What follows is a little more "Twilight Zone" than "Omega Man" and that's a good thing. Writer Brian Vaughan shows us he can switch gears and tell a different type of story without derailing the main plotline. The town of Marrisville, Ohio has a secret and Yorick and his motley crew are unwittingly caught up in it when the denizens of the town help them out. Marrisville's residents have a dark past which has been partially exorcised by the plague that killed all men...or has it?

Yorick's sister, Hero, and her Amazon sisters aren't far behind, another plotline that comes to a head in this installment of Y.

This story's not as strong as "Y: The Last Man--Unmanned," but it does a good job of continuing the story presented in the first installment and clarifying some of the themes that will apparently dominate this series.

Yorick is very much an "innocent abroad," not just a sole survivor but also an outcast, a pariah, and maybe an unlikely savior. "Cycles" was entertaining and thought provoking and I look forward to the next volume in the series, "One Small Step," due out in March 2004. The title should give you some clue as to what the story's about. Hmm. What goes up, orbits the Earth and must eventually come down?


The plot thickens ...   October 23, 2003
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This is the second story arc in the adventures of Yorick. He is literally the last man on Earth - all other men died in a second of mysterious causes. The story, which seems to be the ultimate male fantasy, is really a thriller boarding on horror. It's not a dream - it's a nightmare!
There are women, who consider the death of men to be the will of Mother Earth, and so they'll do anything to get the planet rid of the last one, then there are Israeli commandos, and ... oh, no, I won't spoil it for you!
Considering the premise, the tone of the story itself is surprisingly realistic, and the dialogue is superb.
This story is better in the collected form - this is the way to read Y, and not to read a chapter once a mounth.
Compaired to the first story arc, this one is less dramatic, but mostly because it deals with a smaller cast and scale.
There are talks of "Y - The Last Man" movie. I, personally, think it's too early to make a movie, 'cause the series has just started. And it shouldn't be a movie - a series of movies, or better a TV series.


This is a man's world   March 16, 2004
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

"Y the Last Man" is consistently an excellent comic, and I think that along with 100 Bullets, it's Vertigo Comics' next big thing. The setting of "Cycles" is the world after a disease has killed all male mammals from the unborn to grown humans and animals. The only known surviving males are Yorick brown, struggling escape artist, and his pet monkey Ampersand.

"Cycles" goes on to show more reactions to a world without men and how society restructures itself. At the start; we find that pretty much all pilots are dead now and our protagonists are trying to barter their way onto a train to get to California. This sets up Brian Vaughan's clever, charming dialogue. For the most part, the dialogue is all perfect, it is often funny, when that's what Vaughan wants; or it can show a more serious side.

Pia Guerra's art is very good, it reminds me of the artwork in "Preacher". Not to say that Y the Last Man is as objectionable as Preacher is to some, but the style and facial detail reminds of Steve Dillon's work in "Preacher". Also, "Cycles" comes with like 8 pages of Guerra's sketches in the back, which are nice. My favorites are early pencil drawings of Yorick's bodyguard Agent 355, it's interesting to see how different the final product is.

I reccomend "Cycles" highly based on the great story as well as the spiffy artwork, It's short, although the next trade paperback "One Small Step" is supposed to come out very soon which means we can all get our fix of Y the Last Man.


The Plot Barely Thickens   September 23, 2005
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

I missed all the hype about this series, and just happened upon the trade paperbacks at the library. So far, it's good, very solid storytelling and art that grabs you, but is perhaps not quite as amazing as the many gushing reviews I've since read make it out to be. The premise, as the title says, is that some kind of plague spontaneously kills every male on earth at the same instant -- except a 20something slacker named Yorick and his monkey Ampersand. Following the events of the first book, we pick up the story of Yorick, his government agent bodyguard (Agent 355), and the geneticist who might be able to solve save humanity, as they try to make it cross-country from Boston to San Francisco.

The Amazon death squad (which melodramatically includes Yorick's sister) is still hot on his trail, and the mysterious Israeli army officer from the first book is also in hot pursuit. The bulk of the story takes place in Marrisville, Ohio, after the trio is forced to jump off a train. This is an apparently idyllic small town leaving in peace and seclusion compared to the big cities seen in the first book. Of course, the town of 67 women has a dark secret, and when it's revealed it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. And when Yorrick is let in on the secret, he inexplicably flies off the handle about it in a jarring scene that comes out of nowhere. It's a major misstep by the authors, and one that has no storytelling purpose whatsoever. This volume climaxes in a showdown between the heroes and their Amazonian pursuers, and the meeting between Yorick and his sister is handled well.

However, the most intriguing part of the story is a very minor person who makes only two appearances in the background of the story, but has some earthshaking information that no one seems to listen to. this leads to a great full-page reveal on the last page of the book, whetting the appetite for more. As in the first book, there's some nice humor and the artwork is adequate. Since the cross-genre premise has been established in the first book, this volume is a little less interesting, as it consists of little more than the heroes geographical advancement and a few other background plot points. But I'll certainly keep reading to see what happens in volume three.


A worthy sequel to a fascinating graphic novel   May 25, 2004
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

As with the first "Y: The Last Man" book, both the art and storyline continue to be very good in "Cycles." The plot is extremely engaging with lots of interesting characters who continue to be developed as the series is progressing. Because the story hinges on a number of mysteries being revealed in the course of the book, I won't go into any spoilers here. Suffice to say, if you liked the first book, you won't be disappointed with the sequel. The dialogue is very clever and natural sounding - no stilted phrasing here. The book's action-packed pacing continues and remains riveting, with no dull moments in the book. Pia Guerra's artwork is extremely good, and I'd almost recommend the book solely on the art, if the storyline itself wasn't so engaging.

I really get the feeling that there's a much larger story that has yet to be revealed and I can't wait to see how things turn out. "Y: The Last Man" has an extremely thought-provoking plot that really makes you wonder how society/civilization would restructure itself (if it even could) if almost all the males of the species died.

I've just purchased the third graphic novel in the series because I liked this one so much.. The second book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I can't wait to see how it's resolved - and obviously, I can't wait to discover what the cause of the whole catastrophe was.