Y: The Last Man

After reading Y: The Last Man, it left me feeling unsatisfied. Although I was unsatisfied with the way it ended it definitely captured my attention and was hands down my favorite reading thus far. Unlike many of the other readings I wanted to read more when the selection was finished. I am really curious as to what happens to the world as a whole with Yorick being the only known man left on the planet. I was really into the reading to say the least. However, I still do not see where some of the characters fit into the whole story. It is as if they were introduced near the beginning and then forgot about. I really enjoy movies and fictional topics that deal with the White House or some sort of rebel group. In this case both were main topics in the plot. I am really curious to see how Hero and Yorick react when they see each other, because I KNOW it is going to happen. I will probably search for the rest of the series online.

The Last Man

I found the graphic novel "Y-The Last Man" to have a quite unusual take on an apocalyptic event. The sudden death of any mammal with a y chromosome is a refreshing take on the apocalypse, not often explored in our common scenarios of nuclear dooms-days and chemical or biological warfare. In this scenario, inability to reproduce as a species brings about the apocalypse. The plot explores the possibilities of an all female society and creates an answer to the common question of "would the world be a better place without men?" "The Last Man" answers that no, society and human nature remains just the same. There are still murderous outlaws and gangs like the Amazons, the central government of the United States is still dysfunctional, there are still power-hungry military leaders that become dictators and go against the will of their people, etc. The basic human nature has not changed with the elimination of males, just the gender of the people creating the problems.The senator's wives, or the "Republicans", provide the scenario that women, just as men, will jump to dangerous decisions and act in haste and emotion, showing that *humans* have fatal flaws. This, however,  is just one view on this possibility for a female-populated apocalypse. I would be interested to see how others view this scenario and see how similar it is to "The Last Man".

9/30/14 Kaia Hayes

Y: The Last Man was a very engaging and thought-provoking read. The art was very well done, and succeeded in conveying so much more than a traditional text could have in that amount of space. I found the protagonists very interesting; there was good character development and for the most part, reactions were pretty realistic. The scene at the Washington monument made the detached, stoic behavior, especially that of Yorick's, stand out however; seeing the mass of mourners made me realize how little the emotional reaction to this massive loss had been highlighted in the main characters. This felt a unnatural to me, but it may also be due to the fact that it is hard to keep track of the irregular time frame in which the scenes are occurring.

I  appreciated the way the series serves as a blatant reminder that the gender gap has left women radically unprepared to deal with such a large scale catastrophe, spanning all levels of social and political structure. The sheer minority of women in congress, combat, etc. meant that those most eligible for, say, president of the United States, were only slightly more qualified than the average citizen. It is crucial that more women are able to rise to positions of authority and influence, and become equipped with the necessary skills for decision-making and social change-- not only in the event of such a disaster, but because they can better contribute to a world in which they represent half of the total population.

I thought it was also interesting that in the aftermath of the plague, many of the original issues were still very clear and present challenges to those attempting to rebuild society. The men might be gone, but racism, social and political hierarchy, and gang activity were highlighted throughout the series regardless. This shows that it is not so much an issue of male nature, but human nature. Gender inequality, while highly influential and interconnected with many other issues, is but one category we as humans use to define and differentiate between ourselves. It is instinctual, and to think that the removal of the male gender would improve the situation is simplistic-- the women in the graphic novel simply stepped up to fill the position of oppressor, perpetuating the system under a different brand of discrimination.

Children of Men Reaction

I found a strong similarity between the comic book excerpts and the film Children of Men. Both works explored what it is like to be the “other” in a post-apocalyptic world. When something happens to dramatically alter the current way of life in a society, for example, the elimination of every man on the planet, people regress into a state of panic. This state makes them turn to violence and forgo rational problem solving. Instead of working to talk with Yorick, the women in the Amazon tribe and all women in general wanted to use him and eliminate him from their new wasted society. This caused a huge problem for his safe transportation. This same dilemma was seen in Children of Men. Kee and her baby had to be hidden from the public because of possible violent reactions from other people, when the people of society should have protected Kee for their own interest. The affect of shock makes people behave irrationally towards people who are different.

Response to "Y: The Last Man" - Alex Kendig - 9/30/14

At one point while I was reading, Y: The Last Man, I looked up from the computer screen and realized that I was sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation of what would happen next; I have never enjoyed a graphic novel more in my life. Not only was the dialogue entertaining, it was downright clever. I really enjoyed reading about the strange plague that reduced all male mammals in the world to corpses. Firstly, I think this is a very good plot-line for a graphic novel because it is very easy to illustrate what is happening around the world in a matter of a few pictures with the labels of the cities on them. An author writing a fiction novel probably has a harder time trying to illustrate a scene like that, quickly. 

The supposed last man on earth, Yorick, is an extremely likable character who can be very annoying at times, but still manages to garner the sympathies of the audience through his ability to pick locks and escape dangerous situations. I think Yorick is a bit too positive and jocular for a man who's lost all of his male friends and his father, but it didn't distract me from the overall plot of the story. Yorick's lack of grieving makes the story somewhat less believable, but it still achieves its foremost goal of entertaining the audience. I thought the addition of the "Amazonians" was a great idea for this graphic novel because it provided a realistic interpretation of what the irrational people do after catastrophes like the on in this graphic novel. Not everyone is looking for peace and tranquility so the Amazonians look for payback against the gender that oppressed them at times in their earlier lives. The writers do an effective job of switching between scenes to increase the suspense of each situation. The subtle humor works great in this post-apocalyptic context but it sometimes does detract from the realism of the situation. 

I think the writers of the graphic novel want American society to realize how important women are so women can earn the same salaries and job titles as men can. When the wives of the Republican congressmen open fire upon the White House this is an example of women taking control over a situation that was previously male-dominated before the disaster. Since everything breaks down after the men die, this is a metaphor for the fact that not enough women are trained to keep the basic undertakings of our civilization going in this country. I really enjoyed reading this and I certainly hope to read more of it, and graphic novels like it, in the future.