| Y: The Last Man | |
|---|---|
 Cover page ofY: The Last Man #1 byJ. G. Jones. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher |
|
| Schedule |
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| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | September2002 – March2008 |
| Main characters | |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Brian K. Vaughan |
| Pencillers | |
| Inker | Jose Marzan Jr. |
| Collected editions | |
| Unmanned | ISBN 1-56389-980-9 |
| Cycles | ISBN 1-4012-0076-1 |
| One Small Step | ISBN 1-4012-0201-2 |
| Safeword | ISBN 1-4012-0232-2 |
| Ring of Truth | ISBN 1-4012-0487-2 |
| Girl on Girl | ISBN 1-4012-0501-1 |
| Paper Dolls | ISBN 1-4012-1009-0 |
| Kimono Dragons | ISBN 1-4012-1010-4 |
| Motherland | ISBN 1-4012-1351-0 |
| Whys and Wherefores | ISBN 1-4012-1813-X |
Y: The Last Man is apost-apocalypticscience fictioncomic bookseries byBrian K. Vaughan andPia Guerra published byVertigo from 2002 through 2008. The series centers onYorick Brown and his petCapuchin monkey Ampersand, the only males who survived the apparent global die-off. The series was published in sixty issues byVertigo and collected ina series of ten paperback volumes and later a series of five hardcover "Deluxe" volumes. The series' covers were primarily byJ. G. Jones andMassimo Carnevale. The series received threeEisner Awards.
A ten-episodetelevision series adaptation of the first volume aired onFX on Hulu from September 13 to November 1, 2021.[1]
On July 17, 2002, all living mammals with aY chromosome—includingembryos andsperm—simultaneously die, with the exception of a young amateur escape artist named Yorick Brown and hisCapuchin monkey, Ampersand. Many women die as a secondary effect of male deaths, such as plane crashes. Society is plunged into chaos as infrastructures collapse, and the surviving women everywhere try to cope with the loss of men, and the belief that, barring a rapid, major scientific breakthrough or other extraordinary event, humanity is doomed toextinction.
Yorick's mother, a member of theU.S. House of Representatives, commissions Agent 355 of the secretCulper Ring organization to protect Yorick. The two travel to meet geneticist and cloning expert Dr. Allison Mann, who works to discover why Yorick survived and find a way to save humankind. Due to damage at Mann's laboratory in Boston, the trio first travel across the country to Mann's other lab in San Francisco, then to Australia and Japan.
During the trip, the group is chased by multiple parties who know of Yorick's existence and want to capture or kill him for their own purposes, including anIsraeli army commando named Alter, the militant Daughters of the Amazon, and a ninja. They are aided by Yorick's sister, Hero, a Russian soldier named Natalya, an astronaut named Ciba, a former flight attendant named Beth who becomes pregnant after a one-night stand with Yorick, and Rose, an Australian sailor.
In China, the group learns Mann's father, Dr. Matsumori, is also still alive and has created many clones of Allison Mann. He reveals to Yorick that Ampersand had been one of his lab animals he was experimenting on. He believes Ampersand had been inadvertently shielded by what killed off other Y-chromosome lifeforms as a result of one of his experiments and that this protection was transferred to Yorick via pathogens. He also reveals that Ampersand ended up in Yorick's care by accident. When Mann learns that Matsumori plans to murder Yorick before committing suicide, she kills him. Armed with the samples and information she needs, Mann stays in China to work on cloning.
Yorick and Agent 355 journey toParis, France, where Yorick is reunited with his ex-girlfriend, whom he wanted to marry before the die-off. After initially celebrating their reconnection, Yorick realizes he actually loves 355. After meeting up with 355, Yorick tells her how he feels and she reveals she feels the same for him. Agent 355 is killed by Alter using a sniper rifle shortly thereafter. When Alter attempts to capture Yorick, he defeats her and says he believes her dedicated pursuit of him was actually a roundabout way of suicide. He lets her live, and she is remanded into the custody of the Israelis. Yorick and Beth become a couple shortly thereafter and raise their daughter together.
Decades later, Dr. Mann has succeeded in cloning Yorick seventeen times, along with thousands of copies of a small number of deceased males. Most of the world enjoys peace and prosperity as economic and technological development has resumed. Yorick and Beth's daughter isPresident of France. Yorick is institutionalized after making a joke interpreted as a suicide attempt. He is visited by one of his clones, who is the same age he was during the die-off event. After imparting advice to his clone, Yorick escapes.
The source of the plague that wiped out every living mammal with aY chromosome exceptYorick Brown, Ampersand, andDoctor Matsumori is never fully explained. A number of possible explanations are provided throughout the course of the series, but a definitive answer is left for the reader to decide. Discussing the cause of the plague, Vaughan is quoted as saying:
I feel that there is a definitive explanation, but I like that people don't necessarily know what it is. In interviews we always said that we would tell people exactly what caused the plague. The thing was, we never said when we were going to tell. We weren't going to tell you when we were telling you, I should say. We might have told you in issue #3. There might have been something in the background that only a couple people caught. It might have been Dr. Mann's father's very detailed, scientific explanation. It might have been Alter's off-the-wall conspiracy theory. The real answer is somewhere in those 60 issues, but I prefer to let the reader decide which one they like rather than pushing it on them.[2]
Three explanations are considered by the protagonists:
Other explanations put forth in the book include:
The film rights to the series were acquired byNew Line Cinema (asister company to Vertigo), and in July 2007 screenwriter Carl Ellsworth and directorD. J. Caruso were attached to the project withDavid S. Goyer as aproducer.[5]
Caruso intended on finishing the script in the summer and filming during the fall of 2008. The script would be a rewrite of the original draft written byJeff Vintar. Although Vintar's draft was faithful to the original comic book, the higher-ups at New Line Cinema seemed unable to fully embrace the material. A subsequent draft by Vaughan himself, which departed from his own comic considerably, was also unsuccessful in convincing the studio to proceed.[6]
Caruso maintained that the source material was too much to be told in one film and his team decided to concentrate on the best first film they could, which would end somewhere around issue 14 of the comic series. The entire comic series as a whole would be plotted into three films.[7] ActorShia LaBeouf, who worked with the writers on the filmsDisturbia andEagle Eye, was considered to play the role of Yorick, but the actor considered the role too similar to the characterSam Witwicky, which he portrayed in theTransformers series.[8] Caruso planned to use a real monkey, and not aCGI construct, to play Ampersand.[6] Caruso also said he would like to haveAlicia Keys for the part of Agent 355.[9]Zachary Levi, who played the lead in the TV seriesChuck, expressed interest in playing Yorick as he is a fan of the comic book series, even going as far as having his characterChuck Bartowski read theY: The Last Mangraphic novel in the episode "Chuck Versus the Nacho Sampler".
Caruso remained "loosely attached" to the project, but New Line refused to acquiesce on its development as a stand-alone movie as opposed to the trilogy Caruso preferred.[10] Caruso, maintaining "I didn't think that you could take Yorick's story and put it in to a two-hour movie and do it justice ... I just feel like it's too much for one screenplay", ultimately walked away from the project.[11]
In March 2012, formerJericho writers Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia entered final negotiations to write New Line's adaptation of the series, following in the footsteps of Vintar, Vaughan, and Ellsworth. J.C. Spink, Chris Bender andDavid S. Goyer were attached to produce; Mason Novick and Jake Weiner were named executive producers.[12] Reports in September 2012 suggestedNew Line was enthusiastic about the draft screenplay produced by Federman and Scaia, and had begun meeting potential directors to hire for the project.[13]
In January 2013, it was announced thatDan Trachtenberg would direct the film.[14] In June 2013, producer David S. Goyer announced having "a script that's as close as it's ever been," and suggested the film could go into production in 2014.[15] However, in January 2014, Brian K. Vaughan stated, "It's my understanding that the rights toY: The Last Man will revert to co-creatorPia Guerra and me for the first time in a decade if the planned New Line adaptation doesn't start shooting in the next few months."[16] On September 24, Trachtenberg confirmed viaTwitter the film was "Not happening. But it's in trusted hands (the creators)."[17] In a subsequent interview he noted that in fact, "The rights reverted back to Brian quite a few months ago."[18]
In 2011, a loose adaptation of the graphic novel was made in Portugal by Luís Lobo and Bruno Telésforo as an independentshort feature and school film produced byUniversidade Lusófona, which was premiered in theFantasporto film festival on contest.[19]
In November 2010 French directorLouis Leterrier expressed interest in adapting the series for television.[20] In October 2015,The Hollywood Reporter reported thatFX was developing a TV series ofY: The Last Man produced byNina Jacobson and Brad Simpson alongside Brian K. Vaughan, who would also be a writer for the show.[21] In an interview withVulture in July 2016, Vaughan commented the FX series was, "very slowly coming to life. No news I can share, other than that it's all chugging along happily."[22] In November 2016, it was reported thatMichael Green would be the showrunner forY: The Last Man.[23][24]
On April 5, 2018, FX announced it had handed out a formal pilot order and enlisted Aida Mashaka Croal to serve as co-showrunner alongside Green, withMelina Matsoukas as director.[25] On July 11, 2018, FX confirmed the cast list for the lead characters in the TV pilot (titled "Y"), withBarry Keoghan as Yorick Brown,Diane Lane as Yorick's mother Senator Jennifer Brown,Olivia Thirlby as Yorick's sister Hero Brown, andLashana Lynch as Agent 355.[26] Production commenced on August 20, 2018,[27][28] and was ordered to series on February 4, 2019.[29]
In April 2019, Green and Croal exited the series due to creative differences.[30] In June 2019, it was announced thatEliza Clark would be replacing Croal and Green as the showrunner.[31] In February 2020, it was reported that Barry Keoghan had exited the role of Yorrick and the character was being recast.[32] Later that month, it was announced thatBen Schnetzer had been cast in the role of Yorick.[33] The role of Agent 355 was also recast, withAshley Romans replacing Lashana Lynch.[34] The series premiered on September 13, 2021 on FX on Hulu. In October 2021, the series was canceled after one season, with FX citing financial disagreements over requests to extend the cast's contract by $3 million on renewal.[35]
The comic series attracted wide-spread acclaim during its publication withComic Book Resources praising it as "a series that transcends the normal restrictions of most comic books"[36] andPublishers Weekly claiming that it was "entirely convincing—and addictive."[37]The Atlantic called it "this wonderful, affecting, intelligent, humane story."[38] Dan Phillips ofIGN felt that "the conclusion ofY: The Last Man is as close to a perfect ending as you're likely to see anywhere in the history of comics."[39]
Later reception was more mixed, withSyFy Wire writing that "the premise and execution are lazy, problematic" and "someone's best imitation of what they think a feminist plot would be"[40] andScreen Rant writing of the series' "problematic treatment of trans men" and unintentional implication that "gender identity is a matter of choice."[41]
The series currently holds a rating of 7.8 on ComicBookRoundup.[42]
| Vol | Title | Contents | Pages | Format | Release | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trade Paperbacks | ||||||
| 1 | Unmanned | Y: The Last Man #1–5 | 128 | TPB | Jan 2003 | 978-1563899805 |
| 2 | Cycles | Y: The Last Man #6–10 | 128 | Sep 2003 | 978-1401200763 | |
| 3 | One Small Step | Y: The Last Man #11–17 | 168 | May 2004 | 978-1401236199 | |
| 4 | Safeword | Y: The Last Man #18-23 | 144 | May 2004 | 978-1401202323 | |
| 5 | Ring Of Truth | Y: The Last Man #24-31 | 192 | Aug 2005 | 978-1401204877 | |
| 6 | Girl On Girl | Y: The Last Man #32-36 | 128 | 23 Nov 2005 | 978-1401205010 | |
| 7 | Paper Dolls | Y: The Last Man #37-42 | 144 | May 2006 | 978-1401210090 | |
| 8 | Kimono Dragons | Y: The Last Man #43-48 | 144 | 22 Nov 2006 | 978-1401210106 | |
| 9 | Motherland | Y: The Last Man #49-54 | 144 | 9 May 2007 | 978-1401213510 | |
| 10 | Whys And Wherefores | Y: The Last Man #55-60 | 168 | 18 Jun 2008 | 978-1401218133 | |
| Compact Editions | ||||||
| 1 | Unmanned | Y: The Last Man #1–10 | 248 | Digest | 21 Oct 2025 | 978-1799502890 |
| Compendiums | ||||||
| 1 | Compendium One | Y: The Last Man #1–31 | 728 | TPB | 10 Nov 2020 | 978-1779504531 |
| 2 Nov 2021 | TV tie-in cover: 978-1779516145 | |||||
| 2 | Compendium Two | Y: The Last Man #32–60 | 704 | TPB | 31 Jan 2022 | 978-1779516084 |
| Deluxe Editions | ||||||
| 1 | Book One | Y: The Last Man #1-10 | 256 | HC | 28 Oct 2008 | 978-1401219215 |
| TPB | 16 Sep 2014 | 978-1401251512 | ||||
| 2 | Book Two | Y: The Last Man #11-23 | 320 | HC | 12 May 2009 | 978-1401222352 |
| TPB | 10 Mar 2015 | 978-1401254391 | ||||
| 3 | Book Three | Y: The Last Man #24-36 | 320 | HC | 27 Apr 2010 | 978-1401225780 |
| TPB | 29 Sep 2015 | 978-1401258801 | ||||
| 4 | Book Four | Y: The Last Man #37-48 | 296 | HC | 26 Oct 2010 | 978-1401228880 |
| TPB | 16 Feb 2016 | 978-1401261689 | ||||
| 5 | Book Five | Y: The Last Man #49-60 | 320 | HC | 3 May 2011 | 978-1401230517 |
| TPB | 16 Aug 2016 | 978-1401263720 | ||||
| Absolute Editions | ||||||
| 1 | Volume 1 | Y: The Last Man #1-20 | 512 | Slipcase HC | 7 Jul 2015 | 978-1401254292 |
| 2 | Volume 2 | Y: The Last Man #21-40 | 512 | 20 Sep 2016 | 978-1401264918 | |
| 3 | Volume 3 | Y: The Last Man #41-60 | 544 | 4 Jul 2017 | 978-1401271008 | |
Y: The Last Man won the 2003National Comics Award for Best New Comic.[43]
In 2008,Y: The Last Man won theEisner Award forBest Continuing Series.[44]
In 2009,Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores was nominated for the firstHugo Award for Best Graphic Story.[45]
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Data from Wikidata