World Famous Comics: Y: The Last Man Vol. 4: Safeword
Y: The Last Man Vol. 4: Safeword
By: Brian K. Vaughan Publisher: Vertigo Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Vertigo Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: December 01, 2004 Release Date: December 01, 2004
The Ultimate Comic Book of the Century I heard of this comic book on a TV show. Fisrt I just bought the first book to test the water. Well, I had to go buy the rest of the collection on the same day!!!
HERE We Go The way Brian K. Vaughan plots out his series is very interesting. Something happened to me while reading this book, and I recognized the feeling as one I got while reading the third volume collection of "Runaways," another BKV series. Vaughan creates likable, flawed characters in interesting situations and writes enjoyable stories about them. The stories are consistently entertaining and the dialogue is always quotable, but not quite... as astounding as you'd hoped. However, right when you think you know what the series is all about, he hits you with a powerful punch out of no where. That punch was this volume.
The first three issues here (the titular "Safeword" arc) are the best in the series thus far. BY far. We get essential character development for Yorick, and my enjoyment of the series--and respect for Vaughan as a writer and chance-taker--has literally multiplied four times over after reading this arc. There is psychology at work and character depth that aspiring story-tellers like me yearn to achieve. The greatness countinues in the next three issues (the "Widow's Pass" arc), and--though it isn't as groundbreaking as "Safeword"--you will not be let down by the end of this book.
If you haven't yet become addicted to "Y: The Last Man," this is the book that will reel you in.
9/10
Good, though not quite as good as what came before Warning! Spoilers ahead!
This struck me as not quite as good as previous books mainly because not quite as necessary. The series at this point is tracking the journey of Yorick and his entourage from Boston to California and it is as if Vaughan decided he had to create events at the Great Divide and in Arizona to pass time before finally arriving at Dr. Mann's lab. The section where Agent 355's former colleague tortures Yorick as a form of suicide intervention is easily the worst segment of any part of the series to this point, with the possible exception of every mention of the Amazons (as a historical note, the myth that the Amazons cut off a breast in order to aim a bow more efficiently is not a part of the early progress of the Amazons). And I definitely didn't care for the ultra-right-wing Sons of Arizona that occupied the second half of the book.
Still, there were some major new revelations. Let me enumerate. 1) We learn that Dr. Mann is gay and may have an attraction to Agent 355. 2) There are members of the Culper Ring who have a different agenda than 355 and are ruthless in pursuing it. 3) Hero hasn't gone away, but is searching for her brother. 4) The pregnant astronaut from Book 3 has given birth to a son. 5) Dr. Mann did not clone her nephew, as she previously told 355 and Yorick, but herself.
While not as good as previous books, this is still a worthy contribution to one of the most compelling long series in graphic art. It is highly recommended because the series as a whole is highly recommended.
Best of the series so far The writing in Y The Last Man gets better with each volume, and with each issue. Volume 4 was nothing short of amazing. It blended together a lot of really interesting story lines, and you can't help but get attatched to the majority of the main characters. In particular, the story line about Yorick's suicide intervention was the best parts of this whole series. Brian K. Vaughn has created a really original, engrossing, and entertaining series in Y The Last Man that just keeps on getting better.
Graphic SF Reader The complete lack of information and accountability about the Culper Ring comes back to haunt Yorick here. Agent 355 thinks Yorick's mental state is not what it could be, so she sends him to Agent 711, for a bit of programming or reprogramming, depending on how you look at it. There is less of the yelling and more of the drugs and sex in her methodology.
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