Brian K. Vaughan Finishes Y,Improves Lost

Brian K. Vaughan is really hot right now. With the release of the final issue of his Y: The Last Man comic, a whole slew of outlets have been singing the writers praises, not to mention gushing about the aforementioned series. But while Vaughan is a familiar face for comic book fans, even newer ones such as myself, 2008 will likely see his audience widen a good deal. Tomorrow night's Lost is co-written by Vaughan and former Buffy scribe, Drew Goddard. Vaughan also wrote season three's "Catch-22," where Desmond had visions of Charlie's imminent death. Needless to say, as the show fights to regain and maintain its momentum, Vaughan provides a fresh and necessary voice for the show. Furthermore, with a knack to create and actually develop interesting female characters (not to mention his brilliant Faith arc in Buffy Season 8), here's hoping he can add something else that the show is seriously lacking.

But, let's return to Y: The Last Man - a series which virtually every critic has praised for both its simplicity and complexity. Complex because, well, it is about a plague that wipes out all men but one, and simple in that it strays from post-apocalyptic scenarios and instead tries to practically look at the impact of such an event. Vaughan recently discussed his process of far too much research in arriving at such practical conclusions with Entertainment Weekly:

I love doing research. I'm a film-school geek. I know very little outside Boba Fett-related trivia. I feel like any writing is an excuse to learn more about the world. And it was just fun. If this plague is going to hit and kill all the men instantaneously, how many female pilots are there, and what happens to the planes in the air? And as long as we're talking about planes...how about submarines? Are there women in submarines? Every door opened up another door, and I just of fell down the rabbit hole. It was an interesting year of solid research into questions like those before I even started writing.

Y has been optioned for a film with a tentative release date of 2009. Screenwriter Carl Ellsworth and director D. J. Caruso are attached - the two having previously collaborated on Disturbia.

Outside of Y, Vaughan continues to write the politically-heavy superhero tale, Ex Machina and recently handed over his Runaways series to Joss Whedon. Runaways is targeted to a younger audience, but its hipper version of the X-Men model, coupled with humorous cameos from well-known superheroes have made it a personal favorite Vaughan creation.

Befriend Vaughan at MySpace.