Y: The Last Man – Where the Plague Comes from in the Comics

In Brian K. Vaughn’s critically acclaimed Vertigo series, Y: The Last Man, a worldwide plague has wiped out every living being on Earth with a Y chromosome — human, animal, or otherwise — with only a few reasons given as to how it all began. And despite the wild fan theories, in-continuity guesses, and some choice comments over the years from the creators of the series themselves, none have been confirmed as the real reason behind the plague. But that won’t stop fans from narrowing down the options, especially with the upcoming FX/Hulu television adaptation of the series premiering soon!

Premiering in September 2002, writer Brian K. Vaughn and artist Pia Guerra gave fans a harrowing story of a world that has only just barely survived the eradication of all men on the planet. Devastating the world’s economy and infrastructure, the women of the world are forced to band together to hold society together, all the while wondering how and why this plague came to pass.

But as luck would have it, one human male, Yorick Brown, and his pet Capuchin monkey, Ampersand, have inexplicably survived, and have set out across the now apocalyptic land while avoiding the nefarious forces who would see them dead. Along their travels, they meet many people with various opinions on the state of the world, including a few characters who believe they know how the plague started in the first place.

One of the more popular theories considered describes the release of a chemical agent aimed at the country of China. Given as a reason by the series antagonist, Alter Tse’elon, the chemical was said to be developed to prevent Chinese women from conceiving male children, thus crippling their economy. Instead, the chemical ends up killing all males and is immediately considered to be the “real” reason behind the plague by both characters and fans alike.

Next up is a theory given by the only other male survivor in Y: The Last Man, Dr. Matsumori, a cloning expert who believes that once Mother Nature realized that males were now obsolete due to the success of viable cloning, nature itself began to cull anything with a Y chromosome. Basically acting like natural selection at its peak, this reason is a clever, if a too easy explanation for the plague, only trumped by yet another theory that deals in the supernatural. Told to Yorick by Agent 355, his personal bodyguard and eventual love interest, “three-fifty” tells a story of how the plague began the second she removed the sacred Amulet of Helene from the nation of Jordan. Revealed that anyone who takes the amulet would usher in a terrible tragedy of the likes the world hasn’t seen in ages, it’s clear why Agent 355 was slightly concerned about the timing and prophetic consequences of a potential curse-turned plague, even if this reasoning is a bit too far out for most.

So, being given a handful of reasons that either make no sense at all or are oddly specific in their ramblings, Yorick — and fans — are given more than enough to think about when it comes to the true origin of plague. Y: The Last Man’s terrifying world is one full of questions and danger, but for the remaining population of Earth — Yorick and Ampersand especially — the answer behind it all is still just out of reach.

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