Six months or so after everyone read the final issue, I finally get to read the final volume of Y The Last Man.
Is this the Six Feet Under of comics? Not quite. But that final story packs a hell of a punch. Brian Vaughn comes perilously close to “Oh god, I’ve got to tie up every single theme in the entire series!”, but he manages to skirt the edges of it and pulls it off. It’s sad, and depressing, and heartbreaking, but also hopeful and optimistic.
And yes, I cried. I can admit it.
But a complaint: For all the talk of “writing for the trade”, it doesn’t seem like anyone’s doing “production for the trade.” Almost all of the Big Reveal pages and panels are on the right-hand page, meaning the big surprises are visible before you get to them. This is kind of annoying, and seems so easily preventable.
I may have more coherent thoughts on this later (though you probably know by now that whenever I say something like that, I never mention it again), but the short version? Y is a great book, and one I think will stand the test of time. And as much as I hate to see it end, it’s important that it does, and does so with style, humour, emotion, and drama.