PIA GUERRA: IN THE HOME STRETCH

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

It's something fans of Y: The Last Man have been both anticipating and dreading -- the title's conclusion, now less than a year away.

Since its launch in September 2002, the limited series Y: The Last Man has been telling the story of amateur escape artist Yorick Brown, the survivor of a plague that destroyed anything on earth with a Y chromosome -- anything, that is, except Yorick and his male pet monkey, Ampersand.

Trying to find out why he's the last man on the planet, Yorick embarks on a journey with a leading scientist and an American secret agent to protect him. Along the way, the three travelers encounter everything from Russian astronauts to Israeli soldiers to the now all-female American government, and readers see how the girls-only world reacts and recovers from the tragic death of half the planet's population.

Written by Brian K. Vaughan and drawn for the vast majority of issues by penciler Pia Guerra, the Vertigo series has been winning critical acclaim over the years for its mix of a serious premise and action-filled plot with humorous situations and a slew of clever one-liners, mostly delivered by Yorick as he realizes being the last man on earth isn't everything it's cracked up to be. And although much of the praise has been heaped upon Vaughan for utilizing heart-warming characterization and dialogue to drive the sci-fi story, Guerra's pencils have kept the characters and their story feeling chillingly believable and always grounded in a realistic and sometimes disturbingly familiar world.

While the dramatic plot has taken a few story-driven side-trips, Y: The Last Man promised from the beginning that it would only last 60 issues and has been building toward that end. Vaughan and Guerra have both made it clear over the last five years that they believe the story needs a definitive ending, one that draws painfully close for readers who have come to depend on their monthly dose of "Y."

As the last four issues loom in front of Y readers and the story's heroes get closer to the conclusion of their journey, Newsarama takes a look back at the series with co-creator Guerra and asks what it feels like for the artist now that she's saying goodbye to Y: The Last Man.

Newsarama: How many issues do you have left to draw?

Pia Guerra: Presently, two and a half. I'm at Issue #58.

NRAMA: Do you know the ending yet?

PG: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I've had a rough idea of what the ending was going to be for a few years now, but I didn't ask for all the details until recently. We were in Bristol a few weeks ago for a convention, and so I had the opportunity to learn all those juicy details.

NRAMA: So now that you know those details, do you think people will be floored by the ending?

PG: If they're invested in the story at all, they'll be pretty stunned.

NRAMA: It took you awhile to break into the business, and I know you'd done a few things before Y: The Last Man hit the shelves, so I don't want to imply you're an overnight success. But this title is really the one that brought your art more into the limelight and got you widespread attention. Looking back, are you glad it was a gig like Y that brought you into the mainstream and really made your name?

PG: I count my blessings every day to have gotten this as my first mainstream book. It could have been something way worse. It could have been more awful and horrific and cheesy, but this was probably the best thing anyone could ever hope to be on. I mean, it was monstrously difficult to do, but it's also amazing that I got it. It's a mixed thing. But it's the best thing I could have hoped for.

NRAMA: Well it's easy for readers now to look at your work on Y: The Last Man and say, "her style really fits that comic," because you've been on it for so long. But starting out, did you feel like this title was perfect for your style?

PG: Ah, I have no idea! I mean, in the beginning, I was just surprised to be on something so huge. At most I'd worked on two or three issues of a single book, and suddenly, I was faced with five years. And there was so much going on, and I think at the time, we were just thinking the book would probably get canceled after a few issues, so we'd just do the best we could. I liked it for cinematic reasons. The story is so visually powerful and it seemed to fit with what I liked to do. I think it was a good fit. At the time, I don't know if I felt totally up to it. But that's just being a new artist, really.

NRAMA: Wait a second. You expected it to be canceled?

PG: I had been working on several projects in the decade before this comic started. Some of them never saw the light of day. I'd get on a book and either the company would go under or something just wouldn't work out. And maybe it would reach solicits and no one would order anything. So I was very accustomed to trying out for things that just wouldn't work out. So I was glad it got that far -- to be actually published. It was a bit of a surprise.

NRAMA: Were you surprised by the fan following it got so quickly? It did pretty well from the start, right?

PG: Yeah. Well, at the start, it had low print orders, so we were concerned if anyone would find it. The first issue originally had 17,000 printed. We were like, OK ... it's very close to numbers that could get the book canceled, but maybe we'll run into some luck here. If nobody hears about it, maybe that's OK because we can use the book to get something better later on. But then things just started to get crazy. A few weeks in, by maybe the second or third issue, we realized that there was something going on -- that people were really latching onto this more than we thought they would. And it did take us by surprise, completely.

NRAMA: When you look at this comic, there are a lot of things you could probably point out that contribute to its success, but if you had to nail it down to one thing, what do you think made it really work so well with readers?

PG: I think just that it's so accessible. We had tried from the start, well not so much to make it broad, but just to make it clear. We didn't want it to be too glitzy or showy.

NRAMA: What does that mean? Do you mean you didn't want to adhere to rules about always having big action pages or two-page splashes?

PG: Yeah, yeah. And, well, the easiest example is looking back at the time when you had a lot of Image books and superhero stories that were big on art but weren't that easy to follow. The styles were hard to understand. You really had to understand the language of comics to follow the panel transitions and what was going on. So many of those kind of books out there, if you give them to someone who's completely new to the medium, they're lost. What we wanted to strive for was a visually simple story. And we wanted to just put it out there so that someone could pick it up and jump right in. We wanted it to be easy to follow, as much like a film as possible. And I think you can notice that right away, when Brian wrote the page-wide panels from the very beginning. So it was like, from the start, it had those type of transitions that you could follow, with a cinematic look, and it was easy to go forward from there.

NRAMA: You talk about it being "not showy," but there are things about this comic that have been ... well, for lack of a better word, shocking. At the start, it's pretty gory. Almost every last man in the world dies in that first blood-filled issue. And for a few issues after that, the comic deals with their dead bodies and some brutal reactions to the tragedy. And if you stick with the comic for awhile after that, it's overtly sexual at times.

PG: Yes. It is.

NRAMA: And yet, your art always seemed to portray those types of scenes without being too "showy" or shocking. Was that difficult, as an artist, to handle those things well? Not the subject necessarily, but dealing with the potential for your artistic depiction of it to take the reader completely out of the story and distract them. How did you find a way to depict those things without freaking the reader out?

PG: I think the art works because the story itself is so honest. We don't try to make it gory or overly sexy. It's written in Brian's script: When it comes to an action scene or a gory scene or someone getting hurt, there's always a stress in the directions to say, "this is not a goofy, over-the-top action scene you would see in a Michael Bay film. This is straightforward." It is what it is, which is easier to draw. You're not trying to make it flashy or glitzy. You're just showing, OK, this person gets shot. That's not a pleasant thing at all. It's supposed to be awful. It's supposed to be terrible. And it's easier to do that than to try to make it into a stylized thing. You're not making it into theater. This is a reality piece. To do that is a lot easier than to give some stylized look to it.

NRAMA: When you first started, you got to design all the characters from scratch, and certainly there have been a lot of characters added as the book continued. Was that design aspect of your job on this title something that got easier, and do you enjoy that part of this comic?

PG: I do. I do. I like designing the characters.

NRAMA: More than just someone saying, "OK, you get to draw Rogue?" She's already so defined, so you don't get to design anything.

PG: [laughs] Oh, but there are times I'd like to do something fun and goofy and superhero-y. I do feel like I've been immersed in this drama so long that I kind of want to do something else and stretch into other areas. It's been, day after day, so much of the same thing.

But in terms of designing the characters in Y, there have been times I wished I had more variety in the faces. I always felt like I was doing OK with that. I would finish an issue and feel like everyone looked different, and I'd move on to the next issue, but then like 40 or 50 issues later, there's a scene where we have Beth-1 and Beth-2 and four different women in the same scene, and I realized they weren't as varied as I would have liked. And now it's a big struggle to make sure Natalya doesn't look like Beth-2. So now I'm kind of kicking myself, like, "Oh, if I just would have made her nose a little different from someone else than just making her safe for that one issue she was originally drawn for, this wouldn't be such a problem now." [laughs] I always try very hard to make everyone look distinct. And they're distinct in my brain, at least when I'm drawing them, but they don't always come out that way in the end.

NRAMA: Who's your favorite character to draw?

PG: 355.

NRAMA: Why is that?

PG: Because she's her own person. She's a definite personality when you see her. She's not a stereotype. She's not any kind of pre-set pattern. There are usually very interesting directions with her, and she's just such a wonderful character.

NRAMA: Do you see yourself in any of the characters?

PG: Oh, probably 355. [laughs]

NRAMA: Why her?

PG: She's just very set in what she needs to do. I think I like that kind of quiet contemplation of things. That complete understanding of what your role is, and what your job is. She's just dedicated to it. I kind of like to hope that I do that myself.

NRAMA: What's your favorite scene that you've gotten to draw?

PG: I think all of Safeword was amazing. It was just so ... out there.

NRAMA: Which one?

PG: Safeword. The three-issue arc that we did.

NRAMA: Oh, yeah. Wow. The one where 355 leaves Yorick with Agent 711 in that cabin.

PG: Yeah. That was so intense, and at the same time, I'm a little biased in that it was a story idea I had recommended. And I meant it to be a little throwaway plot if Brian wanted to use it, but he came back a few issues later with this wonderful three-issue arc just from this small suggestion of mine, and so I felt like I was part of that process and it felt really good to be part of the storytelling. And then to have it be just soooo just amazingly out there in left field.

NRAMA: Well, Agent 711 confronts him through some pretty intense sexual psychology. She tied up Yorick, who is an escape artist, so that presents a unique twist on the idea of bondage, and she ends up exposing his feelings of survivor guilt. It's safe to say that whole thing was pretty mind-blowing.

PG: Yeah. And one page was a visual haiku, which I think was 17 panels. In the script directions, Brian was like, "OK, don't freak out. This is going to sound really scary, but it isn't." And as soon as I read it, I thought, "No! It isn't! More of that, please!" So it was just fun to go crazy with something like that but still be grounded in the reality of the story.

NRAMA: With how different that scene was, and the sexual overtones it had, were you concerned with the way people would respond to it?

PG: I don't think so. The only time those things are challenging is when you have people come over to the house and they ask, "Oh, whatcha doin'? Whatcha workin' on?" [laughs] But I'm not usually afraid of what I do when it comes out. I aim to challenge readers as much as possible, and I think this was the most challenging. I was sure, just from the way the story went, I felt so good about it. I wasn't too worried that it was going to be rejected. And I don't think it was, really. If a few people say, "I can't deal with this." That's good! That's what a story's supposed to do. It's supposed to kind of wake you up. And sometimes it's not something you want to have happen. But in this case, it worked so well.

NRAMA: Yeah, it's like you hope somewhere in the story, the reader gets disturbed a little. You want to bring them out of their zone of comfort.

PG: Yes! It's not a story that you expect, but a story you need to see for these characters. A story sometimes is going to be hard. And that's what I love about this. I don't want to do cookie-cutter crap. I want to do something that is going to make a reader think, "Wow, I never figured this was going to happen."

NRAMA: You said Safeword was challenging to readers. Was it the most challenging scene to draw too? Or what scene was the most challenging?

PG: The Haiku actually wasn't that challenging. It was just such a beautiful scene that I read it and thought, "Oh, I can't wait to work on it." I think the most challenging scene is when you have about 10 pages in one room -- that kind of thing. That's hard to do, to keep things dynamic enough and still follow the emotion. We just had one of those recently, and that's coming up for readers, and sometimes it can be so hard! The power of what's going on is enough, but you hope people will be OK with it.

NRAMA: When I was looking back at your art, I noticed an intense sequence a few months ago like that, where the action switched back and forth between a scene with 355 fighting Toyota and another scene where Dr. Mann was just talking to her father in a hospital room, yet it was very dramatic.

PG: Yes! That was hard.

NRAMA: Dr. Mann was laying down through the entire scene, so it was mostly just her father standing there talking. And yet it was a really stressful part of the story as a reader. It felt high-octane. That's what you mean?

PG: It's a classic example! I think that scene was even more challenging because Brian wanted to emphasize the "man behind the curtain" aspect. So there were curtains around the whole room except for one wall! And to try to vary things, and always dealing with these vertical lines, and hoping it doesn't look like prison cells or something. [laughs] Yeah. It ended up working really well.

But that's exactly it. That's the most challenging thing to do, is to make a quiet scene like that still come through emotionally. You have to spend a lot of time focusing on the facial expressions and how the words are coming across rather than how the room looks.

NRAMA: Who's the biggest challenge to draw as a character?

PG: For me, Dr. Mann was the most challenging because I always had trouble making her face look Asian. I hadn't had a lot of experience drawing Asian characters until then. I always had Sandra Oh in my mind, so I tried to make it look a bit like her, but not enough that we would get sued by her. [laughs] And also, she barely cracked a smile through the whole book. So I had to try to draw all these different levels of sternness or anger or disappointment. She's a tough
character to maintain, really.

NRAMA: Being a female artist -- and, ugh, I almost hate going in this direction because nobody ever points out a guy's gender in this industry -- but can you respond to the opinion out there that, because this book is pretty much filled with female characters, you being a female artist "fits," and that you're somehow better equipped to draw so many women? Or is that a bunch of hoo-ha? [laughs]

PG: The question? [laughs]

NRAMA: [laughs] Well, if you want my opinion, the question is definitely a bunch of hoo-ha. But I'm biased as a female myself in this male-dominated industry, because to me, why does it matter what your gender is?

PG: [laughs] I know! I've gotten the question so often.

NRAMA: Then are you saying it makes no difference?

PG: Exactly. And, well, I don't know. I might be a little bit better at drawing women than men because I have a reference point. I can understand the curves and the muscular tones in human anatomy, but then that isn't necessarily just because I'm a woman. I don't think
it's really all that relevant.

I didn't get into the business to be a comic book artist who is female -- just a comic book artist. I noticed it was more of an issue when we went to Spain for a convention a couple years ago. Every reporter I talked to and every person I talked to kept calling me a "woman in comics." And I was like, um, so? [laughs]

NRAMA: Well, women are not the "norm" in this industry, so I guess we're doomed to constantly answer questions about how we got into in comics, even though it's going to be the same reasons men got into comics.

PG: Yeah! It just happened to be something I was interested in when I was a kid, then it naturally progressed into something I wanted to do for a living. And it was just a fluke that it didn't cater to a lot of girls at the time. But it was still interesting material, so I don't think it was really that big of a deal.

NRAMA: But you bring up a point that relates directly to Y: The Last Man, because this title seems to be more appealing to female readers than a lot of other comics out there. Is that because of the story -- the plot being about what happens when women inherit the world -- or is it actually more related to what you brought up before about the comic being more accessible in general?

PG: I think it's the second one. It's more accessible to everyone, and that includes women. Besides, the subject of the comic, really, is probably more appealing to men, because it's every man's fantasy.

NRAMA: The last guy on earth. The only guy in a world filled with women!

PG: Exactly! So it's turning that fantasy on its ear, because if you describe the situation to a guy, it will immediately pop into their head what that fantasy should be. It's playing with a male fantasy, so I think that's the place where gender came into play, but fortunately, women kind of grasp onto that idea behind the comic too. So I don't think we are approaching it from a gender point of view.

NRAMA: So you're saying that, if women are particularly attracted to this comic, it's probably not the subject, but instead the style?

PG: Yeah. I think it's more like a film, so I think you get more of an audience that recognizes it. And it looks like a safer medium to approach when you encounter something like this. It's like a Transformer comic vs. watching a movie. In the comic, you'll have these big, grandiose things going on which can be hard to follow and hard to understand for someone new to comics. Nothing against that -- some people love Transformers, and they'll pick one comic up and they're good to go. But it's a little too much of a niche for some people. It's much easier for them to watch a movie or something that looks familiar. And we wanted Y to be something that was easier to approach
and more familiar like that.

NRAMA: Well, the first comic you picked up was an X-Men comic, right?

PG: Yeah.

NRAMA: And I got started reading superhero comics. So, based on your answer to the last question I asked, would you agree that it's not the subject matter that is as important to attracting a new reader -- and a female reader in particular -- as much as the style and structure of a comic? Do you think it's true that superhero comics can be just as appealing to women and other non-traditional readers, as long as they're written and drawn in an approachable format?

PG: Well, first of all, I don't think that, when we set out to work, we have that agenda: "Oh, yes, we need more women to come into this." That's probably the wrong approach. I think if anything, it should be, "Let's make a comic that anyone can pick up." Especially if someone hasn't read comics before. It's simple, straightforward, and you can jump right in.

A good example is that X-Men comic that I read when I was a kid. It was Byrne, and Byrne was very cinematic back then. He was very straightforward and clear in his panels. There was no fancy overlays or superimposing of panels on top off each other or weird things that would make you say, "how do I follow this?" It was simple panel, panel, panel ... left, right, left, right. When I was reading it, it was like watching an episode of Wonder Woman, or Batman and Robin, or any kind of superhero story that was on television that I had already seen. So it wasn't a completely jarring experience. There were a few things that I had to learn to figure out that weren't too confusing, like different kinds of balloons, such as a whisper balloon, or a radio burst and all those kinds of things.

But it was still clear enough that I could follow it and want to read another one and another one after that. And then, of course, I got into Teen Titans, which also had that very straightforward, simple storytelling. Clear backgrounds, clear idea of plot transitions.

And as things got flashier toward the '90s, you started losing some of that in comic books. Certain artists, we won't name, just completely destroyed the safety of good storytelling in favor of this stylistic glitzy-ness. It's good to a point, but it doesn't have a long-term life. I like storytelling that you can just open up and understand. I like that kind of storytelling.

NRAMA: I hear a lot of artists talk about it as the big lesson of the '90s. Many of them admit that the goal of their artwork used to be showing off what they could do, where now their goal has changed to telling the story in the best way possible.

PG: I think that's because, in the late '80s, there was so much ground-breaking artwork coming out that really blew everyone's minds that you had a lot of kids coming in wanting to be the next great artist. Everyone wanted to outdo everyone else and stand out. But that comes, sometimes, at the sacrifice of the story.

I think I remember that from early on when I was doing portfolio reviews, and I did some crazy layouts and things that just jumped off the page. And an editor would look at it and say, "well, why did you do a panel like this?" And I would say, "I thought it looked cool!" And they would say, "Yeah, but what am I supposed to be reading here? What does it mean?" And that's when I sort of took a step back and realized it was too jarring and didn't come across right and was too strange and the story was getting lost. So I'm a big believer in the story first and the art second. You see it in film too. You sort of recognize when the direction is getting too flashy for the story and you're losing the audience. You don't want to do that.

NRAMA: Let's talk about the story in Y: The Last Man. The characters, throughout the course of the story, have grown quite a bit on a lot of levels. Stories' heroes tend to do that. But it's become apparent lately that the comic's society at large has matured and grown too. The initial horror of all the men dying caused a violent backlash among the women of the world and a lot of disarray, but now society seems to be pulling together and adjusting to their new way of life. Is that an accurate analysis of what's happening?

PG: Yeah. What Brian has always done is to try to look at this realistically. How would people recover from something like this? I think there's a parallel if you look at 9/11 and how everyone thought this was the end of everything, that everything was going to change from now on. It was this drastic shift in our point of view, and we thought it would always be there and affect our lives in this horrible way, after being immersed in that terror and that emotion and impact of the event. But at some point you start to see that, no, things do carry on. You clean up, you move forward, you figure stuff out and you try to prevent this from happening again. But you move on.

Brian was going through a lot dealing with 9/11 because he was living and working nearby the site, so a lot of what ended up happening in the story as it went, because it just naturally started seeping in, is how you deal with loss. So yeah, in the book you see that things do carry on. It's not always about, you know, being caught in the event. It's what you do after.

NRAMA: It's interesting that you brought up 9/11. You guys launched this book soon after that, right? I remember reading where Brian said he even changed the comic somewhat after 9/11, just before the first issue came out.

PG: The first issue, when I started to draw it, was that day. On 9/11, I was set to draw the very first page. And we had to go on hiatus for a few weeks to decide whether the book could even continue, for one thing, and if it did, how the story might be different. At first, it was just this hard-edged story where we were thinking, "Yeah! We're going to kill 3 billion guys! This is going to be a really wild ride!" And then, after 9/11, we weren't sure anyone would want to read this kind of story. It was like, is it even entertaining anymore? How do we approach this?

And I think, because Brian was dealing with this in his own life, it affected the story, because that's natural for any writer to take into account. And I think it ended up being a better story because of it, just because it was a different way of looking at a story about this kind of tragedy and being honest with it.

NRAMA: You've spoken about the comic being very cinematic, and there has been a lot of talk recently about this title becoming a film, with producers already in place and a screenplay being written. Can you tell us anything about where the film project's going?

PG: We don't know! These things, you never know. Brian has written the script, and I think they're still developing the script. But, you know, they always said Watchmen was going to be a movie someday, and who knows where that's going. One week they've got a cast and the next, it's not going anywhere. I heard it wasn't going to happen because Heroes came out, so they're thinking why bother? You never know what epic is going to come along and make Y look really redundant. It could sit on the shelf forever, or it could be out in 2008! I don't know. You keep your fingers crossed and just hope for the best.

NRAMA: Brian has made it clear that the ending of Y is really the ending -- no sequels or spin-offs. So what's next for you after Y: The Last Man finishes up?

PG: Right now, I'm trying to get a Treehouse of Horror story done with my husband, Ian [Boothby]. We wrote it last year, and I'm trying to find time to do it. I made this estimation last year that, "Oh, sure! I'll be done with Y by March. That will give me plenty of time to do this Treehouse story." And then when I actually sat down and counted out how much I have left to do, I realized, wow, I'm actually going to be working all the way until August. So I'm kind of trying to get both done right now, and it's a wonderfully harrowing schedule. So that's the reason I haven't made any plans until both are finished and out of the way. I'm a horrible judge of time schedules.

NRAMA: OK, so nothing concrete. But are there any "maybe" projects?

PG: I have a lot of ideas for things. I've been writing, but nothing's finished yet. And a few openings have popped up that sound really cool -- things that I'd like to try out for. And some more goofy stuff that I'd like to do that's just fun and different -- stuff I was setting out to do before Y landed in my lap. I was hoping to do something superhero and fun. I would like to try for that again, and I hope I haven't gotten too much of Y seeped into my style now where I can't get out of the cinematic drama or the seriousness. I want to do something different.

NRAMA: And I saw on your blog something about a huge bash when you're done with Y: The Last Man. Is that really going to happen?

PG: I hope so! I guess I figured that I'd be done by July, but I guess we're going into August.

NRAMA: 'Cause San Diego would have been perfect if it was July, right?

PG: Yes! San Diego would have been ideal! And I think we're trying to do something. I know my sister wants to do something because, you know, everyone's had to put up with my crap for the last six years. So I have to give it some closure.

NRAMA: Is it going to be a party to celebrate that Y: The Last Man is done and gone, or to celebrate that it's such a great accomplishment?

PG: You know, I think it's going to be a little bit of both. I don't want to tout, "Oh, it's such a wonderful accomplishment." It's more like, I set out to do this, I wish I could have done more of it (with the covers I've had from other wonderful artists). But there were many, many times during this whole thing where I wanted to quit and just throw it all away, because it was just so much work. But of course, I knew that, no, this was something I wanted to do. And I had some very important people in my life who said, no, you should try to finish it, because this is important to you.

So I think it's just a matter of me saying, "Yeah. I set out to do it. I didn't quit. I deserve a beer!"

[tridon]

Pia, you are one incredible artist. Your work on "Y" has made me a fan of yours for life. Thank-you to you and Brian for the amazing story of Yorick Brown and best of luck with all your future ventures!

[delltechdude]

Last Christmas I was given several giftcards for bookstores (thank you family for actually listening for once!) and I bought the first trade to see what the hubbub was about and since then I have to say its been a great ride, helped by solid writing and especially solid art.

I am sad that after this year the series will be completed, but I can honestly say with the trade paperbacks this series will have a long afterlife.

[pez dispenser]

What a great series this has been, and Pia has done a top notch job throughout.
I'm going to miss Yorrick and that damned monkey......

[mikey_danger]

Wonderful interview, and deservedly so. Pia has given face to such a great series. I'm following her to whichever book she is on next for sure.

[nickmarino]

great stuff, Pia. the Y series is the stuff of comic book print run legends.

[OM]

Originally Posted by Pia

Certain artists, we won't name, just completely destroyed the safety of good storytelling in favor of this stylistic glitzy-ness.

...Oh, come on, Pia! It's not like those first five words of that sentence haven't become synonymous with "Rob Liefeld"

...You know, it's been five years, and we're *still* waiting for Pia to provide us those photos of her in fishnets and goosesteppers

[dantebk]

Pia is awesome! I love her work on this book so much. She has to be one of my favorite artists. I got the chance to see some of her original art from Y when I was in the comic art museum in San Francisco a couple weeks ago and it was gorgeous.

[RAd]

I first saw Pia's art when a cousin gave me his copy of Vampire the Masquerade RPG book and I was drawn to her work. She's the primary reason why I bought "Y" in the first place and I am extremely glad that the story was top notch as well. Sad, the this series has to end but it was very satisfying.

[PhoenixFacto]

A great and enlightening interview with an amazing woman and artist. Y is one of my favorite books both for Vaughan and Pia. I will follow her art anywhere. Its so distinctive and pleasant. This series will be remembered as one of the greats of all time i think.

[Kareeeeem]

Y made her one of my fav artists. great stuff

[guayec]

Great enterview. Great artist. Great comic. Thank you.

[Blackbeard]

Excellent interview with an extremely talented artist. Well done, Pia.

[Crump's Brother]

Stellar work from Pia on this series. Always a treat to begin a new trade and see those gorgeous pages. Good interview, too.

[supergp]

I've got a lot of love for the artwork in Y:TLM, just because the characters look human. Sadly, that's enough to differentiate it from most of the comics on my shelf.

[Spaz_Monkey]

I can't believe we're nearly at the end. It seems like just yesterday a buddy of mine told me to read this book called "Y the last something or other". I picked up a back copy of issue 1, read it, turned around and picked up the other 6 issues in the back issue box. I was hooked. Pia and Brian have been responsible for one of (if not the) the very best books of this decade, and I can't thank them enough for it.

[jedifish]

Excellent series. Kind of disappointed that it went bi-monthly at the end, because I would have liked to have gotten the final trade in November.

[mrhelm]

I'm a latecomer in to Y, but it is truly a great book (probably Brian's finest accomplishment so far). It will be truly sad to see it end, but at the same time, I love the fact that it has a definitive beginning, middle, and end, just like all great Vertigo books.

[superboy072]

Through and through, the best comic I have ever read.

[Cray_ws]

Pia, Congrats to you and the fine work you done on Y: The Last Man. Its been extremely enjoyable run. I commend you for sticking with it for the long haul.

I use to consider your art one few hidden treasures in comics, but you've gained such a popularity its hard to keep your work a secret.

I wouldn't mind seeing more of your art in Gen13 or anything other Wildstorm title for matter.

[tunabeard]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

by Vaneta Rogers


While the dramatic plot has taken a few story-driven side-trips, Y: The Last Man promised from the beginning that it would only last 60 issues and has been building toward that end. Vaughan and Guerra have both made it clear over the last five years that they believe the story needs a definitive ending, one that draws painfully close for readers who have come to depend on their monthly dose of "Y."

First, I'm tapped out of my monthly fix of "Strangers In Paradise" and now this...Alas poor Yorick...I read him well.

[Ravengregory]

Pia is awesome! Take a bow, gal. Take a bow.

[Arion]

I love Pia Guerra.

[kalorama]

I love the book and think Guerra does really good work. But the stickler in me feels compelled to point out that some of the art accompanying the story is actually the work of Goran Parlov.

[rodolfo leon]

curiously enough, Safeword is one of my favourite comic arcs EVER. and is the reason i always champion BKV's writing. nice.