I'm reading the graphics of Y the Last Man and all I can say is that I am so glad that I didn't read this as a monthly title, I don't think I could have handled the wait between issues. It never really interested me when it first came out because it just seemed like such a Skinemax-y premise. All of Earth's men die except, for one, so obviously for the sake of humanity he would have to sex, sex, lunch, then some more sex. Let the hot tub parties begin. Great concept for a late night pay cable movie but maybe not so much for a comic.
But then I started hearing rumblings about the book. I started hearing it was smart, fresh, funny, and political. I heard it was one of the best books no one was reading. So I bought the first graphic novel and I was blown away. Brian Vaughan is a tremendous writer. His view of a world run women is probably not what most people would think. I have heard the slogan and seen the bumper sticker, "If the world was run my mothers, there would be no war." Not in Vaughan's universe, baby. His women are vicious and brutal and smart and brave and angry and sad and relieved and depressed and noble and petty and war-like and peace loving and murderers and philosophers. They can be anything and many things. The one thing the women are not are bumper stickers. They are incredibly well rounded and 3-dimensional. The world is not a peaceful Utopia but then again it wouldn't be. It's a world where fifty percent of the population has died and what that means to the survivors. This book is about the left wing, the right wing, cloning, feminism, how one faces loss, and hope. Do yourself a favor and read it. I'm only on Book 3 but already I'm a believer. Hopefully the rest of the series will hold up. I'll let you know.
I haven't said anything about the end of Straczynski's run on Amazing Spider-Man (One More Day). I'm still thinking about about it. I do know that I didn't like it but it was pretty powerful. That everything could be simply erased like that, with just a simply push of the reset button is almost disrespectful to all the creators that have come before. I'm not a continuity whore, but come on, we're talking about forty years of history here. That Peter's and MJ's whole relationship just never happened is ridiculous. But I can't deny that Straczynski did a masterful job. He's one of my favorite writers and I'll follow him on whatever he writes, so I feel bad about bagging on the guy, but this arc was just so damn ill conceived . Love it or hate it, people are talking about it.
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