Thu Jan 24, 2008 — by Rick Marshall

Y: The Last Man Concludes

How are you celebrating Y: The Last Week?

It's been difficult to ignore all of the hub-bub concerning Brian K. Vaughan's long-running series Y: The Last Man drawing to a close this week. But seriously, why would you want to?

Of course, "Y: The Last Party" on February 8 will no doubt provide the best seat in the house for celebrating the end of such a great series - and the fact that the event is raising funds for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, well, that's just a little good-karma bonus. Heck, even Joss Whedon will be there!

However, if you're like me and can't get a ticket (or a flight) to the big blast, you've had to make do with reading all of the great coverage the conclusion of Y is receiving. Take, for instance, this piece from The Portland Mercury that includes all sorts of fun comments from Vaughan about his work on Y, as well as other projects.

Chances are Y's audience never knew they wanted a genre-defying book that'd somehow blend Star Trek references with socio-sexual politics. Y's disparate but graceful mix is echoed in another of Vaughan's books, Ex Machina, about a superhero mayor of New York. "Ex Machina was probably born out of watching the political debates and thinking, 'This would be so much better if someone just had a jetpack!'" Vaughan says. "I guess I have always [balanced] being intellectually curious and just a dumb kid who just wants to see ray guns and ninjas and pirates. It's never been like, 'Oh, I'll be able to sneak in something really smart if I hide it behind pirates and these other trappings!' That's just who I am. I like that balance of both the profound and the profoundly ridiculous."

I guess the owner of my local comic book shop was on to something when, six years ago, I asked for a recommendation to fill out my weekly stack and he tossed me a copy of Y: The Last Man #1.

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