Book Review: Y: The Last Man Vol. 2 by B. K. Vaughn et al.

Y: The Last Man Volume 2: Cycles written by Brian K. Vaughn, pencilled by Pia Guerra, and inked by Jose Marzan, Jr.

Yorick Brown's cross-country adventure continues as he, Agent 355, and Dr. Mann take a train to California to the doctor's back-up laboratory. Mann has been working on cloning and hopes to clone Yorick so he won't be the last man. A couple of toughs encounter the travelers in Ohio, forcing them to jump from the train. Yorick winds up in an idyllic-seeming town where all the women are nice and caring. The women are welcoming but also fearful because they have a secret they don't want let out...especially to any authorities, like his government covert spy traveling companion. And what about that Russian woman who is going to Kansas for some unexplained reason?

The idyllic town is a little unbelievable given the overall story's set-up. The explanation for why they are in such great shape and of their dark secret both strain credibility. I have the impression the authors are either going for blatant social commentary or subtle Swiftian satire. The problem is how unclear their intentions are. Neither interpretation is satisfactory because neither one is well executed. I don't think it's meant to be a meandering, fantastic adventure with a deeper but obvious meaning like The Odyssey. The deeper message isn't that deep or else it's too deep to be fathomed. Either way, it is not for me. I'm done with Y: The Last Man.

Not recommended.

Book Review: Y: The Last Man Vol. 1 by B. K. Vaughn et al.

Y: The Last Man Volume 1: Unmanned written by Brian K. Vaughn, pencilled by Pia Guerra, and inked by Jose Marzan, Jr.

Yorick Brown is the son of an English teacher (hence the Shakespearean first name) and a United States Representative. He and his pet monkey Ampersand are the two survivors of some mysterious agency that killed every male on the planet. Yorick is on the run, hoping to get to Australia where his girlfriend is hiking the Outback. He proposed on the phone just moments before the disaster struck. His continued existence is a secret he has maintained. By the time he gets to D.C. to talk to his mom (he kinda hoped that he had some genetic immunity that also saved his dad (but it didn't)), society has changed. A group of women who are called "the Amazons" go around wiping out sperm banks and any other chance for maleness to return. Other women try to get things back to normal but with half the work force gone, that's a lot of work to do. A special secret agent (code named "355") comes back to D.C. and is tasked by Yorick's mom to get Yorick to the leading cloning expert, a female doctor in Boston named Mann who tried unsuccessfully to clone herself just as the disaster struck.

The book has a very intriguing premise and is somewhat creative in establishing a world without any men in it. Unfortunately, it goes through an annoying bit of establishing its liberal credentials. It bashes Republicans, gun ownership, and pro-life issues, none of which are relevant to the story. If you can roll your eyes and move on, the other writing is pretty good. I'm willing to give this another volume.

Mildly recommended.

Parental warning: In spite of the liberal leanings, the book does have a surprising amount of scantily clad females (which you think wouldn't go along with left-wing ideology). The gender politics and commentary about abusive language is more expected, though not at all kid-friendly.

Book Review: Runaways Vol. 2 by B. Vaughn et al.

Runaways Volume 2: Teenage Wasteland written by Brian K. Vaughn, pencils by Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa, inks by David Newbold and Craig Yeung, colors by Brian Reber and Christina Strain

Review of last issue here.

The six Runaways are settling in to their new hideout but, being teenagers, have trouble planning their next move. Their parents, a group of villains who call themselves the Pride, are searching for the children and have resources in every precinct and media outlet around. The Runaways try to lay low. They go out for some food only to discover the convenience store is being robbed. They save the youngest robber, who claims his parents forced him to do it after they gained superhuman powers in an industrial accident. So naturally the Runaways welcome him into their group. He throws off the group dynamic, especially when he gets romantically involved and has his own character twist. After cleaning up that mess, the Runaways have a run-in with Cloak and Dagger, two teenaged superheroes from New York City. Cloak and Dagger have been brought in by the LAPD to help find the kids, though they are being manipulated by the Pride in order to get their kids back, safely if possible. More action and comedy ensue.

I was surprised to see how quickly this series turned into a "problem of the month" narrative. Only slim hints point to the bigger story arc where the Runaways actually deal with their parents. Even so, the writing is witty and the characters are fun.

Recommended.

Book Review: Runaways Vol. 1: Pride & Joy by B. Vaughn et al.

 Runaways Volume 1: Pride & Joy written by Brian K. Vaughn, pencils by Adrian Alphona, inks by David Newbold and Craig Yeung, colors by Brian Reber

Six teen-age kids get together once a year when their parents have a secret meeting about their charitable activities. They all live in Los Angeles and have no other connections to each other. Alex, whose parents are hosting the event, has recently discovered secret passageways in the house. He convinces the other kids to spy on the secret meeting, though everyone thinks it will probably be boring. Once they get to the one-way mirror looking down into the locked library, they make a shocking discovery. Their parents are a group called The Pride and they are just about to sacrifice a teenage girl as part of their annual ritual. One kid shouts and the rest panic. They barely make it back to where they were supposed to be when some of the parents come to check on them. The kids feign innocence. They meet up later to decide what to do about it. Soon enough they are on the run from their parents, who also have moles in the local police and media. Going public is no help to the children. Things look pretty bleak.

On the other hand, the children do have undiscovered superpowers or technology that lets them fight against their parents. Another of the kids, Chase, knows a secret cave where a hotel sunk into the ground during an earthquake. That's their new lair where they plan how to undo the damage their parents have done and right the wrongs in the world, etc.

The premise is very interesting and full of promise. Author Vaughn delivers fun characters in an intriguing storyline. The kids' dialog is laced with lots of hip and up-to-the-minute references, but it was originally published in 2003, so it reads slightly dated. Still, it's fun and I'm certainly old enough to know what they are talking about. I originally read this series about ten years ago and am thoroughly enjoying a revisit.

There's a television series on Hulu which I would watch if we were subscribers.

Recommended.

Book Review: Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon

Pride of Baghdad written by Brian K. Vaughan and art by Niko Henrichon

In 2003, during the Second Iraq War an American bombing raid hit the Baghdad zoo. Several animals escaped including four lions. This graphic novel is an imaginative telling of the tale from the lions' point of view. One lion grumbles about their conditions at the zoo while another reminisces about life outside while a third is happy with their captivity (which means safety) when the bombs hit. They flee to the streets where they have to make difficult decisions with their new-found freedom. Life is a lot harder when you have to find your own food and your own way in the world.

The book is surprisingly graphic in telling the life of the lions. It's not just the gore of them eating or the bombs blowing apart animals, but also terrible betrayals and an implied gang-rape. The abruptness of events is bracing, leaving the reader with a sense of urgency and sympathizing with the lions, even when they are not the most admirable characters. This book is no Disney version of events and is not for kids. But it does give adults a lot of interesting meat to chew on.

Book Review: Saga Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga Volume 4 written by Brian K. Vaughan and art by Fiona Staples

The story of on-the-run family Marko, Alana, and their daughter Hazel continues. They are lying low on a planet where most jobs are in the Saga universe's the equivalent of the cable television industry. Alana has taken a job on a superhero show while Marko stays home with the kid. He takes Hazel out to the park but disguises himself with some bandages on his face. He meets a mom who is a kids' dance instructor and he signs Hazel up for lessons. Alana is mad about this because they are supposed to keep a low profile (she keeps her profile low by constantly wearing her costume on set, though the mask hardly hides her face as much as his bandages do). Marko wants to give Hazel a normal childhood, or as normal as they can get while on the run from their respective planets. Their troubles provide the main drama of the story.

Other parts of the story continue as well--Prince Robot IV finally comes out of amnesia in time to chase after the kidnapped son he doesn't even know was born (it was a long amnesia). The bounty hunters continue not really searching for Marko and Alana since they have their own personal dramas.

The overall story is still a bit too much like a soap opera for my taste. The bigger issues are generally ignored for the sake of small domestic problems that are not as compelling. The world building is still interesting. The violence, language, and sex content is extreme, which I don't enjoy and isn't really necessary to the story. The art does look good, even if the content is questionable.

Another disappointing volume in the series.

Book Review: Saga Vol. 3 by Brian K.Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga Volume 3 by Brian K.Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Fugitives Marko and Alana continue their adventures trying to stay ahead of their pursuers. Actually, they are holed up in the cosmic lighthouse of author Heist, whose book inspired their star-crossed love affair. Marko's recently widowed mom takes a liking to the author, who reciprocates her feelings. Their relationship feels forced but I guess in this universe every adult needs a significant other.

Back on Alana's home world of Landfall, two tabloid reporters are trying to chase down the story of a Landfall soldier falling for one of their sworn enemies. They find a lot of people who don't want the story to get out but are willing to hint to the reporters all about it. The reporters are meant to be sympathetic because they are searching for the truth AND they are a gay couple from a world that frowns on that sort of thing. Their relationship seems superfluous to the story but I guess in this universe every adult needs a significant other.

Meanwhile the Freelancer assassin called The Will is trying to get his ship repaired so he can continue pursuing the couple. He and Marko's ex, Gwendolyn, are shipwrecked on an idyllic planet where they strike up feelings for each other while dealing with hallucinations of a sexual nature caused by eating local plants. Their relationship is sort of credible but I guess in this universe every adult needs a significant other.

After a lot of excellent world-building in previous issues, this issue wanders off in all these other directions while slowly winding its way back to the fugitive storyline. Maybe it's all building to some thematic payoff in a future issue but I've rapidly lost interest in the main story and all the side stories.

On the plus side, the author living in the lighthouse has some interesting discussions about writing, as do the reporters. Humor is dosed throughout the book at a nice pace and the art is good. The non-romantic character development is interesting but there isn't enough of it. For me there aren't enough pluses to outweigh the minuses, so I'm done with Saga even though another volume just came out recently.

Book Review: Saga Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Book Review: Saga Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Fugitive couple Marko and Alana are on the run from their respective homeworlds which are locked in a galaxy-spanning war. Both sides want the couple's existence hushed up and have been trying to kill them and their daughter, Hazel. Marko's parents have come to help him and are slowly won over by the rest of the family. But not without causing a lot of trouble first.

Meanwhile, the Freelancer bounty hunter hired to kill the couple has an interesting side story. He gave up when a fellow Freelancer died. To console himself he went to a bordello world where he was shocked by the offer of an under-age girl. He decides to save her from sexual slavery. An agent from Marko's world (who is also Marko's ex Gwen) helps him out to get him back on the job.  Gwen is motivated more by revenge than politics but her motivation keeps the story moving ahead and more interesting.

Flashbacks show how Marko and Alana fell in love when Marko was a P.O.W. Alana read a book that she found completely fascinating and she read it to him. They both liked the story and discussed it as a metaphor for how their planets can be reconciled. Whether the author intended it or not, the book sparked their love. Back in the current story, the robot royalty from her world seeks out the author, assuming she's fangirl enough to hunt her favorite author down. He also sees the message of the book (though of course he sees it as subversive), resulting in an interesting discussion about authorial intent and artistic interpretation.

The book has a lot of interesting, creative world-building in it as they chase across the galaxy. The human interest is still very high. I want to see what will happen with the characters. The depiction still has a lot of unnecessary (and weird) nudity and sex that doesn't serve the storytelling and which I am starting to find tedious. Overall, it's still a fascinating story.

Book Review: Saga Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga Volume 1 written by Brian K. Vaughan and art by Fiona Staples

A couple having a baby on their own is a bit traumatic, more so if they are from different sides of an on-going war. Alana and Marko are on the run from the authorities on both sides of the Landfall/Wreath war. Landfall is the largest planet in the galaxy, Wreath its moon. The war has spread across the galaxy and our star-crossed lovers met on Cleave, one of the many battlegrounds of the war. The story opens with the delivery of their daughter. They argue over her name when the Landfall forces break in and try to capture them. Luckily, the Wreath forces show up and the new family are the only survivors of the firefight. They go on the run with no particular destination in mind other than away from the war. Meanwhile, both sides hire Freelancers (basically bounty hunters) to hunt the couple and their "unnatural" offspring.

The plot is engaging enough but it's not clear to me where the story is going. The story is partially narrated by the child, who talks about these past events and drops vague hints about the future--not enough to predict where the story is going (other than the child survives).

The science fiction world is quite elaborate. The moon people have horns (mostly curved like goats or branched like deer) and long ears. The Landfall people are more diverse. Some have wings and normal heads (Alana is one of these), others have no wings and TV monitors for heads. The later are often referred to as "robots" but they definitely engaging in biological activities like sex and dying. Maybe they are cyborgs but definitely they are the ruling class on the planet. As a first issue, I suppose a lot of world-building has to be done before the story gets too deep.

I found the story intriguing enough to keep going.

Parental Advisory: there's a lot of full-on bad language; a couple of sex scenes; a lot of naked people (both in sex scenes and out); peril to the child (naturally); some violence with gore (people getting chopped in half or their heads in half or their entrails hanging out, etc.). Teens and up is my recommendation, though you know your child the best.