It's one of the charms of the Y: The Last Man series that the sillier the storyline gets, the more entertaining the entire package is. This fourth installment features a silly S&M scenario, an all-female Arizona militia, and all kinds of plot thread unraveling and back story explication for the various lead characters. The dialogue remains silly, the broad strokes of the plot remain unbelievable and unexplained, and the art remains subpar (although improving considerably with the arrival of penciller Goran Parlov). But you know, it doesn't matter - Brian Vaughan has the writing chops to pull it off. So I'll keep reading! ( )

Yorrick, 355 and Dr. Mann continue their trek to San Francisco with notable stops in Colorado and Arizona. More time is spent on Yorrick's state of mind in this graphic collecting issues 18-23 of the series. Whether it's looking to the past with the help of another Culper Angent, understanding the grim realities of his current situation or what the future might really hold for him, one sees hints that Yorrick may be prepared to come to grips with his place in the world.

The story itself doesn't move forward much in these volumes, but the additional character development more than makes up for it. As always, Vaughan's makeup of the post-plague world in which many competing solutions exist grows more complex with each volume. ( )

Yorick, the central character, as more hang ups than you can shake a stick at. This is made bearable only because the other characters mock him for it.

The central feature of this volume is Yorick's state of mind as his behaviour since the plague is examined under trying circumstances. ( )

This is a more psychologically ruminative installment in the series. It still remains Good Stuff(tm), and I need to get the next book ASAP. ( )

The complete lack of information and accountability about the Culper Ring comes back to haunt Yorick here. Agent 355 thinks Yorick's mental state is not what it could be, so she sends him to Agent 711, for a bit of programming or reprogramming, depending on how you look at it. There is less of the yelling and more of the drugs and sex in her methodology.

http://graphicsf.blogspot.com/2006/11... ( )