casBrian K Vaughan is one of the best comic book writers today – his three main titles, Y The Last Man, Ex-Machina and Runaways are all among my very favorite books on the market (Y and Ex-Machina often jostle for the top spot in my list). The third trade paperback volume of Ex-Machina, Fact vs Fiction, was released this past week (buy it from CHUD.com by clicking here) and I had a chance to talk to Brian on the phone for quite some time yesterday.

The full interview will be coming on Monday, but in the meantime here’s a cool bit of information he dropped about the long-looming film adaptation of Y The Last Man:

Q: Y has been in development hell for some time. What’s the status of the film? Do you know at all; are you in the loop on that?

Vaughan: Yeah, I’m really in the loop. In fact I would upgrade it from development hell to development limbo, maybe. I am actually writing the screenplay right now for Y The Last Man; they’re letting me take a shot at it. It’s been really good. The input I’ve gotten so far has been really positive.

In no way does that mean a movie is right around the corner, or that a movie ever will get made period, but it seems to be on an OK track.

It sounds like Brian has learned that you don’t make definitive statements during the development process. Still, this is great news – he and artist Pia Guerra created the world of Y – a world where all the men except one mysteriously and suddenly die – and he’s the best choice to adapt the material to the screen.

David Goyer is still attached to to produce, Brian tells me. (Quick update: I had mistakenly said Goyer was directing. There is no director currently attached)  He’s hoping to be finished with his current draft soon (when that’s done he’s hopping back to work on his script for an Ex-Machina film), and maybe we’ll be hearing some more official announcements after that.

Check back Monday for the full interview, where we talk more about the challenges of making Y a movie, Brian K Vaughan’s secret to being very productive, and whether or not Ex-Machina’s Mayor Mitchell Hundred used his super-powers to rig his election. And much, much more.