Y - The Last Man, Volume 1: Unmanned

From Barnes & Noble

"Y" is none other than unemployed escape artist Yorick Brown (his mother was a Shakespeare buff), and he's seemingly the only male human left alive after a mysterious plague kills all Y-chromosome carriers on earth. But why are he and his faithful companion, the often testy male monkey Ampersand, still alive? He sets out to find the answer (and his girlfriend), while running from angry female Republicans (now running the government), Amazon wannabes that include his own sister (seemingly brainwashed), and other threats. The Vertigo team of Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and Jose Marzan Jr. have given us a great read!

Wizard Magazine

This book blew us away.

Ain't It Cool News

The next big thing.

Publishers Weekly

Yorick Brown is an escape artist; has a fabulous girlfriend who's traveling in Australia; and possesses a genetic make-up that's allowed him to survive a plague that killed every male being on the planet except for him and his pet monkey. Yorick is the last man on earth, and in the resulting chaos, he must find a way to help save the human race. At least that's what the (now all-female) government thinks. Yorick would prefer to find his girlfriend, but it's hard to get a flight halfway around the world when almost all the pilots and mechanics are gone. It's hard enough to drive down the block, since the streets are jammed with the cars of men who were behind the wheel when the instantaneous plague hit. Furthermore, the entire social fabric has gone to hell, with gun-wielding wives of Republican representatives insisting on getting their husbands' seats and tribes of latter-day Amazons claiming males were meant to die. Since Yorick's mother is a congresswoman, he's protected by secret spies. And his escape skills come in handy when he's trapped first by a marauding garbage-woman and then by his mother, as she tries to keep him from doing anything stupid. Meanwhile, who are the mysterious Israeli soldiers who seem so gratified by the situation, and why is Yorick's sister so intent on joining the Amazons? With clean lines and muted colors, Guerra and Marz n invoke a frighteningly believable future; their vision of the surprise and horror to come is so beautifully ordinary, it's entirely convincing-and addictive. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In this first volume of an ongoing full-color series from DC's Vertigo line, every male animal on Earth dies simultaneously from an unknown cause-except for unemployed English major Yorick Brown and his monkey Ampersand. Amid the ensuing chaos, Yorick wants to find his sister and girlfriend, but instead, aided by the secretive government Agent 355 and pursued by radicals from the Amazon movement, he goes in search of a cloning researcher who may be able to determine why he survived and who might help to repopulate the world. Nudity, bloody violence, and profanity earn this book Vertigo's "mature readers" tag. Its appeal is its fine story, well scripted with dryly humorous touches by Vaughan. The art by Pia Guerra is adequate but unexceptional. This series has generated quite a buzz in the comic book field and beyond; recommended for all adult collections. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.