Why, 'Y'?! (spoilers)

[DJWhamo]

So, I just finished reading the 'Y: The Last Man' series, and while I loved it all the way up until the end, I have to express my dissapointment IN said ending.

YES, I know that it was probably done intentionally so that readers "wouldn't see it coming", and YES, I know there's some truth to the notion that stories with sad or otherwise questionable endings often stay with the reader longer than one that end in "happier ever after", but COME ON.

Not only did 355 die, but in the end, Yorick didn't even find happiness with Beth 2 OR Beth 1, AND ends up (before his metaphorical and actual escape at the end) being commited by his own daughter after trying to commit suicide!

This comes across to me as more of a combination author writing himself into a corner and trying to do something "unexpected". Seriously, what I think they should have done, and I hate to say it- is have had the Israeli's iced Beth 2, and had Yorick and 355 raise Beth Jr. as their own. You could have literally kept everything else the same, and I think it would have had a dramatic effect. Don't get me wrong, I loved the series, but I think that would have left a lot more readers happier, myself included.

[stealthwise]

I don't agree at all.

You're missing the fact that the entire series is just the first true adventure of Yorick's life, and that the flash-forward to the ending is right before his last adventure. The middle parts, the entirety of his adult life-span, is what's not covered, and from what we can glean, there are many significant moments that we're not privy to. Love it or hate it, it's not poor work and your post ends up devolving into "I would have done this instead..." which is pretty poor criticism. If 355's death pisses you off, that's fine, but it would have drastically altered the ending of the story, it's entire meaning, and what would happen to Yorick in the finale.

[DJWhamo]

I don't agree at all.

You're missing the fact that the entire series is just the first true adventure of Yorick's life, and that the flash-forward to the ending is right before his last adventure. The middle parts, the entirety of his adult life-span, is what's not covered, and from what we can glean, there are many significant moments that we're not privy to. Love it or hate it, it's not poor work and your post ends up devolving into "I would have done this instead..." which is pretty poor criticism. If 355's death pisses you off, that's fine, but it would have drastically altered the ending of the story, it's entire meaning, and what would happen to Yorick in the finale.

Well, then we do disagree. You seem under the impression that the "glimpses" we see in the end are part and parcel of separate adventures- I, and I'd imagine others, see them as merely tying up loose ends; some more satisfyingly than others. I think you overreact to my analysis- as I said, I loved the series- yet thought the ending was a bit disappointing in comparison. This is NOT the same as referring to the entire work as bad- indeed, I doubt I would have read to the end if I had thought so. The entire point of the post wasn't to merely say "I'd have done this different"- it IS possible to find fault in something without having a viable alternative at the ready- I do imagine there are at least more than a few readers out there who had similar thoughts; as I'm sure you yourself have if you've ever encountered a work you truly enjoyed save for perhaps an ending you thought was improperly executed.

[Superboy-Prime]

I agree with the first poster the ending didn't do it for me, was pretty mediocre to be honest.

[Superboy-Prime]

I agree with the first poster the ending didn't do it for me, was pretty mediocre to be honest.

[Superboy-Prime]

I agree with the first poster the ending didn't do it for me, was pretty mediocre to be honest.

[Shellhead]

The final issue of Y was amazing. Excellent artwork that featured perfect cinematic transitions from scene to scene. Great characterization. A full range of human emotion, from laughter to sorrow. A bold, meaningful ending that was true to the characters.

Sorry that your favorite character died, but a great story doesn't need a simple happy ending. Maybe this comic was actually too challenging, and you should stick to conventional superhero fare, complete with trivial deaths and meaningless resurrections. Or maybe you could try re-reading Y with a more open mind.

[Ryan Day]

If you read the whole series, it's kind of obvious the story was never going to have a happy ending. Death, loss, moving on, and outgrowing old ideas are the major themes of the book.

The series is full of death and tragedy - Yorick's first post-plague romance, the astronauts, 355's family, 711... Not to mention Dr. Mann's health problems, 355's injury, Hero's collection of physical and psychological issues, and, of course, Yorick's death wish and dreams of Beth turning into a corpse. It also fits into the theme of 355 sacrificing herself for her job.

It's a great series, and all the more meaningful, because of this. It's a beautiful ending because of the bittersweet nature of Yorick's life - it's tragic, but also incredible.

Killing off Beth 2? Hardly any dramatic value. She's a bit player in the book, a diversion from Yorick's main pursuit that he barely considers after leaving her. He'd feel bad if she died, but nowhere near the effect of 355's death.

[suttercain]

I agree with the first poster the ending didn't do it for me, was pretty mediocre to be honest.

Agreed.

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

[clarapandy]

for me, the ending was perfect and a bold move by vaughan.
the more obvious "hollywood" endings, just wouldn't have suited it.

[Magneto X]

for me, the ending was perfect and a bold move by vaughan.
the more obvious "hollywood" endings, just wouldn't have suited it.

Yeah, I think I agree. It ended well.

[Violently Apathetic]

Maybe this comic was actually too challenging, and you should stick to conventional superhero fare, complete with trivial deaths and meaningless resurrections. Or maybe you could try re-reading Y with a more open mind.

Is the patronizing tone really necessary?

[Mladen]

I personally really liked the second-last issue and everything that happens in it and leading up to it. For me the main thread of the story is Yorick's growth into a man, finally fulfilling the book's title... The extinction of all the men (which at first glance looks like the plot of the series) was almost just a vehicle for Yorick's character journey, which was the series' main story. The second-last issue is the ending of the series.

The last issue is really only an epilogue, not required reading by any means, but wraps up loose ends etc...
But, I dunno, there could have been another way to do it besides the jump-ahead-twenty-years device (reminded me a lot of those pointless 'reunion' episodes you see of long-cancelled tv shows).

[Tanjint]

I found it a little reaching that Yorick couldn't find happiness with Beth II. I could see him always feeling that 'one that got away' kind of way about 355 but that he couldn't be happy with any of the women on earth after was a bit hard to believe BUT it is a great irony on an artistic level so I respect the decision and see why it was done.

What I didn't like about Y and am hoping Ex Machina doesn't do this....is that we never really learn the cause of the plague and it doesn't explain what happened to Ampersand very well AT ALL. Yorick feeds him something to kill him, right? am i right? why is he putting ampersand down? I don't understand this.

-T

[Chiasm]

Put me in the letdown by the ending category.

Though my biggest disappointment was not getting confirmation on my suspicion about what 355's name was. I'm pretty sure it was also Beth.

[Spiffy]

I don't agree at all.

You're missing the fact that the entire series is just the first true adventure of Yorick's life, and that the flash-forward to the ending is right before his last adventure. The middle parts, the entirety of his adult life-span, is what's not covered, and from what we can glean, there are many significant moments that we're not privy to.
My issue has always been that the finale didn't illustrate this as well as it could have. Or rather, it did disclose that there was much more to Yorrick's life, but it really made it seem bleak. Which, I dunno, maybe to avoid a totally happy, shiny ending it had to. But it was hard to escape a little "gee, he deserved better than this" feeling.

[Shellhead]

Is the patronizing tone really necessary?

It was too harsh, but I find it surprising that people would read Vertigo comics looking for conventional storytelling and safe, happy endings. Agent 355 died the same way that she lived her life: violently. A happy ending for her would have been a cop-out.

[Violently Apathetic]

It was too harsh, but I find it surprising that people would read Vertigo comics looking for conventional storytelling and safe, happy endings.

I think this mindset only holds true if you believe that to be a compelling, or 'unconventional,' story you have to have a downer ending. OBVIOUSLY Agent 355's death was thematically consistent with her character, but at the same time killing off the female love interest just as the male lead expresses his love for her could be considered a little trite in its own right. Truth be told, I would have been much more surprised had 355 and Yorick been able to hook up and make an honest attempt to create a life together. Would it have made for a better story? Probably not, but I think it would have been just as unexpected, given the overall mood of the story.

[Infra-Man]

Thinking about the end of Y, while it didn't leave me feeling happy, it did leave me satisfied. There's just something bittersweet about that twist concerning Beth and what happens to 355, and after such a long journey in a world just starting to put itself back together, heck, no wonder it would end on the note it did.

But, you know, I smiled at that last image of the straight jacket as the eponymous "Y." It's late in life, but maybe Yorick finally broke free of those things that never worked out in his life, and in escaping, he'd come to terms with it all.

[Sean Walsh]

Thinking back on Y, I'm actually REALLY glad it didn't have the traditional happy ending.

In fact, ever since Yorick's mom was killed I knew the series wouldn't end happily. And yet I kept reading.

(REALLY gotta get around to read the entire series in one sitting, like I've been wanting to do since I learned #60 was the end...)

[DJWhamo]

It was too harsh, but I find it surprising that people would read Vertigo comics looking for conventional storytelling and safe, happy endings. Agent 355 died the same way that she lived her life: violently. A happy ending for her would have been a cop-out.

WARNING: SPOILERS OUTSIDE 'Y'.

For starters, try reading 'Transmetropolitan' and 'Preacher'. 'Lucifer' had a predictable yet acceptable ending, though not what some might consider "happy". Even "Sandman"'s ending didn't seem like a cop out. Don't think to presume what I'm "used to".

See, but you are only focusing on the one aspect of my problem with it. It could have very well worked with her dying. Another poster mentioned that the second to last was really the ending, and the absolute last was more of a wrapping up the lose ends. Even if they kept the ending of the second to last, I just felt they could have done a better job in that department. He never found happiness at all, as yet another poster mentioned, is indeed far fetched.

[suttercain]

WARNING: SPOILERS.

Even though a central character died at the end of '_________' (and it certainly wasn't conventional to traditional fare in a variety of ways), they still made the ending of the series not seem like a cop out.

Wow... so much for that series. You should really put something about SPOILERS that are outside the Y realm.

[stealthwise]

Wow... so much for that series. You should really put something about SPOILERS that are outside the Y realm.

Don't worry, he didn't technically ruin anything, as you can kind of tell what happens a mile away. I'd highly recommend reading Sandman still.

[DJWhamo]

Wow... so much for that series. You should really put something about SPOILERS that are outside the Y realm.

Changed- but really sorry about that. Never the less- Stealth is right, what I mentioned is led up to in quite a few issues before, and never the less, the series is quite worth it. Please also change yours now, as I have, to hopefully prevent others from feeling that way.

[drinkblatzbeer]

The final issue of Y was amazing. Excellent artwork that featured perfect cinematic transitions from scene to scene. Great characterization. A full range of human emotion, from laughter to sorrow. A bold, meaningful ending that was true to the characters.

Sorry that your favorite character died, but a great story doesn't need a simple happy ending. Maybe this comic was actually too challenging, and you should stick to conventional superhero fare, complete with trivial deaths and meaningless resurrections. Or maybe you could try re-reading Y with a more open mind.

not to try and veer too off topic, because I've read most of Y in tpb form and the last 2 arcs as comics and liked it alot, but i do agree the ending just didn't fit my taste...

but this exact critique of someone's post is just ridiculous...
to imply the original poster didn't read this with an open mind because they didn't like something, nor agreed with how you viewed the book, is entirely pig headed and makes you look like a total ass...
maybe you should step back from your own opinions and rethink something based on what other people's varying opinions think...then maybe you'll have a more encompassing of idea of what's being presented...

[PKIronMan]

I think it's a stretch to say that we're just not privy to the rest of the goings on that Yorick went through. That could be said about every flash-forward lousy ending with the unexpected but dry twist. And?

The Beths or 355 didn't resolve. Yorick's daughter rise to power?

There was at least another trades worth of comics to be written to bring it to a better close. Although if the creator gets tired and needs to just close it, that's their right... but it will narrowly miss my cut of 'must reads' due to the poor close between volumes nine and ten.

[Shellhead]

not to try and veer too off topic, because I've read most of Y in tpb form and the last 2 arcs as comics and liked it alot, but i do agree the ending just didn't fit my taste...

but this exact critique of someone's post is just ridiculous...
to imply the original poster didn't read this with an open mind because they didn't like something, nor agreed with how you viewed the book, is entirely pig headed and makes you look like a total ass...
maybe you should step back from your own opinions and rethink something based on what other people's varying opinions think...then maybe you'll have a more encompassing of idea of what's being presented...

Sorry, but I reject your criticism. The original poster wanted a conventional happy ending, so he should have stuck to conventional comic books. Vertigo comics are more edgy and experimental, so Vertigo creators shouldn't be forced to conform to bland, mainstream story-telling. Besides, this isn't about my opinion about how the story should end, it's about BKV's opinion about how the story should end. These are his characters and his story, and nobody is better qualified to decide the ending.

[Steven F.]

Personally, I was not looking for a happy ending, or anything "traditional"...having said that, I was disappointed with the final issue. It just didn't excite or even interest me in the least. Big letdown in my opinion.

The rest of the series is probably one of my favorite of all time.

[drinkblatzbeer]

Besides, this isn't about my opinion about how the story should end, it's about BKV's opinion about how the story should end. These are his characters and his story, and nobody is better qualified to decide the ending.


So, you're saying that once the writer finishes their story no one should have an opinion?

why even have message boards in that case?

only if everyone agrees with what was presented??

[DJWhamo]

So, you're saying that once the writer finishes their story no one should have an opinion?

why even have message boards in that case?

only if everyone agrees with what was presented??

Shellhead's just being stubborn, and trying to save face. If he had read my last comment, he'd be well aware that I am quite read in Vertigo comics, and was certainly not advocating that the comic have a "conventional" ending, or even necessarily a happy one. I just happened to find that the way in which they chose to end 'Y', on VARIOUS levels, felt lacking.

[Shellhead]

So, I just finished reading the 'Y: The Last Man' series, and while I loved it all the way up until the end, I have to express my dissapointment IN said ending.

YES, I know that it was probably done intentionally so that readers "wouldn't see it coming", and YES, I know there's some truth to the notion that stories with sad or otherwise questionable endings often stay with the reader longer than one that end in "happier ever after", but COME ON.

Not only did 355 die, but in the end, Yorick didn't even find happiness with Beth 2 OR Beth 1, AND ends up (before his metaphorical and actual escape at the end) being commited by his own daughter after trying to commit suicide!

This comes across to me as more of a combination author writing himself into a corner and trying to do something "unexpected". Seriously, what I think they should have done, and I hate to say it- is have had the Israeli's iced Beth 2, and had Yorick and 355 raise Beth Jr. as their own. You could have literally kept everything else the same, and I think it would have had a dramatic effect. Don't get me wrong, I loved the series, but I think that would have left a lot more readers happier, myself included.

Okay, I am re-visiting this original post, to see if I missed anything crucial.

You loved the series up until the end, which you found disappointing. Okay.

You admit that sad and questionable endings tend to be more memorable.

Then you declare your preference for an ending which would have been happier. Your previous statements indicate that you realize a happier ending might have been less memorable.

So you second-guess the writer who has otherwise written a lengthy series that you loved. You think that he should have written a happier ending where the guy gets the girl that he loves.

I have several problems with your happy ending. First, you are assuming that happy ending is automatically better than an unhappy ending. Second, you are assuming that an otherwise creative and original writer would be satisfied writing a conventional ending to an unconventional story. Third, you assume that you, the reader, are more qualified than the actual writer to tell the ending to this story that you otherwise loved.

This isn't standard DC/Marvel superhero comics where everybody is writing characters that were created decades ago by other writers. No, BKV created 355, Yorick, the Beths and every other character in this series. As the writer, he knows things about these characters that we will never know, because he knows all the things that they might have done that he decided not to write. And he knows how those characters would have reacted to those different scenarios. I believe that it's entirely reasonable that BKV thought through the happy ending that you mentioned, and he wasn't satisfied with the way it would play out with his characters. Since you otherwise loved this series, I think it would plausible for you to give him the benefit of the doubt that he wrote the best ending that he could.

But no, you're stuck on happy endings. Hollywood and Walt Disney apparently raised you to only be satisfied with stories that have happy endings, where the hero and his lady walk off into the sunset together, happily ever after.

Although you don't mention it in the post that I quoted, you claim elsewhere to be a Vertigo fan. So you are theoretically familiar with the differences between happy Hollywood endings and edgy, strange, often downbeat Vertigo endings. Or are you? Which Vertigo comics have you been reading? Did they all have happy endings? If not, what did you enjoy about those comics despite the lack of a happy ending?

[Herr Mike]

I love the notion that only stupid people like happy endings.

[drinkblatzbeer]

yeah, his argument seems pretty much to be soley based around the idea that he can't believe someone would be so bold as to think a vertigo book could possibly have a happy ending...

[carabas]

Preacher and Transmet had happy endings.

But I don't reall think Y had an unhappy ending. More like a bittersweet one. Ikay, Yorick wound up with a dead love of his life, but several character do wind up happy, and the world pretty much is completely recovered from an event that could have simply terminated all life on earth.

[BUDSHAD]

Sorry. I wanted a happy ending. :evilsmile:

[jeangreydp]

I just finished reading Y: The Last Man.

I read the entire series in four days. That book was incredible!


I really enjoyed the ending, well maybe not 'enjoyed' but I felt like it was fitting. It made me cry like a baby when I read it, but I think it will always stick with me. There are certain panels from that book that I will never forget.

[grphxkindaguy]

I agree with the first poster the ending didn't do it for me, was pretty mediocre to be honest.

Ditto!

I was very disappointed w/the ending...