Y: The Last Man Vol. 5: Ring of Truth (2005)

I picked up this graphic novel in the middle of the series. It has an interesting premise: an apocalyptic virus has killed all beings with Y chromosome except for a nerdy magician named Yorick Brown and his pet monkey Ampersand. Of course I didn't get everything that was happening but it seemed there were various factions of the survivors: Amazons, secret agents, ninjas and a doctor looking for a cure to the virus. Yorick's deranged sister Hero is hunting him too. I liked the humour and the characters were interesting. I will definitely try to read some more of this series. ( )

More fun with monkey poop! Great dialogue, lots of action and some revelations (at last).

Good stuff.

Yorick, Dr. Mann, and Agent 355 (not to mention Ampersand) have finally made it to California, which surprisingly has managed to mostly avoid the chaos taking over the rest of the US. Dr. Mann is hard at work attempting to figure out why Yorick and Ampersand have survived for so long. Meanwhile, the crazed assassins who broke off of 355's Culper Ring are in hot pursuit of the whole bunch.

I'm pleased to say that this entry in the series returned to the former glory of volume 3 and avoided the oddness of volume 4. The art continues to be good, the storyline moves right along, Yorick is less annoying, plus sex! Definitely a worthwhile entry in the series.

Check out my full review: http://wp.me/pp7vL-I9 (Link will be live on February 2, 2012). ( )

Summary: In the first part of the story, Yorrick deals with sin, sex, and survival with a girl in a church. Once the Trio has finally made it to San Francisco, Dr. Mann thinks that she might finally be able to understand why Yorrick is the only man to survive the plague... but unfortunately he and 355 have been set upon by renegade Culper Ring agents who are after something else entirely.

Review: Good stuff; this is the end of the first half of the series, so it makes sense that we finally start getting a few answers and that a few loose ends get satisfactorily tied up. Of course, this volume also brought up a bunch more questions, and gave plenty of hints about where the story is going to go from here. What else can I say... the plotting's tight, the writing's good, the worldbuilding's fantastic, the art ranges from very good to totally gorgeous, and the series as a whole is moving along nicely while still maintaining a few tricks up its sleeve. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Read it! (Well, after you've read the first four, but still.) ( )

Hero returns and is a little bit psychotic, Dr. Mann potentially finds the answer to what saved Yorrick and Amperstand, and Agent 355 beats down some former enemies that believe a necklace leaving its homeland caused the mass death of the males. And of course there's the ninja assassin trying to steal the monkey on behalf of a different researcher that just might be Dr. Mann's mother.

The story picked up once again and raced forward. All the characters became even more viable and vivid. I'm glad the ninja came back into the story and I hope to see her again. She was a more interesting, if indifferent, adversary than the other "ring", all the crazy "Amazons" and the Israeli militants that have been attacking them through the other volumes.

Yorrick lost his magic ring and immediately came down with... a case of botulism. Perfect fake out done very well. The artwork was gorgeous as always and I'm looking forward to continuing the series. ( )