Comment

Comment by BLU Year on January 15, 2013 at 5:47pm

Then I guess we just have to disagree. But some of your points I just can't seem to even understand. How the comic in any way, shape or form ends in a happy ending is beyond me. The ending is a sham of what Yorick and everyone involved wanted personally. He becomes unable to truly have the love of his life, he can't get along with the woman he impregnated, he ends up alone and for all intents and purpose insane. That's not clear cut in the happy sense. It's a portrayal of loss. Women end up pretty much by default as sole proprietors of the Earth, and considering that the population was getting once again started, in no way was this change retconed by successfully presenting new male offspring. That's patently false, and no doubt a new culture of power followed suit. The details of that is unknown, though, the comic isn't a journal on how deeply a society changes. The discussion is also one that is well engaged, throughout the book. The question of whether men are actually a detriment to society; are women better off without our interference? Are we too violent? It's a question I don't really think can work in real life, it's circumstantial and all that and is based on generalization, but used as a framing device for a concept that is rarely used, if at all, was rather refreshing to me. I thought it had something to say. 

The "proto-Amazon" excuse though is a bit thin. Unless you consider any post-man-earth living woman to be part of this group then I can kinda see that but it is also dismissive of how  they are used, which I liked. It wasn't the same character over and over again and considering the context of the new world they now inhabit, women had to take roles  that in any other adventure would have a man in the same spot, and the same can be said with any other form of media. "How many crazy androids will Decard fight next? What sort of villain will Johnny Quest face next? What absurdist, imaginative and meta adventure will be involved in Adventure Time?". Maybe I just liked it and I have nothing to compare it to in terms of a concept.

I'd say the strength of the series for me was the development. Yorick's interesting yet ultimately unfortunate ending to his life journey is bittersweet and unexpected. 353 was able to grow from her shell, Yorick's sister coming to terms with her jealousies and problems, etc. It's arguably the real reason the comic exists. (for me anyway) Most of the things that happen in some way affect the journey of their development. Maybe it just spoke to me because I found it vastly entertaining watching these people grow.

Maybe Yorick is a bit too much  of a perfect protagonist in the sense of his sensibilities, but if anything to me his naivete was one of his downfalls early on. But I haven't read it in a long time. Might be forgetting something or might not.  

I see I was to apprehensive with my post before. I've encountered so little dissent for "Y" it's sometimes hard for me to back up a bit (happens with other things. I'm not part of the "Y" defense force) I concede that to be a problem. I'll check that comic out,though, both of them, hopefully it's somewhere in the net due to me currently being broke and not much comic traction where I'm from. Perhaps upon reading them I can get a sense from where you're coming from. God knows I feel that way sometimes and not without reason. Is it over-hyped? I guess. I think it's a great comic but I would hesitate to call it my favorite. It can go for far too long and some choices I wasn't that crazy about. But the possibility of widening the material for movies derived from comic books is too good to pass up. It isn't just capes and tights. I hope we get there someday. 

Comment by Ross O'Brien on January 15, 2013 at 2:08am

Sorry, BLU Year, slight revision to my conclusion: I missed your point on NOT being excited about it as a film.  I hope you get your miniseries. Bst Rgds

Comment by Ross O'Brien on January 15, 2013 at 2:01am

BLU Year:

You can't convince me of something being 'really smart' by simply SAYING it is really smart. I'm happy to be convinced otherwise, but you are only describing a literary product in the most broad, abstract terms--and, in my opinion, none of them apply to the actual product "Y" is.   Be alarmed by my assessment, as you like; I'll remain alarmed by the paucity of intellectual depth in "Y", to whit (and I've tried to be spoiler-free, or at least vague, but anyone concerned about such things who haven't read "Y" and want to are advised to stop here):

--A quest narrative plot driven by a hackneyed cross-country, then cross-globe, trip. I grant that the quest is a staple of all fantasy, great and poor, and impossible to avoid as a device, but it is nevertheless rendered stale by endless amounts of 'which badass proto-Amazons are after Yorrick this issue?' feints which make me long for the taut pacing of Bruce Banner meanderings in the old Hulk TV show.  

--On the contrary to your assessment, there are in fact no substantive gender issues discussed in "Y", because there is NO richness in any of the characters engaged in the discussion. You have Yorrick, a socially immature naif-as-holy-fool hero--again, fine, standard-issue stuff--but he isn't compelling because his supposedly substantial (if buried) inner life is only brought out in lazy shorthand brushstrokes-he MUST have depth because he's into dorky magic and has mommy issues. He only interacts with women who are, to a one, all clumsy Tarantino-style Fox Force Five cartoons.  OK, perhaps in the apocalypse only women who can use guns and knives and look hot as a cosplay icon would survive, but it sucks the dramatic life out of the proceedings, and does not appear recognizably human.  

--Rather than be a meditation on the future of humanity, the ending is a hollow happily-ever-after where all the Last Man's loose love triangle ends get neatly sewn up and life proceeds as a relatively recognizable facsimile of the traditional family values, but with a little asexual reproduction. (Want a really challenging and exciting rethink of what a post-sexuality dystopia does to the essence of humanity? Read Michel Houellebecq's. The Possibility of an Island).

Now, I love comics, and have all my life, but I've read enough in my life to not be fooled by an action comic which mashes up genres in order to pose as a deep read on the essence of humanity.  The book has over-wrought, under-written characters, a protagonist absolutely devoid of sympathy who only learns to survive and milk his status as a scarce commodity, and a boring, over-long "quick! get on the train/plane/sub" plot, and the only reason this concerns me is that the comics world is over-stuffed with such mediocre product. 

This, of course, is simply my opinion. I'm happy you like it, and that you are excited by it's future as a film. Unlike you, I don't find the opinion of others absurd--just unconvincing. For me, "Y" is massively over-hyped, which compounds my disappointment of it as a hollow, immature read. Those wanting to read a compelling, thought-provoking tale of a dystopian future with real, complex commentary on gender relations are well-advised to pick up any collection of Carla Speed McNeil's Finder--and measure the intellectual and philosophical distance between it and "Y" with an odometer. 

Comment by BLU Year on January 14, 2013 at 5:27am

Ross O'Brien

That must be the weakest critique I have ever heard of Y The Last Man. How is that even encompasing the well written dialogue, pacing, buildup, subtext, characters and overall execution? Also, your dismissal of the comic's conceit is most alarming. There is some really smart and interesting gender commentary going on. All of it ending up as an ambiguous morph that the reader has to decide for himself. Same goes for the origin of the plague. Calling it "geekporn" (which can be attributed to anything if the material isn't up to snuff in terms of quality and execution; not the case here) is just absurd. 

Comment by BLU Year on January 14, 2013 at 5:20am

This just shouldn't be a movie. A miniseries or something similar to that would work better. The story is just too long and that's just how it should be. Let the unnecessary heartbreak begin. 

Comment by Ross O'Brien on January 14, 2013 at 2:55am

I know Brian K. Vaughn is a comicbook god, revered by all, and Trachtenberg's Sarah Conner-meets-the-Truman-Show short is fairly nifty (if predictable), but I can't get excited about this. The conceit of Y the Last Man is a geekboy's splooshy masturbatory mash-up. It is shallow and not compelling, with its If-these-hot-girls-could-only-see-the-real-badass-behind-my-dorky-exterior tropes and dystopian cliches.  A dorky magician with a monkey (and a India Jones-ish girlfriend in far-away Australia...yeah. Uh-huh) becomes the belle of the Amazonian ball, hotly desired by Cleopatra Jones-style superbad spies, IDF warrioresses and hot Japanese scientists while sorting out his mommy issues with the president. Right...too much geekporn to get behind. 

Comment by Richie Vega on January 13, 2013 at 9:21pm

It was a collaborative effort... I don't know if a single man should take full responsibility.

But as (presumably Brian) spill said it was top notch in ways a director could have had big influence on so I'll go and masturbate as celebration of this news, just as any sane person would.

Comment by DennisBel on January 13, 2013 at 12:43pm

Plus I don't think Trachtenberg's short film is significantly better than say Freddie Wong's better work. :p

Comment by DennisBel on January 13, 2013 at 12:41pm

Getting Trachtenberg for the job is a pretty interesting experiment, even though it's an extremely risky choice. The short film was a lot of fun, but it's in no way a guarantee that he will make a good or even a decent film. I'm curious to see what he's gonna do with the material. 

Comment by Serj Spill's Octopus on January 12, 2013 at 9:17pm

Y's strength was it's character development. The 355 in the beginning is not the 355 in the end of the comic, and that was a long and gradual change that felt natural. A movie can't convey that, and Y doesn't have any grand story arcs to focus a movie on.

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