SKRONTZ! » Sci-Fi

Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2: Cycles

Marc — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:08:58 +0000

In the first volume of Y: The Last Man, we were given the premise: a mysterious virus / curse / wtf has caused every mammal with a Y chromosome to die spontaneously, all at the same time. Not just adults, either: kids, embryos, even sperm are all toast. All except for Yorick, a hapless escape artist intent on finding his fianceé last seen in Australia, and his helper-monkey Ampersand. The first volume dealt with the immediate aftermath of such an event, the instant massacre of half the world’s population. Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2: Cycles sets its sights a little farther into the future.Cycles, written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Pia Guerra, starts with an introduction that dispenses some cold hard facts about men: how many of us are incarcerated compared to women, how many of us are crazy compared to women, how many of us serve in combat roles in the military compared to women, and so forth. It then follows the story of Yorick, 355 and Dr. Mann as they gain passage on a train to California, their subsequent “derailment” and their short but eventful stay in the town of Marrisville.

Of course the Amazons show up, and Yorick gets to confront his sister Hero, and there is the reverse sexism bit from the first volume (to be fair, it would be a bit boring if all the women in the world just felt sad for poor Yorick), but the story is well told follows the original well. If you are a fan, then you should definitely keep on reading.

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Y: The Last Man, Vol.1 – Unmanned

Marc — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:31:19 +0000

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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Transmetropolitan: Back on the Street

Marc — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:17:59 +0000

Transmetropolitan: Back on the Street stars Spider Jerusalem, a paranoid, drug-fueled, gonzo journalist now living as a recluse sometime in the near-future. One day, he gets a phone call from his publisher – something about a contract he owes two books on – and realizes he has to pack up his car and head back down the mountain to The City.

In the future (as now), you can’t live in The City without money, so Spider needs to scare up a job in order to get an apartment and news-feeds so he can write. He manages to convince an old colleague to hire him to write for his newspaper and starts investigating his first story, The City’s growing transient problem (which is brilliantly not what you think – or is it?).

Transmetropolitan is a fantastic Warren Ellis story – brash, vulgar, anarchic, head-shaking stuff – and Darick Robertson does a great job on the art. I have come to this party regretfully late (I only picked it up this year) but I am definitely going back to that well for a longer drink.

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