Alas, poor Yorick… or maybe not. Yorick, the titular “Y” in Y: The Last Man, is stunningly lucky. One day, in a single moment, all mammals with a Y chromosome (the other titular “Y”) spontaneously, and with much vomiting of blood, keel over and die. All except Yorick and Ampersand, the male capuchin helper monkey Yorick is training. Unmanned is the first volume of this interesting and engaging story written by Brian K. Vaughan and pencilled by Pia Guerra.It’s an interesting and simple idea – all male mammals suddenly die – with many complex consequences. How did they die, all at the same time? What about the men in the space station? Are they affected? How will humans survive, both in the long-term (with no sexual reproduction) or the short-term (without a way to raise livestock)? What are the social ramifications of a world without men?
Now, throw one last man and his male monkey into the mix, and things get more interesting. Why are THESE two males still alive? Can they be used to restock the male population? Should they be? Would they be allowed to?
The story is well written and extremely well-paced. Unmanned collects the first five issues which give out tantalizingly few clues about what has happened. Mainly, it focuses on Yorick’s journey to Washington DC to find his mother, a congresswoman. Along the way, we meet 355, a secret agent who is bringing a special amulet from Jordon to America. We meet Dr. Mann, a geneticist, who was cloning her own nephew before the catastrophe occurred. We meet Yorick’s sister Hero, now a member of the militant Daughter’s of the Amazon. Each of these story lines offers clues to what might have happened, but only enough to keep you hooked.
Y: The Last Man is a real gem of a book, and definitely worth reading.
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