Y: The Last Man #1 (2002). Vertigo. Yorick and Ampersand on the J.G. Jones cover.

1st Appearance and 1st Cover

First Appearance of Yorick Brown

Y: The Last Man #1

September 2002 · DC · Modern Age

Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Vertigo masterpiece. The unemployed escape artist who survived the gendercide, his pet monkey Ampersand, and one of the strongest 60-issue creator-owned arcs of the 2000s.

Key Issue

Created by Brian K. Vaughan · Pia Guerra

By Atomm Updated Apr 24, 2026

DC
Modern Age
2002

The first appearance (1st app) of Yorick Brown is Y: The Last Man #1 (September 2002), created by Brian K. Vaughan (writer) and Pia Guerra (artist). The issue is both his first appearance and first cover. The book opens with the simultaneous death of every mammal possessing a Y chromosome on Earth except Yorick and his pet capuchin monkey Ampersand. Y: The Last Man ran 60 issues through 2008 and is widely regarded as one of the strongest creator-owned narratives of the 2000s. It has been adapted for FX (2021).

Quick Facts

Debut: Y: The Last Man #1 (September 2002)
Real name: Yorick Brown
Creators: Brian K. Vaughan (writer, co-creator), Pia Guerra (artist, co-creator), José Marzán Jr. (inker)
Publisher: DC Comics (Vertigo imprint)
First enemy: The Daughters of the Amazon (an extremist all-female faction that pursues Yorick across the series)
First ally: Ampersand (his pet capuchin monkey, also Y-chromosome survivor); Agent 355 (his bodyguard, debuts in Y #1); Dr. Allison Mann (the geneticist, debuts in Y #2)
Team affiliations: None. Yorick, 355, and Mann form the central traveling unit.

First Appearance

First Appearance First Cover September 2002

Y: The Last Man #1

By Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, J.G. Jones

Brian K. Vaughan writes; Pia Guerra pencils; José Marzán Jr. inks; J.G. Jones provides the cover. Yorick Brown, an unemployed escape artist, debuts alongside his pet capuchin monkey Ampersand. The book opens with the simultaneous death of every mammal possessing a Y chromosome on Earth except Yorick and Ampersand. Vertigo's most-celebrated 2000s launch and one of the strongest sustained creator-owned narratives of the decade.
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Creation Story

Yorick Brown is Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s Vertigo masterpiece protagonist. Y: The Last Man #1 (September 2002) launches with one of the most economical opening sequences in modern comics: the simultaneous death of every mammal possessing a Y chromosome on Earth except for Yorick (an unemployed amateur escape artist) and his pet capuchin monkey Ampersand. The cause is unrevealed; what matters is that Yorick is the last man.

Vaughan writes; Guerra pencils; José Marzán Jr. inks; J.G. Jones covers. The Jones-cover-art Vertigo run is one of the cleanest sustained covers in the imprint’s history. Guerra’s interior art is similarly disciplined: clear-line storytelling, careful character acting, controlled use of negative space. The combination gave the series a visual register distinct from the more painterly Vertigo books of the era.

The book’s tonal register is calibrated. Y is a science-fiction premise framed as a road-trip narrative: Yorick travels across post-gendercide America with Agent 355 (his bodyguard, debuting in #1) and Dr. Allison Mann (the geneticist studying his survival, debuting in #2). The trio’s journey is the structural spine of the 60-issue arc.

The 60-issue arc

Y: The Last Man ran 60 issues through April 2008. The arc was planned. Vaughan and Guerra mapped the conclusion from early in the run, and the series ended in a deliberate, time-jumped epilogue. The series’s commitment to its planned ending is widely regarded as one of the better-executed long-arc creator-owned endings in Vertigo history.

The book’s central mystery (the cause of the gendercide) is gradually narrowed but never fully resolved. The deliberate refusal to commit to a single explanation is a signature Vaughan storytelling choice; the meaning of the event is treated as less important than its consequences for the characters who survive it.

Adaptations

Y: The Last Man (FX on Hulu, 2021) developed by Eliza Clark adapted the comics for television. Ben Schnetzer plays Yorick across the show’s single season (ten episodes). The series was well-received critically but cancelled after one season; the cancellation was widely treated as a missed opportunity rather than a creative failure. The show preserved the comics’ tonal register and central character framework.

Collector context

Y: The Last Man #1 is the Vertigo key. High-grade CGC 9.8 copies have crossed $200 at auction.

Secondary keys: Y: The Last Man #2 (first Dr. Allison Mann). Y: The Last Man #60 (series finale). Brian K. Vaughan’s broader bibliography (Saga, Ex Machina, Paper Girls) keeps Vaughan-collector demand strong on Y key issues.

Key subsequent appearances

After the debut, these are the issues collectors and historians reach for next.

2002
Y: The Last Man #1
First appearance and first cover. First Agent 355.
2002
Y: The Last Man #2
First Dr. Mann
Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. First appearance of Dr. Allison Mann, the geneticist who joins Yorick's traveling group. Completes the central trio.
2008
Y: The Last Man #60
Series Finale
Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. Final issue of the planned 60-issue arc. The series concludes with a deliberate, time-jumped epilogue. Widely regarded as one of the better-planned creator-owned endings in Vertigo history.

In adaptations

Film, TV, animation, and game appearances.

2021
Y: The Last Man
TV
Starring:Ben Schnetzer
FX on Hulu series. Eliza Clark (showrunner). Schnetzer plays Yorick. The series ran one season (ten episodes) before cancellation. The cancellation was widely treated as a missed opportunity rather than a creative failure; the season was well-received critically.

Frequently asked questions

The questions readers and collectors ask most.

What is Yorick Brown's first appearance?

Yorick Brown's first appearance is Y: The Last Man #1 (September 2002), created by Brian K. Vaughan (writer) and Pia Guerra (artist). The issue is both his first appearance and first cover. José Marzán Jr. inks; J.G. Jones provides the cover. The book opens with the simultaneous death of every mammal possessing a Y chromosome on Earth except Yorick and his pet capuchin monkey Ampersand.

Is Y: The Last Man #1 valuable?

Yes. Y: The Last Man #1 is a Vertigo key with strong creator-owned narrative weight. High-grade copies (CGC 9.8) have crossed $200 at auction. The book's value tracks with the FX adaptation (2021) and Brian K. Vaughan's continued visibility through Saga and other creator-owned ongoings.

What killed everyone with a Y chromosome?

Unrevealed for most of the series. Y: The Last Man's central mystery is the cause of the simultaneous-gendercide event. The series gradually narrows the explanation across 60 issues without ever fully resolving it: candidates include a curse on a mystical artifact, a biological weapon, ecological collapse, mystical retribution, and accidental side-effect. The deliberate refusal to commit to a single explanation is a signature Vaughan storytelling choice; the meaning of the event is treated as less important than its consequences.

Why is the book called Y?

Multiple reasons. Y is the chromosome that distinguishes Yorick (and Ampersand) as the surviving mammals. Y is also the question Yorick spends 60 issues asking: why did this happen, why did he survive, why did the world change in the ways it did. The single-letter title is one of the cleanest Vertigo branding choices of the 2000s.

Did Y: The Last Man have a planned ending?

Yes. Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra planned the 60-issue arc deliberately. The final issue (Y: The Last Man #60, April 2008) resolves all major narrative threads through a substantial time-jumped epilogue. The series's conclusion is widely regarded as one of the better-planned creator-owned endings in Vertigo history. Many creator-owned ongoings of the era ended abruptly when commercial conditions changed; Y reached its planned conclusion intact.