Y: The Last Man: The Deluxe Edition, Book 5 (2008)

jesus christ they really rip the rug right out from under you at the end. ( )

The series tried my patience and is dated, but the conclusion made the journey worth it. ( )

Great story. Characters I will miss as the story ends. ( )

A powerful ending to an amazing series.
I can't say I saw it all coming, or that I'm totally happy with everything that happened, but it was still a strong ending. ( )

Having read all five deluxe volumes within ten days, I'm reviewing this as a complete graphic novel. The plot is simple: an unknown cause killed all the males of Earth at the same moment, except for Yorrick and the capuchin monkey he's training as a service animal, named Ampersand. While the story is told mostly from Yorrick's pov, we also get the perspective of others, female characters with a reason to be interested in Yorrick, many of whom are in a position of power, including his mother, a cabinet member of the US government. All Yorrick wants is to reunite with his girlfriend who has been studying archeology in Australia. An immature young man at the story's start, Yorrick matures over the course of the story while retaining his irritating charm.

Reading this soon after reading Lauren Beukes' Afterland, which deals with the slow deaths of most males due to an unknown virus, I can't help comparing the two. Afterland is focused on a mother trying to protect her adolescent son by disguising him as a girl, is a small story in the midst of a devastating pandemic, that of a mother protecting her child from outside forces and a coming-of-age story for that child. It was good, but left me wanting more. In Y: The Last Man, Vaughan gives us more. The story is simple at its heart, yet complex in the telling, with a global scope that includes Australian pirate ships, Japanese scientists, Israeli spies, and a whole lot more. And unlike Afterland, we get answers regarding what killed the males and why.

And then there's the lovely art by Pia Guerra.

Y: The Last Man is a thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking read. ( )