Y: The Last Man (The Deluxe Edition: Book Four) (DC/Vertigo)

Y: The Last Man (The Deluxe Edition: Book Four)

DC/Vertigo

Written by Brian K. Vaughan; Art by Pia Guerra, Goran Sudžuka, José Marzán Jr., Zylonol, and Clem Robins; Covers by Massimo Carnevale

Dec 08, 2010 Web Exclusive By Kyle Lemmon

This fourth deluxe hardcover (issues #37-48) of Y: The Last Man begins with the journey Yorick Brown's male Capuchin monkey Ampersand took since the last collection (issues #24-36) of the Eisner Award-winning series. The little guy's genes may prove to be the solution to ending the worldwide gendercide, and much of the drama centers on ensuring his safety. Book Three saw writer Brian K. Vaughan (Lost, Ex Machina, Runaways) hitting a few narrative speed bumps and cul de sacs, but here he starts stepping on the gas.

We thankfully get boatloads of action, adventure, mystery, and suspense. The origin of Brown's mysterious protector is definitely intriguing, as is the continued search for his fiancée in Australia with Agent 355. From there, Brown and his group travel to Japan to find out the meaning behind Ampersand's kidnapping. Vaughan delivers adventure of the highest level and drama at its darkest.

Pia Guerra's clean-yet-impressionistic art has always been a highlight since issue one, and Book Four is no exception. Solid panels by additional penciller Goran Sudžuka are slighlty different, but not noticeable enough to be a detriment. He has his own style that works in tandem with Guerra and Vaughan's female-run Earth. Inker José Marzán, Jr. balances out the light and dark colors based on setting, character interactions, and of course, plot. That's one aspect that always helped this classic series: it maintained its relatively upbeat color palette and main characters in spite of the dire subject matter.

Unlike Vaughan's writer buddies on Lost—whom eventually found themselves in a narrative corner—he continued to delight readers up until the end of Y: The Last Man. The closing chapter of Yorick Brown's post-apocalyptic tale left a few fans cold, but Book Four, and much of the forthcoming Book Five (issues #49-60) are still quite excellent. This hefty and quite striking volume shows the care its series' creators took to ensure a quality product. A full script at the back of the book isn't exactly worth the price of admission ($29.99) though. Some more behind-the-scenes ephemera would have helped. Well, there's always Y: The Last Man's filmic and consistently enjoyable through-line to help you forget. (www.dccomics.com/vertigo)

Author rating: 8/10

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Average reader rating: 7/10