Y: The Last Man Vol. 05: Ring of Truth

Two years, a trip from the east coast to the west coast, and multiple murders later, Yorick finally gets laid.

I know this doesn't seem like much of a milestone, but come on. It's been two years and he's the only man alive in a whole world full of horny women and it's THIS GUY who's being faithful to someone he was proposing to over the phone when everyone started dying who is left to repopulate the planet? She's on the other side of the world and it took him a month to get out of NYC!

Sometimes you just have to say no to love and start repopulating the planet, dude.

Other than that, this was a pretty exciting volume with a few surprises and a lot more bloody action as the nuts come out to play. :) Oh, and we think we actually know what show more caused the gendercide. :) show less

While the first four installments of this series were SOLID, and did a wonderful job with story and world-building, unfortunately, in this installment, the story starts to unravel somewhat. In subtle ways - I dud not notice it at first. There are plenty of solid moments in here, but the overall story itself starts to suffer as several twists are inserted in here that would eventually set up for story arcs within later volumes. 'Ring of Truth' is an especially ironic title for this volume, and you will see why when you read it.

Yorick, Agent 355 and Dr. Mann have finally reached Dr. Mann's lab. It has been two years since all creatures with a Y chromosome, except for Yorick and his pet monkey, Ampersand, were wiped off the face of the earth. In this volume, they are coming closer to finding out what caused this “plague” and why Yorick and Ampersand were spared. Also, in this issue, we get some background on Yorick's sister, Hero, and an update on where she's been since they met up after the plague.

This is one of the better issues of the series, I think. I don't think there were really any parts that I weren't interested in. I really liked this one.

Not too much I can say about the fifth volume of Brian Vaughan's Y: The Last Man that hasn't been true of earlier volumes in the series. However, what is somewhat noticeable in this installment is the revving up of that part of the story which involves pure cinematic silliness - here we have a ninja, our first official sex scene, a corny showdown in an abandoned baseball park, flashbacks of teen angst, an all-out girl fight on the Golden Gate Bridge, and monkey feces as a central plot device. Exhausting? You betcha. Effective entertainment? Undeniably so.

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 show more 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.) show less

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.

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 show more 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. show less