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Post by sabongero on Apr 16, 2018 0:03:00 GMT -5
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Post by sabongero on Apr 16, 2018 0:03:35 GMT -5
 Y The Last Man #1
"Unmanned, Part 1 of 5"September 2002 Writer: Brian K. Vaughan Illustrator: Pia Guerra Inker: Jose Marzan, Jr. Colorist: Pamela Rambo Letterer: Clem Robins Editor: Zachary Rau & Heidi MacDonald Synopsis: We start the story in Brooklyn, New York where a woman with blood all over her clothes and limbs report to a shocked police woman, that her son and husband are dead and asked her for help. The police woman with an absent-minded shocked look, told the bloodied woman, that it's all the men. All the men are dead, and she pulled her service revolver and pointed it at her own temple. Then the story flashes back to twenty-nine minutes before all the men in the world died. On the phone, Yorick, who is practicing escape artistry is talking to his girlfriend Beth, who is currently exploring the Australian outback. They talked about Elvis having a twin brother, Yorick still unable to find a job after getting his English BA degree while eating Ramen noodles to save his daily cash source, and him working lame magic trick gimmicks. Their conversation is interrupted when Yorick's mom rang his phone. On the steps of The Capitol in Washington D.C., Democrat Representative Brown is accompanied by her assistant while she is talking on the cell phone with her son Yorick. A senator caught up to her asking if she will support their bill on providing foreign aid to an organization that provides abortion in other countries. She shot it down, and the senator threatened that he will not support her in the next election, and for her to count her days in office. As he was going to continue badgering her, his assistant told him the POTUS request an earlier meeting than the one scheduled regarding '355.' And the senator cut his conversation with Congresswoman Brown immediately. The story resumed with Yorick and Beth's conversation on the phone. This time with Yorick's monkey throwing his own shit at Yorick while he is talking on the phone. Yorick explained to Beth that he got Ampersand, the monkey, from a group in Boston where looking for volunteers to train the monkey. Yorick volunteered. We then go to Nablus, West Bank which is a city north of Jerusalem, Israel. An American news crew doing news coverage was hit with thrown rocks from a a couple of Palestinians. A female Israeli armed soldier (Colonel Yedida Tse'Elon) was along the road and with assault rifle in hand opened fire on the Palestinians throwing rocks. The Palestinians ran, and they briefly debate at the Palestinians being just young men, almost children, and the Colonel advising they are using rubber bullets. She told the news crew her friends call her Alter, meaning "The Old One." She told them her story, and she came across as a feminist, and telling them they, the feminists, have not yet begun to fight. We again join Yorick and Beth's conversation on the phone. Yada yada yada ... blah blah blah ... Meanwhile at Al Karak, Jordan, an armed and masked American agent is holding Dr. Frozan Hamad. She released her and unmasked and told the doctor that she is there to help her escape. An angered Dr. Hamad told her that she is home, and to tell her bosses that she doesn't need their political asylum. The female American agent told her that the doctor has been in hiding for months, and how long before she won't survive anymore assassination attempts on her life. The doctor shot her down, indicating the murders in Jordan are mostly men killing women relatives for honor killings. It is all political. The agent corrected her, that the assassins are not interested in her politics, they are interested in the amulet currently hanging on the doctor's neck. Then there are two assassins on climbing down the side of the building that reached their window. The doctor says it was a worthless amulet her father gave her, and has been with her family for generations, citing that if it ever left the country, a catastrophe as big as the Trojan War would take place. The female American agent told her they can continue talking as they make their way secretly to the airstrip. And three gunshots are heard suddenly, of which all three bullets slam into the doctor, killing her instantly. The assassins burst through the window, and a gunfight and hand to hand combat ensues between the assailants and the American agent. She killed the assassins, and then checked to see the doctor has no pulse and is deceased. She radioed in to The Culper Ring, advising them to tell the President that she, Agent 355, will experience a slight delay. Again the story returned to Yorick and Beth's ongoing phone conversation. They talked about good memories of their relationship. We are then taken to Boston, Massachusetts where a pregnant lady sitting in a wheelchair in a hospital is experience labor pains. She is recognized by one of the hospital doctors on duty who recognized having her as a professor in his biotech class the year before. She is Doctor Mann. She told the doctor she is not due until another six weeks. The man accompanying her is her assistant, and not the father. Dr. Mann told the hospital doctor, that, she, is the father of the child she is carrying. And with a shocked face, the hospital doctor figured out what she meant, that, she is having her own clone and questioning it's legality. Dr. Mann told him to either alert the proper authorities or help save the child's life. The hospital doctor advised they cannot do it there. In another part of the city, inside an ambulance, a female EMT worker and a fireman, just concluded having sex. Dressing up each, left the ambulance to go back on duty with the EMT worker telling the firefighter to be careful of the fumes. Others see them exit the ambulance and thought Zero, the EMT worker, was a whorebag who has fu...d every male firefighter from the previous year's calendar. And once again we joined Yorick and Beth on their ongoing conversation. He told her he spent most of his money already. And that he also bought an inexpensive trinket he found from a magic store. He was messing around with the so called magic box, and opened it up which contained a ring, and he asked her to marry him over the phone. While... simultaneously we see Yorick's mom at The Capitol working, Colonel Alter is in the West Bank accompanied by the news crew regarding a shelling, Agent 355 with a pilot in an airplane cockpit in the sky, and Dr. Mann giving birth assisted by her assistant and the hospital doctor. And all of a sudden all the men are experiencing discomfort. Then followed by death. The death of all men and male animals worldwide. From the Vatican, farms, stock exchanges, street lives, stadium ball games, nuclear power plants, Space Center headquarters, trains, etc. Agent 355 struggled to keep the plane flying, Congresswoman Brown applied CPR to her assistant, Zero crying while holding her boyfriend in her arms, Dr. Mann crying in the medical bed, Colonel Alter telling her soldier to stand down and not use the gas grenade, and then we are back to the beginning with the police woman who has her service revolver pointed to her temple saying that all the men are dead. And then we get a splash page with Yorick hearing a gunshot outside his window, BANG! Comments: We basically glimpsed at twenty-nine minutes of the events happening in the entire world before all the men on planet Earth died. We are introduced to Yorick Brown and Agent 355, the protagonists of this story. We get a glimpse of the eventual supporting cast as well. Then there's some interesting tidbits at perhaps the cause of the men perising is because of an amulet in the country of Jordan which was being recovered by Agent 355, or a cloned pregnancy from a biochemist professor based in Massachusetts. This left the reader with a question... why is Yorick and Ampersand the monkey, still alive at the end of the issue, and survived this worldwide gendercide? |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 16, 2018 14:30:33 GMT -5
 Y The Last Man #2
"Unmanned, Part 2 of 5"October 2002 Writer: Brian K. Vaughan Illustrator: Pia Guerra Inker: Jose Marzan, Jr. Colorist: Pamela Rambo & Digital Chameleon Letterer: Clem Robins Editor: Zachary Rau & Heidi MacDonald Synopsis: We then fast forward to two months later in the story. We join a disguised and hooded figure carrying a pet carrier crate in the streets of Washington D.C. And an out of control garbage truck almost plowed into the person, as the person jumped out of the way. The truck crashed into a tree instead. The female driver asked the fallen "woman" if she's okay. The "woman" answered she's okay. The garbage truck driver questioned what's wrong with "her" voice, which the "woman" said it's just shock. The truck driver confessed she just started driving the garbage truck and still has problems braking. Then said, "Oh shit" as she saw the dead men at the garbage truck's back area fell off and is at the street. As she picked the deceased body one by one and putting them back in the garbage truck, she told the "woman" her story. She got the job at the CDC as a garbage collector, and gets paid one can of food for each dead man she delivered to the RFK Stadium, which has been converted into a crematorium. She used to be a model who had a three thousand dollar breast job, and now she can't get a job, and is a garbage woman. She told the "woman" she doesn't have to wear the mask anymore as what killed the men two months ago, isn't around to kill the women. The "woman" would rather be safe than sorry and will keep the gas mask on, at the same time pointing to the garbage woman's waist which was carrying a holster with a gun on it. She told "her" that she picked it up from a dead cop the previous month. She went to pickup the pet carrier cage. The "woman" tried to prevent her from picking it up. Too late. The monkey inside got loose, and jumped on the "woman" and took off her gas mask, thus revealing Yorick, the last man. In Alexandria, Virginia, at a place where Agriculture Secretary Margaret Valentine was sleeping, an armed Agent 355 broke through the glass door and very happy to find her alive. Awakened, a distraught Margaret Valentine told Agent 355 that all the animals and farmers are dead and that her cabinet position is useless. Agent 355 explained to her that her title has changed. She is now The President of the United States. Disbelief engulfed her and she didn't want to be called The President. Agent 355 explained all the Executive Department and Legislative Department in the line of succession to the presidency were men, and all have died. Valentine told 355 that there is a female Secretary of the Interior who should be ahead of her. Agent 355 told Valentine that Secretary of the Interior Richburg died in one of the airplane crashes. Agent 355 believed in Agriculture Secretary Valentine and painstakingly looked for her across the country, and finally found her, and asked her if she is still willing to serve and uphold when she took the oath upon accepting the cabinet position. The story rejoins the former supermodel, Waverly the garbage woman who couldn't believe she is with Yorick, the last man on Earth. She then pulled her gun on him and ordered him to get inside the truck where she handcuffed him to the side mirror. She hasn't eaten in a week, and she'll probably be paid an unlimited supply of food by a group in Hagerstown. She's going to sell him to the Amazons. She finished loading the deceased male carcasses and was about to take Yorick there, only to find the handcuffs hanging on the side mirror, but with no Yorick attached to it. An escaped Yorick is running down a street in Washington D.C. in the middle of the night while verbally chastising Ampersand. Finally, he arrived just outside the gates of The White House. Inside The White House, Representative Brown is startled by the security guard doing her final security sweep of the evening and asked Rep. Brown if she would like to be escorted home. She declined, that she and the other Congresswomen are still trying to decide on a new Commander-In-Chief, and staying at The White House even without electricity is still like a palace compared to her place. She was told of the special agent in charge tonight in case Congresswoman Brown needed anything that night. Later that night, inside one of the rooms, Yorick surprised his mom by getting behind her and saying that security is lame now. A startled Congresswoman Brown suddenly grabbed him from behind her and hip-tossed him over putting Yorick on his back in the ground. Seeing her son alive she broke down and hugged him. He told her he's the only man alive unless his father is still alive. His mother's silence and sadness told him otherwise. He briefly broke down and cursed that he didn't call his dad on his birthday, thinking he's alive because of genetics, and that his father might still be alive. He asked his mom about his sister, Hero, but all the phones across the country is down, and she hasn't heard from his sister. Ampersand jumped on Yorick's shoulder, and his mom was surprised to find out that Ampersand is a male monkey as all other male animals have died. Yorick showed his mom the so called magic ring he purchased in a magic store, which he used to propose to Beth. That is why he is going to Australia. His mom suddenly got angry and told him he can't leave, that he has a responsibility to the world now. Yorick told her he's not staying to be a stud to impregnate the many anonymous women while his real love is still out there. She brought up Dr. Alison Mann's file and showed it to Yorick, which showcased asexual reproduction. Cloning. A light suddenly emerged from the outside looking in to their room. The glass broke, and they snapped to a crouched position to get cover. She thought she heard gunfire and looked outside and saw about a dozen women out there. Yorick said it must be the insane women, the Amazons. His mom responded it's worse. Comments: The story has progressed to a couple of months later. We are now in a dystopian society. It is a gender satire on what a world populated by only women would be like if the entire male population suddenly died of gendercide at the same time. It is interesting to note that many basic services are suddenly unavailable across the country. It showed that many of the country's infrastructure jobs were handled by almost entirely of men, and now that they are gone, the women are suddenly finding themselves slowly crawling to fill in those work-spaces. 2008 Eisner Award winner Pia Guerra does a tremendous job of keeping the illustration panels and art as simple and straight forward, helping enhance telling the story to the reader. You can actually know what is going on in the story by just looking at the illustrations without reading the dialogue. It's great, and at the same time, she does great illustrated faces, showcasing varying emotions from the characters that populate the story. It makes for a better reading of a non-superhero story where the characters are not required to be musclebound and exaggerated. |
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Post by berkley on Apr 17, 2018 11:28:12 GMT -5
I never understood the point of the Y concept. If it was meant to explore the idea of a world run by women instead of men, why do we need "the Last Man" as a protagonist? Did Vaughan think it wouldn't find an audience without a male lead character?
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Post by sabongero on Apr 17, 2018 12:06:51 GMT -5
I never understood the point of the Y concept. If it was meant to explore the idea of a world run by women instead of men, why do we need "the Last Man" as a protagonist? Did Vaughan think it wouldn't find an audience without a male lead character? I suppose BKV would be the only one to answer that question. I wonder if he was ever asked that question? |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 17, 2018 12:40:39 GMT -5
Doesn't really answer the question, but at least he recognizes the question is there. I suspect he does answer it somewhere, but I haven't found it yet in an interview.
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Post by sabongero on Apr 17, 2018 15:32:01 GMT -5
 Y The Last Man #3
"Unmanned, Part 3 of 5"November 2002 Writer: Brian K. Vaughan Illustrator: Pia Guerra Inker: Jose Marzan, Jr. Colorist: Pamela Rambo & Digital Chameleon Letterer: Clem Robins Editor: Zachary Rau & Heidi MacDonald Synopsis: At Interstate Highway 395 in Virginia, Agent 355 stopped the car, and told the new Madame President that they'll have to walk, but will take another car once they are in the vicinity of Washington D.C. She explained that whatever killed the men two months ago happened during rush hour, and traffic is backlogged by miles upon miles of crashed vehicles upon each other in the highway. Back in The White House, Yorick's mom ordered him away from the window and told him that they were being shot at by Republicans. She recognized them to be the wives of the deceased Congressmen. Outside, the armed women yelled out they will no longer tolerate the coup d'etat of their government. Yorick's mom explained that three-fourths of the females in Congress and Senate are Democrats. They decided not to give the women married to Republican legislators their husbands' seats and thought that the female Legislative Democrats were trying to eliminate the two-party system of the government. She ordered Yorick that they are leaving. They made their way downstairs underneath the East Wing and to a fallout shelter created during the Eisenhower era. Yorick admired the lock on the steel door and went inside with her mom. She walked out without him knowing and locked him inside. She couldn't risk Yorick doing something stupid out there. On the other side of the bunker's steel time-locked doors, Congresswoman Brown is joined by Senator Cavanaugh. Inside the bunker, Yorick tried to regurgitate the tension tool he swallowed. Outside The White House, the Republican Wives are holding the secret service agent from the gate as hostage. Congresswoman Brown and Senator Cavanugh emerged outside. Secret Agent Diane with her service weapon drawn and pointed at the Republican Wives told them the situation. The two elected Legislative officials tried to talk with the Republican Wives, and it went back and forth for a while. Unfortunately, the Republican Wife holding the gun to the temple of the secret service agent being held hostage accidentally pulled the trigger and the gun went off, instantly killing the secret service agent that was held as a hostage. Secret Service agent Diane immediately went into action and shot the trigger-woman hitting her. Inside the bunker, Yorick found out he was no MacGyver, and unable to escape. He did find a smoke detector, but no fire suppression equipment. He was thinking would the steel timelock door open up automatically if there was a fire, or would the people trapped inside the fire get burned and die. Only one way to find out, and he lit up his lighter. Back outside the other Republican Wife yelled that it was an accident, and shot back and hit Secret Service agent Diane in the shoulder, and she went down. Congresswoman Brown made her way to Diane to see how bad she's hit. She'll live but pointed out what was heading their way as the headlights of a vehicle approached them closer and closer. A speeding garbage truck crashed through the gates of The White House and when it stopped, the driver with a drawn weapon asked for the Republican Wives to drop their weapons. A few did, and the others did not while asking who she is. And Madame President Valentine emerged saying she's The President and for all the women to drop their weapons. The Republican Wives recognized her, and explained what happened, as did the Legislative officials who said they are just going by the rule of law as this is a Republic, just as the founding fathers intended. The Republican Wives cited all the men are dead and they need something new and that the men and their Constitution doesn't apply anymore. "That's bullshit," and outside emerged the figure of Yorick Brown along with Ampersand perched on his shoulder. He doesn't agree about a document to be just tossed aside after working so well for a couple of hundred years. All eyes darted towards the young man and asking who he is. Shaking her head and hand on her face, Congresswoman Brown told everyone it's her son. He continued to chastise them, until the new President ordered him to stop chastising the women and to join her in her office inside The White House. Yorick pointed at the smoke behind him to have someone do something about the fire in the basement first. The following day, in the Oval Office, The President told Yorick that she and Agent 355 commandeered the garbage truck from a supermodel. Congresswoman Brown told Agent 355 she couldn't believe The Culper Ring still existed after the American Revolution. Yorick told The President his plan of finding Dr. Mann and assisting her, and then going to Australia. The President agreed he'd go to Dr. Mann as she didn't think it would be safe for Yorick to be at the same place all the time as story of his existence would spread. But she did forbid him to leave the country, and that they would make arrangements for his Beth to be brought over to the USA to reunite with him. She also ordered Agent 355 to accompany him as a chaperone to make sure that Yorick stayed within their borders as they went to Dr. Mann's location. And she gave them a final order, not to f..k this up. A few days later in Tel Aviv, Israel, the new Chief of the General Staff, Alter, was in the middle of strategizing their successful continued attack on Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt, when the phone rang, surprising them. It's a secure line from the USA. She received a message from a governmental safe house informing her that there is the last man alive, named Yorick Brown. Comments: We get to see some overly motherly concern from Yorick's mom towards him. And it goes overboard. At the same time, we see what happened to women in the government and women married to men in the government, can summarily mess things up only a short time from when all the men died. They emerged to be power hungry and aggressive. We get to see the way government is run mutated to something undemocratic and alien. Until of course, the arrival of the new President and Agent 355. Pia Guerra's illustration is fantastic. You can still just look at the illustrations in order, and you would get almost the same story as what was being told in the word balloons. And towards, the beginning, splash page of the Interstate Highway 395 showed the just how the enormous gravity of the massive mess left behind by the sudden death of all the men on Earth... except Yorick. The country is in a world of doo-doo. |
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Post by berkley on Apr 17, 2018 23:29:23 GMT -5
Doesn't really answer the question, but at least he recognizes the question is there. I suspect he does answer it somewhere, but I haven't found it yet in an interview. Hard to say, since the woman in the comic book store asked him a more general question ("Why do you hate women?") and he doesn't say anything about why she might have felt that way. She might have had something else in mind altogether - for example, something about the post-apocalyptic world depicted in the series rather than the male protagonist. I never read it so I don't have any opinion on those kinds of details and have no idea why she would make such an accusation. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 18, 2018 13:30:20 GMT -5
Hard to say, since the woman in the comic book store asked him a more general question ("Why do you hate women?") and he doesn't say anything about why she might have felt that way. She might have had something else in mind altogether - for example, something about the post-apocalyptic world depicted in the series rather than the male protagonist. I never read it so I don't have any opinion on those kinds of details and have no idea why she would make such an accusation. Perhaps that woman asking the question, didn't like the way most of the women acted in the books, which were more negative traits than positive traits. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 18, 2018 13:30:34 GMT -5
 Y The Last Man #4
"Unmanned, Part 4 of 5"December 2002 Writer: Brian K. Vaughan Illustrator: Pia Guerra Inker: Jose Marzan, Jr. Colorist: Pamela Rambo & Digital Chameleon Letterer: Clem Robins Editor: Zachary Rau & Heidi MacDonald Synopsis: We join the story with Yorick getting beaten up by several Daughters of the Amazon. The story then flashes back to an hour before the beginning of the story. Motorcycles are hard to come by, and vehicles can't be used in Washington D.C. because of all the crashed vehicles preventing driving out of there. Yorick and Agent 355 are walking down the streets of Washington D.C. We learn a lot about them from their conversation. Agent 355's family all died a while ago, and no longer has any family. We learn more information about Yorick. His sister Hero is an EMS and is also in Boston, where they're headed to find Dr. Mann. Their father is a literature professor and named his children after obscure Shakespeare characters. He then hears some sort of singing far away. Agent 355 told him it must be coming from the shrine, where the women turned the Washington Monument into a memorial for all men. Yorick wanted to go there and see for himself, which Agent 355 shot down as being too dangerous. Ampersand jumped to Agent 355. which distracted Agent 355 just enough time for Yorick to disappear from her sight. Later on, at the Washington Monument's grounds, which were populated by thousands of women in mourning, a gas mas wearing disguised Yorick walked among them, when he saw another one sitting down wearing the same garb as him. He was surprised and went up to the person to ask with the intent of asking if the person was another man. The person took the gas mask off revealing another woman. Yorick sat next to her, citing he is there to say goodbye to men she hasn't said goodbye to yet. The lady was there to say goodbye to Mick Jagger. They have a good conversation about rock stars, when she suddenly turned around with a frightened look on her face as she darted a look on the motorcycle riding Daughters of the Amazon. The woman shared told Yorick that they are not lesbian, but insane, and they burned off one of their boobs, because that's what the ancient Amazons did in order to shoot an arrow. Girls will do any retarded thing to get into a gang, as long as it means receiving food and protection. And the Amazons go to the Washington Memorial and vandalize it, which they have been doing to every other symbol of the patriarchy. Yorick, made his way to the Daughters of the Amazon, with the lady thinking he's nuts. The women in the grounds near the Washington Monument cleared out of fear. Yorick reached the four Daughters of the Amazon, and dissing them, while they told him to get lost. And angry Yorick took of his gas mask revealing to them his is a man. They still wouldn't believe he's a man thinking he is a woman cross-dresser instead. He finally convinced them he's a man, and asked them then why is he still alive and there. The Daughers of the Amazon set to rectify the situation. And we are back in the present, where a bloodied and beaten up Yorick is about to be slashed by one of the knife-wielding Daughters of the Amazon approaching him. Yorick got up with a can of spray paint in hand and sprayed the woman in the face, temporarily blinding her, and threw the can at the other's face, while punching a third and knocking her out. But the numbers overwhelm him. As he's being held and one of them is about to slit his throat, Agent 355 arrived asking them to let him go. The knife-wielding one turned to her, but was knocked out by Agent 355 with a single punch. She told the other two holding Yorick to run, and they did so. We then find out that Agent 355 has been there a while and was just watching him get beat up to teach him a lesson. Just because he's got a dick doesn't mean that he's invincible. She yelled at him to start acting his age. Then Yorick sarcastically pointed at the two abandoned motorcycles by the Daughers of the Amazong saying it's a long ride to Beantown. Several hours later in a Daughters of the Amazon rally at the Baltimore Convention Center, the woman whose face got spray painted earlier made her way to the leader, Victoria, telling her she encountered a woman. She told her that she overheard him saying something about Boston. Victoria then turned to her minions asking if anyone is familiar. One responded, a new member, and Victoria asked her name. The woman stepped up and responded her name was Hero. Comments: Again this is a great social commentary on women and how various women would act, with the disappearance of all men on Earth. Some honor the dead men by turning "male" monumental structures to shrine to honor them, and others become insane that vandalize and want to wipe out any memory of the patriarchy. We find out more about Yorick's family background. He's affable, but showcased why he's a single man, acting stupid and thinking he's invincible, thus getting himself in physical trouble with four women of the dangerous and insane, Daughters of the Amazon. We find out a single information about Agent 355. that she no longer has any family, and is alone in the world. We find out there are a lot of members for this dangerous group, and that their leader is Victoria. And the shocking end is amazing. Yorick's sister has burned one of her boobs and joined them, and will lead a search party to find Yorick in Boston. Business is about to pick up in future issues. |
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Post by MDG on Apr 18, 2018 14:21:21 GMT -5
I never understood the point of the Y concept. If it was meant to explore the idea of a world run by women instead of men, why do we need "the Last Man" as a protagonist? Did Vaughan think it wouldn't find an audience without a male lead character? Phillip Wylie wrote a novel called "The Disappearance" (full disclosure: I haven't read it) in which the world basically "splits" somehow so that from the women's point of view all the men have disappeared and vice-versa. The narrative moves back and forth between the two worlds. Fun fact: Before he died (duh, but like right before) George Pal was trying to develop "The Disappearance" as a movie. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 18, 2018 17:30:35 GMT -5
Another in my "To read" pile. That pile is virtual (almost entirely digital); but, it is virtually endless, to boot.
Y was optioned while the series was still going, as were other Vertigo properties. Comics went through a few periods of Hollywood optioning any comic they got their hands on, then years of development hell or abandoned projects. Astro City is another that has gotten new life. Powers was optioned almost from the start, yet only got a series a couple of years ago. This one has been percolating for a while. Hope it is worth it.
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Post by sabongero on Apr 20, 2018 1:48:59 GMT -5
I never understood the point of the Y concept. If it was meant to explore the idea of a world run by women instead of men, why do we need "the Last Man" as a protagonist? Did Vaughan think it wouldn't find an audience without a male lead character? Phillip Wylie wrote a novel called "The Disappearance" (full disclosure: I haven't read it) in which the world basically "splits" somehow so that from the women's point of view all the men have disappeared and vice-versa. The narrative moves back and forth between the two worlds. Fun fact: Before he died (duh, but like right before) George Pal was trying to develop "The Disappearance" as a movie. That's an interesting novel to read. You get both points of view at the same time. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 20, 2018 1:50:06 GMT -5
Another in my "To read" pile. That pile is virtual (almost entirely digital); but, it is virtually endless, to boot. Y was optioned while the series was still going, as were other Vertigo properties. Comics went through a few periods of Hollywood optioning any comic they got their hands on, then years of development hell or abandoned projects. Astro City is another that has gotten new life. Powers was optioned almost from the start, yet only got a series a couple of years ago. This one has been percolating for a while. Hope it is worth it. Hopefully FX Channel's pilot for the Y: The Last Man series is a good show once it is released. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 20, 2018 1:51:03 GMT -5
 Y The Last Man #5
"Unmanned, Part 5 of 5"January 2003 Writer: Brian K. Vaughan Illustrator: Pia Guerra Inker: Jose Marzan, Jr. Colorist: Pamela Rambo & Digital Chameleon Letterer: Clem Robins Editor: Steve Bunche Synopsis: In Boston, Massachusetts, Yorick woke up from a nightmare. He and Beth were in the Outback naked, and he was chained up, and Beth told him to not come after her, and she started bleeding from her eyes, nose, and mouth. He was surprised to find Agent 355 knitting, which she told him her grandmother taught her, and she wants to keep her hands busy. She also told him the sticks she's using for the needlework can kill people too. She pointed out since it's night time, they can go around and look for Dr. Mann citing it's not that he's a man, that they are in the Southie part of Boston, and cannot disguise herself as a white woman, in a racist neighborhood such as that. Yorick advised they should also look for his sister, which Agent 355 already told him that she went to where she stayed, her boyfriends place, and the firehouse. Hero is nowhere to be found. He mentioned his sister is always with scumbag guys, and the latest boyfriend is a good guy. He wondered how his sister is holding up these days. In Putnam, Connecticut, Hero was holding a woman and brought her to Victoria and the other Daughters of the Amazon. Victoria wanted to know how the woman obtained the motorcycle which belonged to them. She tried to convince her to embrace her womanhood, etc. But the woman just spat at Victoria and called her a bitch. Victoria ordered Hero to kill this whore and handed her a gun. Hero, with a blank look on her face, pointed the pistol on the woman's temple and shot her point blank, and blood spattered all over Hero's face. Victoria tried to justify it, saying she didn't like barking orders like a patriarch but that at the end, everyone will be in the same place. She then ordered the rest of the Amazons to get ready to move as they are looking for last oppressor who is still alive. Back in Boston, Agent 355 and Yorick broke into a building where Congresswoman Brown told them was Dr. Mann's last know primary address. They were there to look for clues that will tell them where Dr. Mann went. But then in one of the corridors, a dim light shone from one of the rooms. Agent 355 drew her gun, signalling Yorick to be quiet. Agent 355 entered the room, and was attacked by a crowbar wielding Dr. Mann. Agent 355 blocked her. Dr. Mann thought she's a drug addict looking for drugs, and Agent 355 reassured her she's sent from the U.S. government to assist her in her cloning experiments. Dr. Mann told her that's over with and she's looking for a cure for breast cancer for the last surviving generation of women on Earth. Agent 355 didn't believe her, but basically Dr. Mann is doing this because of what she thought of as guilt for fast tracking a cloning research and impregnating herself to find a cancer cure for her nephew, and the moment she gave birth to the clone, all the men suddenly died. And Yorick and Ampersand popped up by the door saying that not all men are dead. A disbelieving doctor couldn't believe a man and a male monkey are still alive. They talked and it led to Dr. Mann bringing some needles to take a sample of Yorick and Ampersand's blood. Ampersand panicked and escaped and jumped through a window. All three ran out of her room to chase Ampersand outside in the streets of Boston in the middle of the night. Four hours later, Israeli Colonel Alter arrived in Dr. Mann's room along with one of her soldiers. She couldn't believe how much of her country's resources was used for them to come to the U.S. Alter noticed the generator is still hot, and there's a footprint of a boots whose size is too big for the doctor. She thought they cleared out after hearing them arrive. And fearful of more mend and their enemy finding out and resurrecting their armies against Israel, they didn't take anything from the lab. Instead Alter decided on something else. Several hours later and Dr. Mann, Agent 355, and Yorick with Ampersand perched on his shoulder are walking down the streets of Boston in the middle of the night heading back towards their building. Dr. Mann was shocked when they arrived and the laboratory wing of their building was on fire. Agent 355 didn't think it was an accident because the other buildings were untouched by the fire. This was deliberate. All her research gone, Dr. Mann said there are duplicate samples in another place for a contingency if this thing happened. But it's in California. Yorick suggested going to New York in order to go to Australia. Agent 355 told him to shut while she thought if they should go to California or back to Washington D.C. She's thinking which way and how. And we realize the enormity of their situation. Comments: This now dystopian world is a sad lot. We get to see how really bad things happened to the rest of the women and their plight in the wake of the erasure of all men on Earth. As a reader, I am inferring that Ampersand was perhaps a monkey in a laboratory experiment experiencing traumatic things from scientists, that's why he panicked and escaped immediately after seeing Dr. Mann with the needle. It was an automatic reaction of fear and flight Pia Guerra showcased great insight in her illustrations, especially at the end, when she showed the enormous gravity of the helpless situation Dr. Mann, Agent 355, and Yorick is in. You see them up close, then from an aerial view from a distant, until the last page, which is a splash page where they are just almost dots on the streets of Boston, and the street is in a shape of a letter "Y" from above. Nice one. |
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