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lostinapapercupEverything else I've been meaning to post about this week gets preempted for the moment so I can comment on just how extraordinarily pleased I am with the final issue of Y: The Last Man.
I got into this comic when it was roughly a year and a half into its run, and I've been addicted to it ever since. I've always liked comics. I have fun when I'm let loose in a comic book store, and when Mike ends up having to go without me, I usually read everything he comes back with.
But until Y, I've never felt the irrepressible need to have a comic as soon as it's released. And while I'll admit the dialogue's snappier than I think most people are capable of on such a regular basis -- but I won't complain about that because I enjoy the hell out of it in this particular comic -- I've never met a comic book with a cast I felt was so wonderfully rich and layered and flawed and... human. I've come to care so much about these characters.
The plague was important but not what the story was really all about. It was about Yorick. It was about who he is in the first issue, who he is in the last issue, and the infinitely fascinating group of individuals -- almost all women -- who help that evolution along in their post-apocalyptic world.
It's a story about Yorick, one of the single most likeable protagonists I've ever had the pleasure of reading about in comics or any other medium.
It's a story about people and how they grow.
I think this one issue embodied nearly everything I so dearly loved about this comic during its run.
I read my copy in a metro station waiting for the train home from the comic book store. And I finished it on the train itself.
I actually teared up four times. The first was the panel with the beautiful background portrait of Beth 2 (why, yes, I am unreasonably fond of her) holding young Junior, and that was a hell of a great moment. The second was when Yorick didn't make it to see Allison in time. The third was Yorick in the woods, saying goodbye to Ampersand. The fourth... was the very last page, which I couldn't have imagined as an ending and consider absolutely perfect for Y.
Thank you, Brian and Pia (and the rest of the Y crew), for a hell of a story. Thanks for creating characters who seemed so real I couldn't help but grow to love them. Thanks for the sheer beauty of the wordless panels, particularly in these last few emotional issues. Thanks for lines like (and I doubt I'm quoting them all exactly right from memory) humor died with the dudes and that's some 'Who's on First' shit and repent or burn and you can't tell, but right now I'm giving you a knowing wink and countless others that I doubt I'll ever be able to remember without smiling over.
I've loved this comic.
[Edited to add that there are also spoilers in the comments.]
I got into this comic when it was roughly a year and a half into its run, and I've been addicted to it ever since. I've always liked comics. I have fun when I'm let loose in a comic book store, and when Mike ends up having to go without me, I usually read everything he comes back with.
But until Y, I've never felt the irrepressible need to have a comic as soon as it's released. And while I'll admit the dialogue's snappier than I think most people are capable of on such a regular basis -- but I won't complain about that because I enjoy the hell out of it in this particular comic -- I've never met a comic book with a cast I felt was so wonderfully rich and layered and flawed and... human. I've come to care so much about these characters.
The plague was important but not what the story was really all about. It was about Yorick. It was about who he is in the first issue, who he is in the last issue, and the infinitely fascinating group of individuals -- almost all women -- who help that evolution along in their post-apocalyptic world.
It's a story about Yorick, one of the single most likeable protagonists I've ever had the pleasure of reading about in comics or any other medium.
It's a story about people and how they grow.
I think this one issue embodied nearly everything I so dearly loved about this comic during its run.
I read my copy in a metro station waiting for the train home from the comic book store. And I finished it on the train itself.
I actually teared up four times. The first was the panel with the beautiful background portrait of Beth 2 (why, yes, I am unreasonably fond of her) holding young Junior, and that was a hell of a great moment. The second was when Yorick didn't make it to see Allison in time. The third was Yorick in the woods, saying goodbye to Ampersand. The fourth... was the very last page, which I couldn't have imagined as an ending and consider absolutely perfect for Y.
Thank you, Brian and Pia (and the rest of the Y crew), for a hell of a story. Thanks for creating characters who seemed so real I couldn't help but grow to love them. Thanks for the sheer beauty of the wordless panels, particularly in these last few emotional issues. Thanks for lines like (and I doubt I'm quoting them all exactly right from memory) humor died with the dudes and that's some 'Who's on First' shit and repent or burn and you can't tell, but right now I'm giving you a knowing wink and countless others that I doubt I'll ever be able to remember without smiling over.
I've loved this comic.
[Edited to add that there are also spoilers in the comments.]
no subject
Date: 2008-01-30 11:56 pm (UTC)just...
Just what it was, and it was perfect and beautiful and the ending was like its own little miracle. So thank you and your Beth 2 for introducing me to it 3 years and change ago. You know how I'm always saying that Bebop is about the most perfect self-contained anime ever? Y fills that same role for comic books. And for me to say that... that's saying something.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 12:17 am (UTC)I suppose I've always just been a casual comics fan, but Y just does it for me like no other comic has. I've never been able to get into superhero comics in the same way. Maybe I find it too difficult to identify with most of them. I don't know. But Y has been one fantastic ride.
I think a lot of people were probably nervous about the ending. They've liked Y for so long, and how can there be any way to end this long run that doesn't end in disappointment?
And maybe there are some disappointments. I mean, those Hero/Beth 2 people are just going to have to settle for Beth Singular. And the fans who didn't want to accept 355's death are going to have to deal. And the people who wanted a happily-ever-after ending for Yorick with his girl of choice don't exactly get what they want. But I think it's a great ending.
I think it feels fitting.
(And fuck yes, Amp's death was hard. Heh.)
Alas, poor Yorick. He lost 355 to a sniper and never even got to see if they could attempt a real relationship. His sister and one-time fiance go off to Africa and become lovers (not necessarily in that order). Allison dies before he can say goodbye. Amp dies. Beth 2, now his ex-wife, dies.
I hope he had a good laugh as he was escaping. He deserved it.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 12:25 am (UTC)Like you said, Beth Junior did everyone proud. Remember back when we thought Beth 2 was "just another character?" Man, you know how to pick them. That picture of her and Junior is so priceless. And did you notice how bearded Yorick looked just like his father? And was it just me who almost cheered his line about them not getting Amp's clones quite right? And then they do exactly what he wants them to do?
And Vlad as president... that actually took me a moment. Honestly. Now I go reread, and after that I might actually have intelligent things to say about it.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 12:33 am (UTC)And bearded Yorick sure did look like his dad. Bet he was thrilled about that.
I have to admit that in this comic full of little things I love, Yorick's line about them not getting Amp's clones right -- even as they're carrying out his scheme -- is one of my favorite parts.
Plus the little exchange about Natalya and her excellent English. Oh, but I loved that.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-31 01:32 am (UTC)There's something very "Lost" with all the flashbacks. I like it. All the stories that get told in this last issue are just beautiful and relevant and if I tried to explain to someone what happens in this issue, I'd come up with a giant look of "huh?" on my face. Kind of like this icon I'm using. There are so many layers and it's a story told on so many levels that it feels all-encompassing to the extreme. Which is as it should be, because that's exactly what the story is about and always has been, even while it's focused on a few people only. If it hadn't, it wouldn't have been anything near as grand and gorgeous as it's been, because the power is in the details and minutiae, not in some global socio-economic thing. It could have fallen into that comfortable trap so easily.
I love that it wasn't.
Even with the questions I have about this last issue, I still could never have asked for anything more... perfect or fitting. And like you said, that last panel is... well, it's the last Y.