I Read Comic Books discussion

What did you think of Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1: Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and co? Do you think you'll continue reading the series? What are your thoughts on pet monkeys?

WARNING: Spoilers for Volume 1 of Y: The Last Man!

Whoa! What a nice surprise—due to the amount of comics/books I have to catch up on in general—I'm often unable to read along with this group. But, I have read this entire series and am a huge fan. I love that although Yorick is the main character, as he is the last man on earth (or something like that, wink wink), we get to see such a huge variety of female characters. The entire series is a great ride.

Per your last question: Although I do not condone *wild* animals as pets (that haven't been domesticated for 100's of years—I'm talking about cats and dogs) in the real world, Ampersand is a great addition and adds to the plot in later issues. Luckily for us, Yorick cares a lot about Ampersand, so we rarely see the monkey in extremely precarious positions (outside of the situations they come across from living in a dystopia).

(Feel free to use my comment/name on the podcast.)

Pet monkeys are a symbolic gesture, because in Y, the humanity will go extinct due to the lack of the Y chromosome and other cousin-ish species will evolve. :P

I have read the whole series back when it was finished and it is an excellent reading, but it has a "longueur" after the middle. Don't worry, it gets back to its feet and finishes tremendously!

I still remember how much I've cried in the ending... And I've cried with only a handful comics in my life. e.g. I Kill Giants...

My first memory of this book was during freshman year of college when I had just discovered the joys of torrenting and was waiting hours and hours at a coffeeshop for the series to download. (Don't worry, I'm not a huge piece of shit and have since bought the series haha)

I had been looking for an excuse to read this (I never even ended up reading my pirated copy - ugh!) so I'm glad it was chosen for the BotM! I really enjoyed it and am currently in Vol. 3 - I can't seem to stop reading it! I love Ampersand especially - who can't get behind an adorable, mischievous monkey?! I also really like 355 and am excited to see more of her as the series goes on.

There is definitely a feeling of tension all the way through the book that never lets you feel like you're in a *safe* part of it - Amazons could be around any corner!

I will say that Yorick is kind of annoying though - constantly just barging in places like "oh yeah, well IM THE LAST MAN ON EARTH" when he's supposed to be keeping a low profile. I get that if he doesn't do that, its kind of hard for people to find out about him and be hot on his trail, but its still annoying.

Also, he is so delusional re: the the Beth situation. I thought she was his sister up until he started waxing poetic about marrying her, even though she pretty clearly wasn't into the idea at all. No one wants to marry an unemployed magician. Sorry, Yorick.

Erin wrote: "I will say that Yorick is kind of annoying though - constantly just barging in places like "oh yeah, well IM THE LAST MAN ON EARTH" when he's supposed to be keeping a low profile."

OMG SAME.

I have never read the series before, though I have heard that it's a favorite for a lot of people, and this weekend I started it and I liked the first volume enough to read the second volume and most of the third.

I'm going to re-read the first volume before I share too many thoughts, but I can say I enjoyed it as an introduction to this world and it set up some interesting characters and situations, so I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes. The art is great and Agent 355 is super fantastic. I feel like she and Vita (from Crowded, Vol. 1 ) should have a spin-off where they hang out in a dive bar and try to outdrink each other and see who can tell the craziest story about what they're dealing with.

(ok to air)

I love this series and I'm so glad to see it on here as a recommended read. If you're feeling on the fence about the series as a whole after just this first arc keep reading, it's sooooo worth it.

I really enjoyed this book. I remeber when i first read it, i could not put it down. I read the whole series in about 10 days lol.
Very nice to revisit. BKV does an amazing job setting up this world and a premise without pulling any punches. Pia Gerra's art is beutiful but also haunting when needed.

Also if you have the time check out all the beautiful covers.
I encourage people to continue reading this series.

I admit that I haven't finished reading Woman World** by Aminder Dhaliwal, and while it's not the *same* thing by any means, there are similarities in terms of the world without men kind of concepts. Has anyone read this book? what are your thoughts on the ways Y the Last Man tackles this future vs Woman World? What is it about this story that makes it compelling enough to be tackled in such a variety of mediums?

**though ideally I'll finish it tonight/tomorrow since I bought it and brought it home with me ;)

For those who enjoy BKV's work, you might want to check out this interview if you haven't already! there are some great moments in this conversation. I especially love this thought regarding interpretations of Y the Last Man and whether they are correct or not:
"Yes, I love "Y: The Last Man" and how it has influenced so many people. But no, I will not read your paper if you want me to. I really am of the camp that believes a reader's interpretation is much more important than my intent. Once it's out of my hands, it's not my place to tell you if you interpreted my work incorrectly. It belongs to you now. So make of it what you will, and I'm going to hide in my basement and write some more stuff."

https://www.salon.com/2019/01/21/comi...

Oops, I blew through this whole series in a week - couldn't stop!

This book will always be a favorite of mine. I had a long, long break from reading comics and the trade for volume 1 is one of the books that rekindled my love for comics. It’s an original idea, which can be very hard to find, and it’s funny but not over-the-top to the point it causes eye-rolling. The fact that this story has an ending and doesn’t last into infinity is also very refreshing. The story only gets better as it goes on. This was also my first (and to this point only) Brian K. Vaughn book and I definitely plan to get into more of his stuff. 5/5 stars for me!

I had been in a rut with reading comics for a while. That lasted until I read the first volume of Saga, Vol. 1. I've been meaning to read this series since I found Vaughan's work. I was impressed with this first volume. It didn't catch me as quickly as Saga did, but eventually it did. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next volume and the whole thing. The story is interesting and the plethora of female characters are complex, even though you don't see a lot of it yet as it is more of a setup volume.

I loved reading this book, in fact it was a reread, as i originally read it when it was first released as a collected edition, and it was as good as I'd remembered it.

I've already got vol.2 which i read before also, and i got volume 3 in a sale recently. I always wanted to read the whole series, but it coincided with a time when it was hard for me to get comics, so I'm really looking forward to doing so now .

It looks like we're finally getting Y: the Last Man on TV.

https://nerdist.com/article/y-the-las...

Chad wrote: "It looks like we're finally getting Y: the Last Man on TV.

https://nerdist.com/article/y-the-las..."
Man, I'll believe it when it ACTUALLY COMES OUT lol