Y: The Last Man, review of the first two volumes of the comic
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About Y: the last man, the new television series streaming on Disney Plus, we told you about it last month, after having previewed the first three episodes. Having also had the opportunity to interview some of the protagonists of this show (here you can find the article), we decided to take a more in-depth look at the first two volumes of the Panini Comics collection that contain the first ten chapters of the saga that has collected a great success in the early 2000s.Written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man was well received by the public, so much so that it also earned members among its fans of the cast of the adaptation on the small screen. Not only that: in addition to being loved by readers, it has also managed to win some awards including the Best Series of the Eisner Awards, which can be equated with the Academy Awards of the publishing environment.
The graphic novel is presents as a complete work, able to excite and make readers think at the same time. Brian K. Vaughan's narration manages to carry and move criticism towards our society without being heavy, while Pia Guerra's drawings are suitable for the plot, giving it even more power and meaning, despite some passages of the graphic novel being slower than the general rhythm of Y: The Last Man. But let's see specifically the first two volumes of the collection published by Panini Comics, for the DC Black Label series.
Y: the last man - Without men
The first volume of the collection includes the first five chapters and plunges us directly into the narrative vein, brutally launching us into the dystopian world created by Vaughan and Guerra. If on the one hand the first page confronts us with the desperate situation of a mother who asks for help to save her children, on the other hand it invests us with the cynicism and resignation that will follow us in the following tables, putting them in the shoes of a policewoman. who utters a sentence that leaves no way out: "All men are dead".It is thanks to the skilful narrative technique of Brian K. Vaughan that we are brought back in time and thus formally introduced to the various protagonists and the situations they are facing. Catapulted from one side of the globe to the other in just under thirty minutes, we thus have a quick cursory glance at presentation, but one that lays a good foundation for the main storyline, despite many things being left unfinished.
This first volume is almost intended to be a profound look at the desperation that afflicts the world after this mysterious pandemic that seems to have affected only the male living beings on Earth. And if women are divided between those who would like to bring back to normal and extremists who want to totally eradicate this idea, Yorik seems unable to take seriously his fundamental mission of finding a geneticist and understanding why he is the only one. man to have survived.
Y: The Last Man - Cycles
The chapters collected in the second volume of the collection are those ranging from number 6 to number 10, published in 2003 The story retraces the journey of Yorik and 355 joined by Dr. Mann, the geneticist, whose laboratory was set on fire to stop his studies. The three must then leave for the doctor's second laboratory located in California to be able to perform tests on Yorik and Ampersand, her trusty monkey, the only other male being still alive.In these chapters, we are introduced in a deeper way into the life of the protagonist, starting to explore his thoughts, his fears and scratching the surface of an eternal kid that characterizes him. But a point of focus is especially given to the town of Marrisville: this small village is located near a former women's prison, which once the pandemic hit the land, saw its cells open, freeing all the inmates.
Although there are several criticisms of the male counterpart, this chapter is almost more of a praise to the fairer sex. Among these pages we can see how the hardness of the first volume has left room for the sweetness and kindness of which women are capable. Mercy, forgiveness, love, these are the topics covered in the collection Y: the last man - Cicli, and even if to a superficial eye they might seem stereotypes, these characteristics are elevated and exalted, indicating them as a way to live one's life.
Yorik himself gets involved and one of the key steps in these chapters is when ex-inmates go against his principles and beliefs, thus deciding to give the remaining Amazons the help they never received when they were in prison . This volume is almost an invitation to dismantle those ideals of punishment as resolution, preferring a path of understanding and support, as well as teaching.
Y: The Last Man - narrative analysis
The first two collections therefore offer us various possible and eligible scenarios, but without neglecting many of the criticisms that our society still sees today. We therefore have an analysis of a system that is still predominantly male, in which women are not contemplated or (at best) put into office to disguise themselves with inconsistent parity.However, it is not just the patriarchy to be targeted: a severe eye is also placed on all gender extremes that are made in this dystopian society, harshly condemning them, as in the case of the Amazons. Y: The Last Man is therefore a graphic novel that serves more as a warning to preserve the coexistence of every race and gender that exists because it is what the world has always done, adapting to every past era.
In short , you cannot survive without others and each character's journey is proof of this. Yorik himself is perhaps the one that most represents this idea, as well as that of personal growth: without 355 it is very likely that he would never have made the most important journey of his life to save himself and the whole world, but would have remained in his a little childish bubble chasing a dream that was no longer possible.
Y: The Last Man, between graphic novel and TV series
It is thanks to these profound themes narrated by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by Pia Guerra that the title has managed to be very successful since its first publication. Despite this, it was not easy for the television series to come to light: since 2007, New Line Cinema had announced that it had a film based on this graphic novel in its projects. However, there were several problems with what should have been the recorder of the time (DJ Caruso) that made his realization fade and thus began a troubled path.It took twelve years of push and pull between different producers, actors and production houses, before actually managing to have a complete and effective crew for the creation of the series. And despite a pandemic in between, Y: The Last Man finally saw the light, landing on the Disney streaming platform this year.
However, as far as all the staff of the show and the same producer Eliza Clark are die-hard fans of the graphic novel, the two products have significant differences, although the general line and atmosphere of the comic are largely maintained. There is no doubt that some choices were dictated by a need for the narrative medium: after all, a season of a series has much less space than the paper, which can perhaps explore some sides in detail.
If then some choices are more thin and manage to go unnoticed while maintaining a largely similar narrative line, while others are much more visible and could lead to discussion. One example is Hero, the sister of the protagonist Yorik Brown: in the comic she is initially described almost as a man-eater, self-confident, whose world and whose beliefs are totally upset to extremism due to the pandemic that affects all beings. male.
Perhaps due to these television choices, the graphical novel Y: The Last Man is more complete and detailed than its small screen counterpart, thus providing more details on the plot and characters . Although some moments during the plot may seem slow or even almost futile, the story is unaffected and the reader is able to immerse himself in the life of Yorik and the women who surround him in a profound way.
