Anyone read the DC Comics "Elseworlds" (alternate universe) story JLA: Created Equal? A virus wipes out all men on Earth except Superman and Lex Luthor. Shades of Russ. (Also of "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex.") I haven't read Created Equal (didn't know it existed 'til just now); it apparently got decent reviews, though I'm mighty dubious. If any of you read it, what did you think?
In a similar vein, I started reading Y: The Last Man, which appears to be superhero-free. I’ve only read issues 1-5 (the first bound collection) so far — anyone in the Bay Area willing to rent me the later issues so I can catch up? 🙂 As I’m barely past the introduction of the characters, I don’t have strong impressions of it yet.
Reading “all the men on Earth die” stories can be a strange gamble. In the hands of a writer with skill and integrity, they can be very, very good — e.g. Tiptree’s “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?”, Russ’s Whileaway — but the subject can also attract sensationalists, especially the scenario in which one or two singular men survive. I feel like anyone who writes a monogender story should be required to add a postscript explaining why that choice of setting was *absolutely* *necessary*.
Just mumbling back here in the gallery, am I. Pay no mind. 🙂