Many thanks to Shailaja and Jason for the great CD they gave me containing the 34 comics that make up the Y: The Last Man series. It’s about a young man named Yorick and his pet monkey who find themselves the last surviving males in a world where all other Y-chromosomes have been mysteriously destroyed. Despite my reluctance to read for long periods on a computer screen, I’m looking forward to getting through the whole thing soon - Jason says it’s better than Sandman, which is a very big claim. (Incidentally a knowledgeable little birdie tells me the series doesn’t end at #34.)Lots of other on-computer reading to do as well. The New Yorker DVDs have been gathering dust for the last three weeks and there’s something else I can’t mention here, which I want to try and finish before December. And of course there are always blogs – being Internet-deprived for 5-6 days at a stretch (as I recently was) can be scary when you have around 120 Bloglines subscriptions and you know there will be 600-odd unread posts a-waiting when you next log in (even if 150 of those are from Boing Boing and can be skimmed over).
Why?
ReplyDeleteJai - I am apalled that you had not heard of Y earlier. Particularly you, given that you know your graphic novels so well.
ReplyDeleteAnd, by the way, Y: The Last Man will end with issue #60, another 4 years from now.
Icidentally, I'll be in Delhi next month - will probably stay with the Duck, and I will be bringing the first 5 GN's of the series (#1 - #31) with me, as well as the first 6 GN's of 100 Bullets, so if you would like to actually turn paper pages with your fingers, give me a call when I'm there.
Ani: had a feeling you'd comment on this post! Actually, I don't know graphic novels as well as I'd like to - really only know the best-known/most accessible ones: Maus, LXG, From Hell, Sandman, Palestine and a few others. So I have much to learn from you grandmasters. Young duck has my number. Get in touch when you're here.
ReplyDeleteWill certainly do. Looking forward to it.
ReplyDeletealso, while Y-TLM is lovely, its not quite up there with sandman/watchmen, at least not yet. i think its about as good as fables, or ex machina...stunning concept, though. i think i have till #39.
ReplyDeleteah, so ani IS staying at my place. glad to know :) get here fast.
that's right, feel free to use my Comments section to discuss your living-in plans...
ReplyDeleteI have it till 36, and it's one of the best new series I have read. Vaughan has my utter respect - he's pulled a great twofer with Ex Machina and this one.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised nobody noted the stunning artwork by Pia Guerra. At times minimalist, at times detailed, it's always brilliant. I didn't see the need for the guest artists they used in a few issues.
Aditya: yes, Aishwarya told me you'd been going on about the series for ages.
ReplyDeletePuranjoy: didn't we have a graphic novels discussion once before? Thought we did. Anyway, they're available in India to a much greater extent than before. Can't tell you how to get the "whole lot", because there are thousands, but a few off-the-cuff recos (based on my limited knowledge) would be: Art Spiegelman's Maus, Marjane Strapi's Persepolis and especially Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vols 1 and 2 - have blogged about all these before.
Ah yes. It is a lovely series. And I discovered comics very late (just a few months ago) so I'm expressing all the pent-up fascination of my tender years right now. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for blogrolling me!