adastra reviewed Y, the last man. by Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man (10))
Review of 'Y, the last man.' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
(This is a review of the entire series!)
I was very excited about this graphic novel - a dystopian world in which all men but one mysteriously die? But I was hugely disappointed, as this isn't the feminist utopia I was looking for. It's anything but, and the fact that this title was written by a man should have warned me. It's very obviously a title written by men for men, as it's pretty much every man's fantasy to have a world of women at his disposal, isn't it?
Well, the comic cleverly tries to avoid such implications by making Yorick, the last man, a very sensitive, fairly unmasculine, English major. He doesn't take advantage of his situation at all, rather, he is on a 5-year quest around the world to find his girlfriend, who was in Australia when the men a died (while Yorick was in the US).
And …
(This is a review of the entire series!)
I was very excited about this graphic novel - a dystopian world in which all men but one mysteriously die? But I was hugely disappointed, as this isn't the feminist utopia I was looking for. It's anything but, and the fact that this title was written by a man should have warned me. It's very obviously a title written by men for men, as it's pretty much every man's fantasy to have a world of women at his disposal, isn't it?
Well, the comic cleverly tries to avoid such implications by making Yorick, the last man, a very sensitive, fairly unmasculine, English major. He doesn't take advantage of his situation at all, rather, he is on a 5-year quest around the world to find his girlfriend, who was in Australia when the men a died (while Yorick was in the US).
And that's where the comic started bothering me - we're presented with a post apocalyptic world in which society has broken down. No more phones, no more electricity, no more planes. I find it utterly unrealistic that a world full of women would be unable to maintain the basic functionalities of society. Of course there might be an adjustment phase, but after that, women would be perfectly capable of doing anything men can do. It just takes some organizational skills, which I daresay women are much better at than men.
The comic also displays it's dystopia full of gangs and criminality. Again, I find this very unrealistic. I don't think women would go quite as far as the ridiculous Daughters of the Amazon are going. The comic is full of similar fanatics, like the Israeli soldiers who want to claim the last man for the future of their country. Knowing what I know about Israel, I find this pretty unlikely.
The whole conclusion to why the wipeout happened was not very satisfying either, it was rather ridiculous. There would have been much better scenarios as to why all males suddenly died.
Allover, this title was a huge disappointment for me. Where is the feminist utopia in which women lead a better world?
