Y: The Last Man #1

One man, one monkey

Y: The Last Man begins with a disaster: on July 17, 2002, every mammal carrying a Y chromosome dies at the same moment, with two exceptions. One is Yorick Brown, an amateur escape artist; the other is his pet, a male capuchin monkey named Ampersand.

The first issue's 32-page story, "Unmanned," opens with the line "Something's wrong!" and cuts between scenes in Brooklyn, Boston, Washington, the Australian Outback and the Middle East. In its central moment Yorick proposes to his girlfriend Beth over the phone just as the plague strikes. The issue also introduces the characters who drive the series: Agent 355, the geneticist Dr. Allison Mann, Hero Brown and Jennifer Brown.

The date was not random. The comic went on sale on July 17, 2002, the same day as the plague in its pages, and July 17 is also Brian K. Vaughan's birthday.

A young writer and a convention-trained artist

Vaughan was born on July 17, 1976, in Cleveland. He studied film at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and broke into comics through Marvel's Stan-hattan Project, a program for aspiring writers. He had carried ideas for the series since childhood, but began writing it after his wife became pregnant with their second child, building parenthood into its themes.

Pia Guerra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to a Finnish mother and a Chilean father, and fell for comics at 10 when a cousin left an X-Men issue at her house. Instead of following a traditional path, she worked the convention circuit as a teenager, contacted Vaughan and met him in San Diego. Y: The Last Man was her big break. Inker José Marzán Jr. joined her on the art, and J.G. Jones painted the covers.

Vertigo after 9/11

The series launched under DC's Vertigo imprint in a year when Washington was building the Department of Homeland Security and President Bush was talking about an "axis of evil." The first issue's settings included the White House, Jordan and Palestine.

Critics took to it quickly. Publishers Weekly called the series "entirely convincing—and addictive." It won three Eisner Awards, including Best Continuing Series in 2008, the same year Guerra and Marzán shared the Eisner for Best Penciller/Inker, and its final volume was nominated for a Hugo Award in 2009.

First printing and reprints

The first printing is the September 2002 issue at $2.95 with J.G. Jones's painted straitjacket cover. The story has been reprinted often: a Double Feature Edition in December 2002, the first trade paperback, Unmanned, in February 2003, a Special Edition in September 2009, and later deluxe, Absolute, omnibus and compendium editions.

CGC 9.8 copies sell regularly. From 2023 to 2026 they have changed hands online for between about $150 and $400, and sales near $300 have been common.

From page to screen, eventually

Y ran 60 issues, ending in March 2008. Vaughan went on to write for television's Lost, run Under the Dome, and create Saga with Fiona Staples and Paper Girls with Cliff Chiang; he has won 14 Eisner Awards. Guerra later turned to editorial cartooning for The New Yorker and The Washington Post.

Hollywood took years to adapt the book. Several film attempts at New Line Cinema stalled, with director D.J. Caruso attached in 2007 before leaving over creative differences. An FX on Hulu series starring Ben Schnetzer as Yorick premiered in September 2021 and was canceled after one season.

The numbers

Pages

44; lead story 32 pages

Cover price

$2.95 U.S., $4.95 Canada

On-sale date

July 17, 2002

Series length

60 issues, 2002-2008

Timeline

1. Jul 17, 1976

   Brian K. Vaughan is born in Cleveland.

2. Jul 17, 2002

   Y: The Last Man #1 goes on sale, cover-dated September 2002, on the same date as the plague in the story.

3. Dec 2002

   Vertigo publishes a Double Feature Edition reprinting the first issues.

4. Feb 2003

   The first collection, Unmanned, is published.

5. 2006

   Pia Guerra wins the Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Comic Book Artist.

6. 2007

   Director D.J. Caruso is attached to a film adaptation, then leaves the project.

7. Mar 2008

   The series ends with issue #60.

8. 2008

   Y wins the Eisner for Best Continuing Series; Guerra and Marzán win Best Penciller/Inker.

9. 2009

   The final volume is nominated for a Hugo Award.

10. Sep 2009

    DC reissues the first issue as a Special Edition.

11. Sep 2021

    The FX on Hulu series premieres; it is canceled after one season.

The world in 2002

• Jan 29, 2002

  President Bush calls North Korea, Iran and Iraq an "axis of evil."

• Feb 8, 2002

  The Winter Olympics open in Salt Lake City.

• May 3, 2002

  Spider-Man opens in theaters.

• Jun 11, 2002

  American Idol airs its first episode.

• Jul 21, 2002

  WorldCom files the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.

• Oct 2, 2002

  The Beltway sniper attacks begin in Maryland.

• Nov 25, 2002

  President Bush signs the Homeland Security Act.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Y: The Last Man #1 is number 85 of 100 in the comics entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (86 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The plague in Y: The Last Man strikes on July 17, 2002, the day the first issue went on sale and Brian K. Vaughan's 26th birthday.
• Ampersand, the only other male mammal to survive, is a capuchin monkey.
• Pia Guerra got hooked on comics at 10 when a cousin left an X-Men issue at her house.
• Vaughan began writing the series after his wife became pregnant with their second child.
• The first issue was reissued as a Special Edition in 2009, and reprinted again in 2014.
• Guerra later became an editorial cartoonist for The New Yorker.