay, accessibility to birth control, domestic violence, and so on). Yes, you can train women but who's going to teach them? The remaining 1-5% of all pilots, truck drivers, mechanics, and electricians in the world? That will take time, and no doubt, things get way worse before they can get better. Furthermore, we enter Y: The Last Man when shit is just hitting fan and the world is at its worst.

The part that stood out to me where the portrayal of women might have been overly dramatic is when the Republicans ambushed the White House with shotguns. Really? You guys couldn't come to a more peaceful agreement that didn't involve two dead bodies? Lol. Even so, can't say I don't appreciate a point-and-shoot standoff between angry women in film or literature =]

Kay Lotus wrote: "The part that stood out to me where the portrayal of women might have been overly dramatic is when the Republicans ambushed the White House with shotguns. Really?"

Interesting point - I never thought of it that way. I think there's been quite a bit of history and fighting between the Wives and the actual people elected, which BKV alludes to but doesn't show us. I think this was just the boiling point.

I would have liked to actually see that explored a bit, because honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if something like that did happen. There's a whole lot of people in this world (and I'm not just talking about dictatorships, people right here in North America) that would love to see succession more than elections.

Also, I'm really cynical ;).

Kay Lotus wrote: "the statistics and percentages of men working in crucial fields is an eye opener."

On the bright side, 92% of all violent felons kicked it as well.

I'm curious how much this part has changed in the last ten years. Anyone know? I have a female friend in the Navy and I she's been on a sub but not in combat. - "None of the United States' nearly 200,000 female troups have ever participated in ground combat. Australia, Norway, and Sweden are the only countries that have women serving on board submarines."

The Republicans did seem laughably antagonistic. It was a bit overboard and makes me think BKV must be a Democrat. :)

Kelly, do you mean...all the nut jobs wanting their states to secede from the US right now? I think it's absolutely absurd and insulting to the president.

Anna (Bananas!) wrote: "Kelly, do you mean...all the nut jobs wanting their states to secede from the US right now? I think it's absolutely absurd and insulting to the president. "

I meant more of a monarchistic line of succession for picking politicians, but yes, all the whackos wanting to secede because of your guys' election is just as equally ridiculous.

When Harper was voted back in up here I said I was going to move to my own little island and secede from Canada, but I wasn't actually being serious. I just really, really hate Harper. Stupid jerk.

He's one of the people I'm talking about by the way when I think he'd much rather see a line of succession rather than actual elections. Harper is a big fan of trying to strip away anybody's rights (internet, privacy, etc.).

Sorry, I will not get off on a political tangent!

Kelly, he sounds very unpleasant.

Sorry I dropped out of the conversation, I got pretty busy for a while. I did keep up with the comments. Unfortunately I did have to return the book to the library so I am going on memory.

I also did not like the republican scene. Seemed way too over the top. Though on the point of succession it has happened in the US before. In a 2000 senate election Mel Carnahan ran for the Missouri seat and died a few weeks before the election. His name couldn't be removed from the ballot at that point and his wife automatically became the new candiate. He ended up winning and the govener appointed her in his place.

Granted she wouldn't have served if not for the govener, but it's still a fun story. I do look forward to seeing how the story and government develops over the rest of the series. Volume two is on hold for me at the library, but I can't get back there till next Tuesday :P

Natalie wrote: "His name couldn't be removed from the ballot at that point and his wife automatically became the new candiate. He ended up winning and the govener appointed her in his place."

That is so bizarre. Thanks for sharing. :)

Natalie wrote: "Though on the point of succession it has happened in the US before. In a 2000 senate election Mel Carnahan ran for the Missouri seat and died a few weeks before the election(...)"

Holy hell, when I read the beginning of that sentence I assumed it was 100 years ago. Kinda scary that it was only 12.

FYI: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/01/10...

On a side note I'm still waiting on the third deluxe from the library. They updated their system last month and I lost a few holds.

Natalie wrote: "FYI: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2013/01/10...

On a side note I'm still waiting on the third deluxe from the library. They updated their system last month and I..."

You know - I just do not know how they're going to cram that much into a 1.5-2hr movie.

Then again... how do they ever?

i hated the whole thing unequivocally. but that's just me.

Fraggle wrote: "i hated the whole thing unequivocally. but that's just me."

Care to elaborate as to why?