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| Y: The Last Man Vol. 4: Safeword | 
 enlarge | Author: Brian K. Vaughan
Publisher: Vertigo
Category: Book
List Price: $12.99
Buy New: $6.77
You Save: $6.22 (48%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 7708
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 144
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 6.6 x 0.6
ISBN: 1401202322
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9781401202323
ASIN: 1401202322
Publication Date: December 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Continued Excellence December 9, 2004
5 out of 17 found this review helpful
Simple. If you liked the first three episodes, you'll like this one.
If you didn't like the first three, why are you reading graphic novels anyway? You clearly have no appreciation for the genre, and should consider a move to Harlequin romances, an oeuvre more suited to your delicate sensibilites.
If you haven't started the series yet, get volume 1 and get busy. You've got some catchin' up to do.
 Story keeps moving forward October 2, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Y: The Last Man is simply one of the best regular books out today and comes highly recommended. The gist is great: Something kills every last male on the planet. Humans, animals, all of them. Except for this one guy and his monkey. Cue post-apocalypse, Standish troubles. Chaos ensues, governments fall, militant women go nuts, doomsday religions pop up, and on and on and on. It's a nice twist on a done-to-death (no pun intended) concept, this time in comic form.
This installment, Safeword, is a little weak in its first half (though it does contain some nice revelations about the title character), but plunges into a very good second half that again pushes the main story forward. This story arc did not leave me floored like the last arc did, but it certainly had me eager to continue with this great series. The art is a little vanilla, but the story is great.
Recommended reading. HIGHLY recommended.
 The Adventure Continues... October 27, 2005
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
I missed all the hype about this series, and just happened upon the trade paperbacks at the library. 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 three books, this fourth picks up the story of Yorick, his government agent bodyguard (Agent 355), and the geneticist (Dr. Mann) who might be able to solve save humanity. On their way to a genetics lab in California, they trek though Colorado, where they find the cabin of ex-Agent 711, an old friend of Agent 355. It's decided that Ampersand's wound (sustained in the last book) needs antibiotics, so Agent 355 and Dr. Mann head to town to find some, leaving Yorick in the care of Agent 711. The first half of the book is just him and her, and involves some totally ridiculous therapy (if you know what a "safeword" is, you can guess what's involved). The only thing this does is deliver some of Yorick's backstory, and attempt to explain Yorick's celibacy over the course of the previous books. Major issues like survivor's guilt and suicide are dealt with in a totally unconvincing way, and the whole thing is pretty laughable and gratuitous.
In any event, Agent 355 and Dr. Mann return for Yorick and the trio moves on into Arizona. The second half of the book details their adventures when they come up against a roadblock of I-40. Apparently an octet of survivalist secessionists has disrupted all interstate commerce, causing food shortages on either side. It's not clear why all the truckers can't just detour around this one stretch...but whatever... It's also not clear how these paramilitary ladies have managed to be so disruptive. Their camp is in a depression between two hills, so any reasonably intelligent attacker should be able to devastate them. Not to mention the panel on page 101 that shows all six able-bodied women coming out into the open in a group to confront one unarmed person! Granted, it makes for a nice composition, but one grenade from someone hidden in the bushes and the problem is solved... And yet, they are described as having killed 11 of the 12 Texas rangers who attacked them? Anyway... rather implausibly, the trio gets involved in all this and there's plenty of bloody action.
It should be noted that the penciling in the second part of the book switches from co-creator Pia Guerra to Goran Palov, and it's pretty jarring. Palov's action scenes are nice and fluid, but the main characters' faces look radically different, which is a big no-no to me in such a character-driven story. All in all, the book operates at the same level as the rest of the series, if you like 1-3, you'll probably like this one.
Put To The Test February 16, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Things never seem to go right for Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth. Nearly two years ago, a mysterious plague wiped out every mammal with a Y chromosome except for Yorick and his pet monkey Ampersand. Along with the mysterious Agent 355 and geneticist Dr. Allison Mann, the trio is going to California in order to get to some research that could be mankind's last hope. After the mysterious events of the mini-arc known as Comedy & Tragedy, 355 and Dr. Mann leave Yorick in the care of one of 355's former colleagues, Agent 711 (remember that the numbers are pronounced Three-Fifty-Five and Seven-Eleven, making for a great one-liner) while the two ladies go to a hospital to help the wounded Ampersand. Of course, something unexpected occurs, and Yorick has to question certain things that he once believed. We also get a glimpse into the history of the Brown family, including a hint at a traumatizing event in his sister Hero's past.
Furthermore, yet another militant women's group makes an appearance, though this one has a much different political agenda than ones previously seen. The end leaves Yorick in a strange place emotionally that will be very interesting to explore in future issues.
As usual, Brian K. Vaughan doesn't disapoint. The story remains engaging, and the humor is great, while the overall dark tone remains. The art is great, and may even be improving. If you haven't started Y yet, get on it soon!
Gets better with each passing volume May 19, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Safeword, the fourth collected volume of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's smashing Vertigo title Y: The Last Man, continues the journey of Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth. When his pet monkey Ampersand (who is the only other living male mammal left on the planet) gets sick, Yorick's cohorts Dr. Mann and Agent 355 drop him off with 355's old partner, the sexy Agent 711. What happens next tests everything that Yorick has come to known, and he makes a startling discovery about himself in the process. The second storyarc finds Yorick and co. stuck in the desert and up against a crazed militia who have their own agenda. With tough choices and revelations abound for everyone involved, the direction that the series will go in is shaped more clearly now than ever before. Like previous reviews have stated, Safeword is easily the most mature of the series so far, with Vaughan's storytelling getting better panel after panel. Pia Guerra's artwork serves it's purpose as it has before, but it's Vaughan who steals the spotlight here. If he keeps this up, his name will be in the same breath as modern day masters Ennis, Ellis, Morrison, and maybe even Moore.
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