Y The Last Man

Y The Last Man is engaging right from the start. It reminds of The Road, by Cormac McCarthy and also of Blindness, by Jose Saramago. The color palette is fairly simple, using mostly solid colors and the occasional two-tone gradient. However, this makes the full page stills at the beginning of new chapters pop-out sue to their whispy water-color texture.
As far as the story goes, I think it is very well written, especially the dialog, which has a contemporary sound to it that makes the situation seem almost plausible. I also, of course, see definite influences from Michael Chabon's Kavalier and Clay, because of the fact that Yorick is an escape artist. The characters are real, especially Yorick. By real, I mean they are believable, Vaughan did a great job with the dialog.
There was clearly a lot of thought that went into writing this, as the author covers a number of ideas that never would have occurred to me. For example, the woman discussing how all the planes went down, because all the pilots were men. Also the fact that the government and especially the republican party are comprised mainly of men.
I listened to a podcast that discussed gender and how there are species that have evolved form two species to one, because males became unnecessary for reproduction. The speakers on the podcast discussed the possibility that humans could potentially evolve to the same degree one day, this book covers that story, essentially. It does seem plausible to me that once the Dr. Mann delivered her cloned, unfathered child, that the male population could be extinct. Of course, there are may other little subplots that lead me to believe that there is a lot more to the story. I wonder what happened to Dr.Mann's clone, did he die too?
I really like these books, they are clever and unpredictable. I will certainly read on through the series.

Batman: The Killing Joke

This book was phenomenal. This may be one of my favorite comics that I have ever read. The story was interesting for me because it took a character that I am familiar with and presented a thorough back story, so unlike the past two superhero comics I read, I did not feel lost in the story. The dialog was fantastic and clever, it must have taken so much thought to come up with all the cheesy puns and jokes the Joker says! It was a very dark story, but the plot was full and suspenseful, the characters were developed and consistent, and the art was amazing.
The illustrations in this book were truly remarkable and played a big part in the story. The Joker is such a dynamic and expressively loud character that his facial expressions are key. The way that Brian Bolland captures the Joker's expressions, as well as the faces of the other characters (Barabara when she gets shot and even stern Batman), is so impressive. There is an aspect to the detailed faces that adds personality to The Killing Joke in a way that I have not found in most any other comic. He locates the most important part of a bit of dialog and imitates the expressions so that the panels correspond perfectly with the dialog that they contain.
I am very glad that I own this comic and I intend to purchase Jusge Dredd to see more of Bolland's work!

Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again

This comic combines superheroes from a number of older series. I have not read any of those older series and so it was difficult for me to understand what exactly was going on. I recognized the names of most of the superheroes, and the costumes, however my lack of knowledge regarding established relationships among them made reading this a bit frustrating. Sometimes I would know what was going on and then for a majority of the second book I was completely lost. I found myself again in the third book. The news casts were helpful and humorous, certainly a commentary on what our future might look like in a media sense: overly sexual and lacking in substantial content. I do not understand exactly the role of the Superchix, were they just a group of hot girls appropriating the super hero image for horny teenage boys and men of the time? Also, though it is clearly important that the president is computer generated and does not exist (I believe the real president is Lex Luthor, correct?) the book does not go into how people react to this fact other than immediate responses to the glitch during his presidential address.
To address the illustrations, I have mixed emotions. At first I was not a fan of the style of drawings. I generally do not like the mixture of hand drawings with digital components. However, sometimes the mixture of digital backgrounds and sketchy drawings was very affective. Specifically, I enjoyed the spread on pages 34/35 because of the layering of the newscasts and menial conversations over the silhouette of Batman and Superman. I enjoyed page 59 because of the simplicity of the digital components with the silhouette of Catgirl and The Atom. On the other hand, on page 80 the long panel to the left with superman I do not like because of the pixelation of the colors on his cape, which was certainly intentional, yet I find that it looks like a mistake or a cheap printing job. This is the case in a number of panels. Another example of a panel that did not do it for me is on page 118, specifically I do not like how Superwoman's shorts are blurry because nothing else is blurry and so this looks like a mistake. To end on a positive note, though, my favorite panel is certainly on page 133, the top panel, with Plastic man. Here, the use of digital coloring is brilliant, vibrant and energetic. It reminds me of "Fear an Loathing in Las Vegas", which is perfect, because the character is totally trippy and insane. Plastic Man might be my favorite character, though he plays a small part.

All Star Superman

This is my first experience reading a Superman comic book. I am confused about what goes on in this story, I feel like maybe I missed something. I know it is volume one, but it seems to me that there is a lot of information discussed that I know nothing of and should... I understand the major plot, so perhaps that is good enough. Also, maybe if I were to read on things would reveal themselves in a more comprehensible manner.
That said, I was not as engaged with this comic as I have been with past comics. This comic jumps right into a very complicated storyline without giving time to introducing the characters and relationships. So, it is hard to know who is good and bad, who to trust or suspect, and so on. Despite that, the drawings were okay. I do not like computer-colored books as much, I felt this way about We3 too. There is something more organic about a comic that is all illustrated; with these comics that have digital components it seems almost like it should be animated, or would be more complete if it were animated. There is something odd about the jagged pen lines and the ultra-smooth coloring and gradients.
Lois Lane is depicted in an interesting way. She seems to be Latino in this comic...? Which, I appreciate and think is an artistic choice, but I had the impression prior to reading this that Lois was a good, clean, American girl. The Lois in this book has a sassier side to her that kind of annoys me, actually. Perhaps my prior impression is totally fabricated though... as I said, I have little experience with Superman.
I like the rainbow coat, it reminds me of the story of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor dream coat--was this an intentional allusion?
I do not understand who Jimmy Olsen is either, especially the last panel on page 83, what is going on?!
I feel the same way about the panel on page 127 where "Nasty" tells :Ex to fix his eyebrow? What is the deal with these strange, seemingly sexual peculiarities?