I'd be very interested in reading the thoughts of fellow diehard fans of the comic as the show progresses.
(I really can't be bothered to invest time into watching something that looks terrible to me from all the footage I've seen. I already got burned on Preacher and Jessica Jones, I can't handle any more adaptation disappointment)
Been ages since I read it, but wasn't there no official explanation given to the origins of the virus? There's a couple theories thrown around by characters, but ultimately it's up to the reader what they want to believe.
EDIT: yeah, this link has all the different theories summed up.
My favourite:
At one point, the characters discuss the possibility that the release of the film The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood shortly before the plague may have caused a massive "death-by-chick-flick."
Every other scene will be teenage drama and people being like "i don't care about the nuclear reactor. The only thing that's about to meltdown is my heart because I love you!"
The only real misstep I've seen so far is they haven't listed what the damage is from losing everything with a Y chromosome. Maybe they're going to bring that up later to sort of let the viewers know how much this changed the world but the comic hit the ground running letting you know the stakes. I'm surprised the show hasn't. That's the one big misstep I can think of so far.
that's one of the nitpick I have on episode 1 (and now I've just seen episode 2)
certain characters weren't introduced and the heavy political introduction of show (and episode 2) kind of show where this leaning compared to the comics
Been ages since I read it, but wasn't there no official explanation given to the origins of the virus? There's a couple theories thrown around by characters, but ultimately it's up to the reader what they want to believe.
EDIT: yeah, this link has all the different theories summed up.
I know there was a couple of theories but in the last several issues
The morphogenetic field theory is so stupid. It seemed that the writer wanted to push that as the canon explanation as it was explained in greater depth and had ties with the main cast.
Maybe fans didn't take that explanation well, so they scrapped it and had the IDF lady said it was a virus engineered by the Israeli government, which is more believable.
I know there was a couple of theories but in the last several issues
The morphogenetic field theory is so stupid. It seemed that the writer wanted to push that as the canon explanation as it was explained in greater depth and had ties with the main cast.
Maybe fans didn't take that explanation well, so they scrapped it and had the IDF lady said it was a virus engineered by the Israeli government, which is more believable.
I'd be very interested in reading the thoughts of fellow diehard fans of the comic as the show progresses.
(I really can't be bothered to invest time into watching something that looks terrible to me from all the footage I've seen. I already got burned on Preacher and Jessica Jones, I can't handle any more adaptation disappointment)
It's my favorite comic book but I don't really re-read through stuff ever so it's been 17 years or so since I read the pages in these first few episodes. I loved the first 3 episodes and my wife who has no familiarity at all with the source material was hooked. I think they've done a pretty damn good job with the casting.. 355 is perfect.
You seem pretty set on disliking it though so it may be hard for you to overcome that expectation.
finished the first 3 episodes, i thought it was just OK. i wanted to see more of the world after. getting major meghan mccain vibes off that one character.
that's one of the nitpick I have on episode 1 (and now I've just seen episode 2)
certain characters weren't introduced and the heavy political introduction of show (and episode 2) kind of show where this leaning compared to the comics
I can see that. My wife and I loved the comic and they expanded Yorick's mother's role specifically I think because A- you don't get an A-list actor like Diane Lane and don't give her shit to do. B- by expanding her role you have to expand the things around her. That opens up the opportunity to explore more real world/present day issues that weren't going on during the original comic's run like BLM and the anti-vax, pro mysoginy-pro fascism trump style wing of the Republican Party that we see manifesting itself in the show. I personally could do without that but again, see A and B. I think viewers would see a show that has a woman assume the presidency and then doesn't tackle those issues as dodging them.
Watched the first episode. I am a big fan of the comic.
I turned to my daughter about 40 minutes in and said you know they did all this in the first issue and it took ten minutes to read. And still when "it" happens, it feels like it happens too fast. The pacing is crap.
Mixed on the casting. I guess I feel okay with everyone except pretty iffy Yorick and Hero. Especially Y, which is...a problem. Hopefully he gets better. At the moment he's a charisma vacuum. Really liked Jennifer and loved 355.
I completely despised the change to Hero's story in this episode. What the fuck, terrible choice
I can see that. My wife and I loved the comic and they expanded Yorick's mother's role specifically I think because A- you don't get an A-list actor like Diane Lane and don't give her shit to do. B- by expanding her role you have to expand the things around her. That opens up the opportunity to explore more real world/present day issues that weren't going on during the original comic's run like BLM and the anti-vax, pro mysoginy-pro fascism trump style wing of the Republican Party that we see manifesting itself in the show. I personally could do without that but again, see A and B. I think viewers would see a show that has a woman assume the presidency and then doesn't tackle those issues as dodging them.
since it's looking like they abandoned Israel plotline so Jennifer kinda disappears for a long time after that so to spice up the show they had to do something or it would just be following the crew which I think a lot of viewers would find boring. I think they made a good call tbh
Watched the first episode. I am a big fan of the comic.
I turned to my daughter about 40 minutes in and said you know they did all this in the first issue and it took ten minutes to read. And still when "it" happens, it feels like it happens too fast. The pacing is crap.
Mixed on the casting. I guess I feel okay with everyone except pretty iffy Yorick and Hero. Especially Y, which is...a problem. Hopefully he gets better. At the moment he's a charisma vacuum. Really liked Jennifer and loved 355.
I completely despised the change to Hero's story in this episode. What the fuck, terrible choice
I'm guessing they wanted to create drama for Hero early on since it's looks like they might drag this down.
since the comics you don't see her until later on which the pacing of these shows that will be season finale
I watched all three episodes and also decided to reread the comic to refresh my memory because it's been years since I last read it. I'm reading the comic after each episode, but only through the parts that are more or less covered in the show so I don't get ahead of it.
I'd say there are two primary differences thus far: 1. the humor of the comic has been scaled back quite a bit so the show is more dramatic and serious; 2. the pacing is much slower on the show. The overall plot through the first 3 episodes is about 65% of the way through the first volume of the comic, but the comic feels more eventful.
Society has declined much more rapidly at the start of the comic - for example, we're immediately told about The Amazons and references are made to cannibalism occurring due circumstances being so dire, whereas in the show the Amazons don't exist (yet?) and things in the outside world aren't to the point that people have resorted to eating each other (yet?).
The comic jumped headfirst into its crazy premise, whereas the show seems like it would rather slowly walk us through it step by step. It feels more natural and allows for deeper characterization and world building, but it also feels fairly dour and a bit like they want to drag things out.
That said, I still enjoyed these episodes. I actually think every actor is doing a good job, with 355 being the standout. I don't hate Yorick, but he's also not coming across as particularly Yoricky at the moment (some of that is the actor but I think it primarily falls on the writing. His sense of humor is too muted and there's barely any magic trick/escape artist stuff thus far). Diane Lane's storyline is off to a solid start, and I'm intrigued by Amber Tamblin's Meghan McCain stand in. Not sure what they're doing with Marin Ireland's character yet - she feels a bit superfluous but I'm sure her importance will be revealed in time.
What they're doing with Hero is interesting, establishing previous traumas (substance abuse issues and having her accidentally kill her married boyfriend), I'm guessing for the leader of the Amazons to exploit later on. Hero's early story arc in the comic was one of the harder plot points to suspend disbelief for, so anything to smooth it out imo. We'll see if that's where they take it though.
Hmm, what else...
Beth isn't in Australia in the show, at least as far as we know, which is odd. I guess it'll be a reveal later on or maybe they're just changing things for budgetary reasons?
The comic starts out right off the bat by giving us three possible explanations for why the catastrophe happened - all of which are absent in the show (The amulet, Allison's clone baby, and Yorick's magic shop ring).
In fact, Alison and Alter haven't even appeared in the show yet.
The comic jumped headfirst into its crazy premise, whereas the show seems like it would rather slowly walk us through it step by step. It feels more natural and allows for deeper characterization and world building, but it also feels fairly dour and a bit like they want to drag things out.
In the comic the two page montage of men dying around the world is beautifully concise and effective, with a dose of pitch black humour. The panels showing piles of dead bodies, with literally no women in the Japanese stock exchange and only one at NASA are darkly funny and clever. The TV show playing the whole premise straight and dwelling on the terror in methodical fashion misses the point in my opinion, relegating the show down with other generic post-apocalyptic tales.
I hate to invoke the scumbag that is Whedon, but given the era the comic came out, it really had a Buffy-esque wit about it. Nowadays, an adaptation by the likes of Edgar Wright, Greta Gerwig or Coen brothers would have been incredible. They would have straddled the line between humour and drama well.
Or to quote Vaughan himself:
Brian K Vaughan said:
Also, 9/11 had a great impact on the future of the series. It made me rethink the way people deal with tragedy. Living in New York after 9/11. you realized it wasn't all just wailing and gnashing of teeth. A lot of New Yorkers survived that experience using humor. That definitely had a big impact on Y – the idea that, when you're faced with insurmountable tragedy, the only thing you can do is laugh in the face of it."
I thought, and I could be WAY off, that they are obviously building up to her being the leader of the Amazons. They're building up all the character motivations, or it seems that way to me.
I'd be very interested in reading the thoughts of fellow diehard fans of the comic as the show progresses.
(I really can't be bothered to invest time into watching something that looks terrible to me from all the footage I've seen. I already got burned on Preacher and Jessica Jones, I can't handle any more adaptation disappointment)
I've already written about it several times. Primarily the tone. The comic was high concept comedy/adventure with shocking moments of horror sprinkled in. I evoked Buffy the Vampire Slayer in an earlier comment, that's the kind of snappy wit prevalent throughout the comic, or as the writer himself I quoted above said, the comic utilises 'gallows humour' to confront the horrific premise. Whereas this TV show is playing the entire premise straight, with its Cinéma vérité shaking camera, and as a result is waaay too serious and grim for its own good. The montage of men dying around the world should be full of pitch black humour to counteract the horror, not treating it fully in a scary realistic manner. As a result, the show just looks so generic in its apocalyptic tone, and lacking the unique spark that made the comic (and its protagonist) so good. The comic can swerve from a depressing moment to a farcical one without missing a beat, but in a grounded show like this it would be too jarring.
Like any adaptation, it can have whatever take on the source material its showrunner wants. I just think they went with the worst one.
I've already written about it several times. Primarily the tone. The comic was high concept comedy/adventure with shocking moments of horror sprinkled in. I evoked Buffy the Vampire Slayer in an earlier comment, that's the kind of snappy wit prevalent throughout the comic, or as the writer himself I quoted above said, the comic utilises 'gallows humour' to confront the horrific premise. Whereas this TV show is playing the entire premise straight, with its Cinéma vérité shaking camera, and as a result is waaay too serious and grim for its own good. The montage of men dying around the world should be full of pitch black humour to counteract the horror, not treating it fully in a scary realistic manner. As a result, the show just looks so generic in its apocalyptic tone, and lacking the unique spark that made the comic (and its protagonist) so good. The comic can swerve from a depressing moment to a farcical one without missing a beat, but in a grounded show like this it would be too jarring.
Like any adaptation, it can have whatever take on the source material its showrunner wants. I just think they went with the worst one.
I thought, and I could be WAY off, that they are obviously building up to her being the leader of the Amazons. They're building up all the character motivations, or it seems that way to me.
Watched the three episodes tonight and really enjoyed it. I've read the entire comic series and I thought they did a good job so far. Fleshing out the other characters was a good move. Can't wait to see the Amazons next week though lol.
I've already written about it several times. Primarily the tone. The comic was high concept comedy/adventure with shocking moments of horror sprinkled in. I evoked Buffy the Vampire Slayer in an earlier comment, that's the kind of snappy wit prevalent throughout the comic, or as the writer himself I quoted above said, the comic utilises 'gallows humour' to confront the horrific premise. Whereas this TV show is playing the entire premise straight, with its Cinéma vérité shaking camera, and as a result is waaay too serious and grim for its own good. The montage of men dying around the world should be full of pitch black humour to counteract the horror, not treating it fully in a scary realistic manner. As a result, the show just looks so generic in its apocalyptic tone, and lacking the unique spark that made the comic (and its protagonist) so good. The comic can swerve from a depressing moment to a farcical one without missing a beat, but in a grounded show like this it would be too jarring.
Like any adaptation, it can have whatever take on the source material its showrunner wants. I just think they went with the worst one.
agree. The tone and direction of the series seems to focus on the extinction event itself (which was more of a mystery in the comics), rather than Yorick. It made a strong and powerful episode, but fail to make him interesting enough to follow. I couldn't finish the second episode because the story was interesting anymore.
Society has declined much more rapidly at the start of the comic - for example, we're immediately told about The Amazons and references are made to cannibalism occurring due circumstances being so dire, whereas in the show the Amazons don't exist (yet?) and things in the outside world aren't to the point that people have resorted to eating each other (yet?).
Y: The Last Man 1x04 "Karen and Benji" Season 1 Episode 4 Promo - On Jennifer's orders, Yorick and Agent 355 search for a geneticist who can unravel the myst...
The comic is better, in atmosphere and pacing.
The series is not horrible but definitely not that good. I kinda hate that they do not focus more on Yorick but instead they shift around too many plotlines and characters and do it really slow. I get that they want to focus more on the aftermath, and i dont mind the darker tone at all, but this way the series loses the charm that the comic had which was like a road adventure. Maybe a comic is just hard to adapt, but they could have done better.
Enjoying it but I really hope the Republicans vs Democrats power struggle sub-plotline doesn't become a major story issue. Seems like they are throwing it in to make a political point. I don't have a problem portraying Republicans as the terrible people they are, just doesn't seem to fit the story.
Can someone spoil me whether this is a thing in the comics or was it added for the show?
Enjoying it but I really hope the Republicans vs Democrats power struggle sub-plotline doesn't become a major story issue. Seems like they are throwing it in to make a political point. I don't have a problem portraying Republicans as the terrible people they are, just doesn't seem to fit the story.
Can someone spoil me whether this is a thing in the comics or was it added for the show?
thats strictly a show thing. The only thing they touch on in the comics is that yorick's mom is a democratic congresswoman, doesn't support abortion but otherwise has a solid liberal record.
Just caught up and I'm enjoying the pace so far, though I need more dark humor from Yorick. The political slant is not at all surprising given timing being now and not two decades ago. I do hope this gets a full adaptation treatment as I'm excited to see where they take things and just how they adapt the comic.
Yep. He was written in that way at first with that intent. In the comic too much shit happens and very fast, so Y is changing constantly trough the pages. You watch how the character grows in the comic and is one of the best written comic protagonists IMO.
Yeah, Yorrick kinda sucks even in the comic and that seems to be on purpose. I don't even think of him as the main character for most of it, more of a living macguffin.
It's not the same. In the comics he's a loser but in a funny way
But for whatever reason they decided the humor of Y: the Last Man wasn't worth even attempting and that has ruined the character. I don't think it will get better
I'm not saying they aren't at all, I'm saying it's unpleasant to watch in a way the comic never was.
Like the scene at the end of the second episode is legitimately sad in a way it never would have been in the comic. Imho that one scene is indicative of a huge whiff in the writing, direction, and casting for Yorick.
Enjoying it but I really hope the Republicans vs Democrats power struggle sub-plotline doesn't become a major story issue. Seems like they are throwing it in to make a political point. I don't have a problem portraying Republicans as the terrible people they are, just doesn't seem to fit the story.
Can someone spoil me whether this is a thing in the comics or was it added for the show?
this weeks episode felt like it was jumping around too much. this is the kind of show that would benefit with sticking to one storyline an episode or kind of splitting it half instead of back and forth constantly
