Destruction, Ethics, and Intergalactic Love: Exploring Y: The Last Man and Saga

Cover
Endorsements Page
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments: Joy and Gratitude amidst Distress
Introduction: Death, Decay, and Destruction: Only the Beginning
	Opening Salvo
	Structure and Thematic Rationale
	Chapter Summaries
	Terror Incognita: A Comic-Loving Theologian Embarking on Comics Studies
	The Backdrop and The Rationale: On Genius
	Collaborative Creations and Their Creators
	Y and Saga —Thematic Strands
	Y: The Last Man Summary
	Saga Summary (Issues 1–54)
	Comic Apostasy, Comic Pedigree: Autobiographical Reminisces
	Notes
Part I: Seeking Meaning in a Meaningless World
	Chapter 1: Ethics (and Art) after the Plague
		All Is Plague
			What Makes Some Heal and Others Ignore or Injure?
		Scapegoats and the Anonymous Dead
		Beyond Y: Postapocalyptic Empathy
		The Plague in Y: Rumor and Hearsay
		The Enigma of Allison/Dr. Mann/Ayuko Matsumori 45
		Cloning
		The Mad Scientist
		Art amidst Death
		Notes
	Chapter 2: Inky Darkness: Ethics amidst Intergalactic War (and The Narrative)
		Just Wars?
		The War on Terror and Saga
		The Narrative
		References to “The Narrative” in Saga
		The Narrative’s Morally Gnarled Language
		The Price and Profit of War
		Trauma of the Innocent and the Guilty
		Children, Trauma, and War
		Hazel and Trauma
		Phang
		Miscarriages and Empathy
		Coda: The Problem of Evil
		Notes
	Reflection on Part 1
Part 2: Love and Parenting through Oppression and Grief
	Chapter 3: Love and Identity: A Numeric and Heroic Journey
		Heroes
		355 amidst Black Lives Matter
		A Number’s Origin and Quest
		A Hero’s Villain within
		355 as Healer
		Sibling Reconciliation
		Ever after
		Interracial Love
		Yorick and 355’s First Scene
		A Relationship of Denying, Obfuscating, and Sublimating
		Conclusion: The Everyday Heroic
		Notes
	Chapter 4: (Intergalactic) Fatherhood: Failure and Maternal Hope
		Fatherhood: Reflections, Worries, Dreams
		Mothers
		Fictional Dads and Character Traits
		Helplessness, Fear, Anxiety, Daily Death: Fatherhood during War and Oppression
		Failed Fathers
		The Will and Sophie/Slave Girl
		Prince Robot IV and Squire
		Are Dead Fathers the Only Good Fathers?
		Barr—The Best Exception?
		Marko
		Notes
	Reflection on Part 2
		Notes
Part 3: Being Peace but Surrounded by Violence
	Chapter 5: Blessed are the Peacemakers: Gender and Violence
		“Milk for Gall”
			How Best to Reply to These (Vile) Generalizations?
		Gender, Ethics, and Judgment
		Feminists for All
			Where to Lay the Blame?
		Ethics and Violence as Usual?
		Alter (and Toyota): Women with Excessive Gall
		Amazons: Daughters of Destruction
		Heroes and Murderers
		On Sonia: Crass Wisdom and Tragic Redemption
		Heroes and Murders, Part Two
		Seeking Peace: 355 and Violence
		Conclusion: Milk and Gall
		Notes
	Chapter 6: On the Perils of Pacifism during War
		Exemplars of Active Nonviolence
		Seeking a Justpeace
		D. Oswald Heist, the Writer
		The Pen and the Sword
		The Reception of Heist’s Books
		Heist’s Other Novels in Saga and Potential Impact
		A Middle Way?
		Marko’s (Intermittent Vow of) Nonviolence
		Pacifist and Alone
		Violence within, Threats without
		Marko’s Evolving Views on Violence
		Conclusion: Inevitable Violence?
		Notes
	Reflection on Part 3
		Notes
Part 4: Beyond Diversity and Tolerance: Towards Communion
	Chapter 7: Post-Religion: Sex, God, Women, Love
		Religions and Women
		Sporadic Godtalk in Y
		Post-Vatican II Catholic Sexual Ethics: Brief Overview
		Yorick’s Quasi-Sexual/Spiritual Healing
		The Intervention
		Theology and Y
		Confession
		Eucharist
		Two Feminist Theology Students in a Plague
		The Vatican
		The Dreaming: Beth and Aboriginal Australia
		Conclusion: Faith Endures
		Notes
	Chapter 8: Enfolding the Grotesque and the Borderless: A Politics for All
		Difference and Plurality
		The Grotesque and the Hybrid
		Ghüs—“The Mate and Companion of People”
		Petrichor: From Exclusion to Inclusion
		Lying Cat: A Kantian Feline
		Izabel: A Profane Holy Ghost
		Hazel: “A Glimmering Girl”
		A Borderless Politics?
		Notes
	Reflection on Part 4
		Notes
Conclusion: Love in the Throes of Destruction and Despair
	Love and Moving Mountains
	Bearing, Believing, Hoping, Enduring: Yorick and 355
	Marko and Hazel: “Love Never Ends”
	Love Triumphant? Y ’s Ending and Saga ’s Midpoint
	Closing Salvo: Beginning Again
	Notes
Bibliography
Index