Brian K. Vaughan – Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2: Cycles

7. Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2: Cycles by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, José Marzán Jr., Pamela Rambo, Clem Robins, J. G. Jones (2003)
Y: The Last Man, volume 2

Read my review of volume:
1. Unmanned

Length: 192 pages
Genre: Graphic Novel, Sci-Fi

Started: 17 January 2010
Finished: 17 January 2010

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? The first volume was awesome, so.

The last man on Earth
finally gets some lovin’.
About damn time, too!

Summary: Yorrick Brown, the last man on earth after a terrible plague wiped out half of the world’s population, is a man on a mission. After finding the lab of Dr. Mann, a cloning scientist who might be able to figure out why Yorrick is still alive, in flames, Yorrick, Dr. Mann, and secret government operative 355 must travel across the country to Dr. Mann’s back-up facility in California. However, their quest gets derailed (literally, heh) in the middle of Ohio, where they come across a town that seems a little too good to be true. Meanwhile, there are several groups hunting the rumored last man, including a group of murderous Amazons that includes Yorrick’s sister.

Review: Okay, this series has got me good and hooked. The second volume is as compelling as the first one was, and since the basics of the worldbuilding are already present, it’s a little tighter and a little more focused. This story flirted with some pathos and deeper emotions for our main characters as well, although I wish they – Yorrick, especially – had been given a little bit more time to process and dive into those emotions. Story-wise, it’s a nice arc as well; it’s simultaneously self-contained and dropping hints and trailers that will certainly be picked up in the future.

I still can’t always tell the female characters apart (although I’m really good at distinguishing between the male characters… not so hard, considering there are only two of them, and one’s a monkey.) There’s only one point in this volume where someone’s identity is important to the plot but not stated out loud, and I figured out who that was easily enough. There are other little niggling details about the art that bug me, too; for instance, I would never have guessed that Dr. Mann is Asian based on the way she’s drawn – black hair and glasses aren’t enough to cut it, folks. Overall, though, the art is clean and attractive, and the story’s insanely interesting, so I’ll definitely be reading the rest of the series. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Not a stand-alone, but based on what I’ve seen thus far, I’d absolutely recommend the series as a whole.

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Other Reviews: The Lair of the Undead Rat
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First Line: “I have to get out of Boston. Now.”

Cover Thoughts: Eh. If we’re supposed to be able to figure out who the girl behind bars is from the cover alone, there’s no way. And also the helicopter doesn’t have much to do with most of the story.

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