Nuclear war has changed the world. Continents are gone. The UK has become a fascist state. Few are willing to speak out against the injustices the government perpetrates every day. Then one man--codename V--begins to do just that.

The more Alan Moore I read, the more I like his work. His stories are consistently thought-provoking, intricate, subtle and dark. He doesn't give answers; instead, he tosses out a bunch of ideas and lets the reader figure out how she feels about them. It's interactive. You can't just kick back and enjoy the story; you really need to concentrate on what's going on, because Moore sure as hell isn't gonna tell you in so many words.

V FOR VENDETTA is no exception. It's an early piece and so is not, perhaps, quite so subtle as some of Moore's later stuff, but it doesn't suffer by comparison. It's deep and penetrating and absolutely worth your time. As David Lloyd says in the introduction, this is a book for people who don't switch off the news. It's for readers who want to look deeper. There are no good guys here, and you could argue that there are no bad guys, either. There are people; people who've chosen, or been forced into, particular paths, and must now deal with the consequences. Moore and Lloyd rarely pass judgment on them as they chronicle their story (though they do invite us to do so). They show us what these people do and how they feel about what they do. They invite us to place ourselves in the same situations and consider how our views might change. What is right? What is wrong? Where should we draw the line?

So V FOR VENDETTA is a highly political work, but it's also a book about symbols. V, the (arguably) central character, dresses as Guy Fawkes. He wears an ever-smiling theatrical mask. He collects pieces of the contraband past. He throws snippets of plays and songs in his opponents' faces. Even his codename, V, is symbolic: of what he (wants his enemies to believe he) endured after the fascists came to power; of the old slogan, "V For Victory,"; of the V sign, which I understand is basically the finger to British folks. Moore also makes it clear that V is for a lot of things, not just Vendettas and Victory: victims, vermin, villains, voices, visions, violence, vengeance, and a whole host of other things positive, negative and in between.

And then there's the format itself, which was revolutionary for the times. There are no thought bubbles, no block quotes from an omniscient narrator. The story relies entirely on the art and the dialogue, and the two together do an admirable job of pushing everything along. Lloyd's paneling is dynamic and easy to follow. His use of line ties the work firmly to the 1980's, but after a while you won't even notice. His colours, in contrast, are pretty different from the stuff that was prevalent back in the 80's. At times, V FOR VENDETTA looks like nothing so much as a watercolour painting.

There's a ton to think about here, a ton to mull over and contemplate. I feel like I'm not saying enough; like I haven't even scratched the surface. There's a lot to this book. I highly recommend that you check it out for yourself.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

A great graphic novel, but I discovered that graphic novels make me seasick. A bit more comprehensive than the film. ( )

A great graphic novel, but I discovered that graphic novels make me seasick. A bit more comprehensive than the film. ( )

A great graphic novel, but I discovered that graphic novels make me seasick. A bit more comprehensive than the film. ( )

In the post-apocalyptic "future" of the late 1990s, Britain is under totalitarian rule, but a mysterious man known only as V is about to change all that.

This is pretty much right up my alley storywise. The art...well, it was bearable to get the story. I would have much preferred it as a novel, though, because the art definitely didn't add anything to me. I'm not a fan of most western comic styles and this seemed worse than most in that it was so dark and everyone's faces were half in shadows all the time, so I had real trouble distinguishing characters (especially since aside from V and Evey, they were pretty much all Generic White Guy With Short Hair). But as with many less-than-stellarly-drawn manga, it's well worth it for the story.

I kind of feel frazzled at the moment, so I don't really have much to say beyond that, though there were definitely things that didn't sit well with me, most notably the fact that while it makes sense for the government as set up here, having all the people of color and queers sent away to concentration camps sure makes for a convenient excuse to tell a story about only straight white people (except for that one tragic lesbian whose tragic life and death is nothing more than a tool to cause straight people to change). I wasn't too thrilled with the portrayal of women here, either. ( )

Curiousity was the reason I read this book, because I found myself enjoying the film version. I now find myself in the position of saying I'm glad the book was written because otherwise the film would not have been made. I found the written story far more disjointed, harder to focus on (partially because it was written for the 1980's, not the 2000's political climate), and generally unappealing. It is a classic of its genre, however, and worth at least one read if you are a fan. ( )

This is a disturbing look at an alternate future where fascism has won. It is set in the UK after a takeover by a regime that is determined to protect residents from themselves. Personal choice is a thing of the past and freedom merely a legend. Into this comes the figure of V, a mysterious figure wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and cloak who jumps into action and protects a young woman from thugs determined to hurt her. In the process he brings her into his world and shows her his grand plan. What frightens me most is that I can see some of the measure enacted by this fictional government occurring now. People are more than willing to give up their personal freedoms in the quest for safety; an illusory condition at best.

This book is amazingly frightening and totally enthralling. ( )

I'd seen the movie and liked it. I'd read other Alan Moore graphic novels and liked them. I'd seen Moore's commentaries on how much he hates every movie ever made from one of his books, especially this one. And I thought I should check it out for myself.

I can see why he's upset. The plot is similar, and the point is similar, but the book and the movie go about it VERY differently and the actual endings are quite different. In fact, the movie chose to end with what is pretty much the beginning of the book.

Like most, if not all, of Moore's books, V is about how and why the central characters are they way they are. And they aren't necessarily good people. V is a tortured anarchist who kidnaps and tortures a relative innocent to turn them into a copy of himself. Along the way he fights against a corrupt autocracy. But not because it is a good thing, or a noble thing, but for personal revenge and because V is an anarchist. A violent anarchist.

I like that aspect. This is the perfect example of "comics aren't just happy stories for kids", just in case anyone still believes that old trope. The story, themes, dialog are all something you can find in contemporary social commentary fiction. Except better than at least 80% of what you're likely to find. The images are incredibly well done by David Lloyd. The art is nothing of the flashy lurid colors you might associate with a "comic book". The pallet is very restrained, monochromatic even. Most of the book is illustrated in sepia, washed-out blues, or faded amber/rose with occasional splashes of green intruding into a section. It is dark, much like the material. Shadows predominate.

Ultimately it is a powerful story, powerfully told and powerfully illustrated and it has little to do with the movie. I disagree with Moore about the movie. I think that was pretty good too, but he's right that it wasn't a movie of his book. ( )

No need to really discuss the art of Alan Moore and David Lloyd. The story is incredibly well done, and reviewed and discussed in many other locations. The only addition I would make is that the quality of this edition is a bit light, and in some of the later panels, the selected colors make it difficult to see details. The overall quality is very high. ( )

The first graphic novel I've read, so I can't really compare it with anything else. For what it's worth, though, I very much enjoyed the plot (i.e. Alan Moore's words), but found David Lloyd's illustrations rather confusing in places (I found it hard to distinguish between some of the characters). It's perhaps not quite as 'deep' as it thinks it is, but it raises some very interesting themes and points, and the story is skillfully told.

And, whatever Alan Moore might think, the film's very good, too. ( )

Seminal graphic novel, becoming more relevent every day but, at the risk of accusations of heresy, it's not very well illustrated, the text is overly wordy and too often descends into psychobabble, and the whole thing is sadly, just not that enjoyable. Sorry. ( )

Summary
This novel is set in a fictional late 1990s London that has been taken over by a fascist dictator after a devastating nuclear war has wiped out Africa & Europe. The leader controls society through "Fate" (a computer) and various agencies - the "Ears" (audio surveillance), "Eyes" (video surveillance), "Nose" (police), and "Mouth" (propaganda broadcasts). The main plot centers around V (a mysterious person in a Guy Fawkes costume who commits various acts of murder and mayhem) and Evey (a 16-year-old orphan who is rescued by V after an attempted assault).

Opinion
I may be biased by my positive opinion of the movie, which I saw first. (I doubt I would have read this if I hadn't enjoyed the movie so much.) Despite some dated things (like the computers), the plot was interesting and kept me reading. I didn't enjoy the songs in the novel, because I don't read music and couldn't "hear" the intent of the author and didn't recognize many of the lyrics, but the rest was very good. My first graphic novel. ( )

This graphic novel was written in the 80s, and was set in a dystopian near future in the 90s, where there’d been a terrible war, and a fascist government has taken over Great Britain. The only person standing against this government is a shadowy figure codenamed V, who turns out to be a victim of the government’s concentration camps. He sets out to destroy everyone involved in the concentration camp, while also taking a girl named Eve under his wing after he rescues her one night from a group of cops that were about to rape her.

There are a number of things going on in this story, Evey’s journey to understand exactly who V is, the back stories of people that ran the concentration camps and have moved on to higher government posts, and the interesting undertones of a society under the thumb of a small group of people.

I’ve heard a number of times when running across mention of this book in the past, that it’s a particularly British story, and I can agree with that. There is no superhero in this book, however much V may have been changed by what was done to him in the concentration camps. Other than that, there is that slight flavor of difference that I get when watching British tv shows, or reading a book by a British author. We are very similar, but it’s interesting to see how we’re different. I’m not sure an American author could have envisioned an American version of this book that would have been at all the same.

A last note: like any story set in a near future that is now the past, it’s a bit funny to see dates that have now happened, and clearly not in the way portrayed in the story, and yet, it’s interesting to wonder how things might actually not be that different. ( )

Good, although clearly an early work as the plot is a bit stumbly at the outset and results in a conclusion which doesn't quite smoothly loop back into the start as it might under the writer's more practised hand now.

Damned fine, all around, however. ( )

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I've re-read this at least once a year since its publication, not only because I enjoy the poetry of the language and the art of the drawings, but because I need a reminder now and again that I never want to fit into the norm and that one should never accept the unacceptable. I think this is Alan Moore's crown achievement (although many would argue for Watchmen) because it's not a tale told for entertainment, but grew out of Moore's own personal frustration and anger at a place and time in history - and the story manages to reflect that call to arms, albeit with Moore's usual dry tone and cynical airs. I love it, and will re-read it many, many times.

http://boklista.livejournal.com/56099... ( )

Admittedly, I am a latecomer to the cult of Alan Moore. I was barely aware of him back in the late 80s/early 90s, and other than Killing Joke, my introduction to him was actually in the superb D.R. and Quinch series for 2000 A.D. I missed out on the original releases of his Swamp Thing run, V for Vendetta, and The Watchmen.

Later, I rediscovered Moore with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I was already a fan of Kevin O'Neill from his work on Marshal Law (which is still one of my all-time favorite comics and fantastic satire), so I immediately jumped on the new series. Over the years, I've slowly been winding my way back through Moore's definitive work, viewing it for the first time with a somewhat different perspective than most who read the comics upon initial release.

While not the best of Alan Moore's work (The Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Killing Joke are far better tales), V for Vendetta still stands up as an amazing piece of comic book art after all these years. Many of the political and social themes (as well as David Lloyd's artwork) may not seem that revolutionary now (or for literature in general), but one has to view the series like a Black Flag album or a painting from Joan Miró. Compared to other releases of that time (and in many cases of the ensuing decades), it stands well above the competition.

I do tend to agree with Moore that the series works much better in its original colorless incarnation, was serialized in Warrior magazine in the UK during the 1980s. The concept of the stark, black and white artwork used to tell a tale of endless moral gray areas works so perfectly. And in many ways, it sub-references the original pulp mystery origins of the series when Moore and Lloyd thought it would be set in the 1930s gangster era. The lackluster coloring by DC Comics, who published the series here in the U.S. under their Vertigo imprint, almost detracts from the story.

But up until this time, there had never been a comic series like V for Vendetta. This was the comic book equivalent of Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” offering up a satirical and dystopian viewpoint that masks a very serious political argument. Moore and Lloyd were reacting to Thatcherite Britain, parodying its more grotesque sins including xenophobia and ruling by conformity.

In addition, the countless literary allusions, the use of iambic pentameter for V’s dialogue, and the unflinching portrayal of a society that is falling apart at its very core is still head and shoulders above most comic storytelling.

One fact hit me reading all these years later: there isn’t a single hero in V for Vendetta. No one is heroic, not even V. While his anarchist quest could be regarded as noble, it still results in murder and ultimately the complete destruction of British society (holding to the idea that the old society must be destroyed so a new one can be built in its place). Other than Judge Dredd or the Punisher, there was nothing this grim and cynical in comic storytelling of the 1980s and early 90s. It took guts for Moore to craft such a storyline and to do it with such a creative and artistic flourish. Even if you disagree with Moore’s viewpoint, you are dragged into his political arguments, forced to take sides, much like the characters trapped in the storyline, are left to question your own pre-determined moral judgments. That is the mark of a great storyteller. ( )

Disappointing as Alan Moore books go. Never really gripped me like his others. Still good, just not as good as others. ( )

V is a mysterious, well diverse literature anarchist whose goal is to kill the leaders of the fascist government in futuristic England. V sparks a revolution through assassinations and destruction. He is the only survivor of a prison experience that the reader decides if it leaves him sane or insane, human or superhuman. Throughout the book, his identity is never revealed, even after he dies and his successor, sixteen year old Evey has a chance to unveil him.

Profoundly eh.

Okay. There's political writing, and then there's political comics (Watchmen, also by Moore). Pure political writing-- essays or editorials or what have you-- doesn't have to leave everyone satisfied. It can leave some angry or displeased or challenged, so long as it makes its point.

Political comics have to be different.

A political comic must not only make a clear political point, but it must ALSO be interesting in a way that is peculiar to comics: it must have a gratifying narrative, it must be artistically sound, and it must have the same kind of emotional influence that a regular old novel or movie would have, because comics are, primarily, STORIES.

V for Vendetta is a glut of political writing stuffed into an attractive skin of art and garnished over with the platitudiest delivery I have ever had the misfortune to be exposed to outside a 50s superhero comic. It's got the same blind and senseless energy of delivery that any Superman-hurling-a-car comic would have. This stems, I think, primarily from the fact that it's an anarchist comic, and making anarchism into a coherent and attractive viewpoint is nearly impossible, given that anarchism is probably the illest-conceived of any extant ideology.

However, because it's anarchism, because the writing is coherent and cleverer than most graphic novels', because it's all draped over with mystery, because it's a well-designed book, tone and layout-wise, and because the art is fantastic, the essential failure of the book-- the fact that it lacks anything behind its shell of hyperenergetic blathering-- is usually forgiven by its readers.

Seriously. The book tries so hard to be political and symbolic it crushes itself. Premise-wise, the story doesn't make a lot of sense-- we hear that England was living in a government vacuum for several years, and that London was straight-across flooded, and that every other landmass on the planet has been nuked, AND that a nuclear winter has occurred, but for some reason they're still living in a fully-mechanized modern consumer society. All right. Sure. Also, it appears that the only remaining political ideologies in the universe are Fascism and Socialism/Communism, with Anarchism resting on its own crazy-ass axis out who the hell knows where. All right, again. Beginning to sound more and more like Revolutionary Spain/every third world country ever. Sure. Got that. 'First and freest Republic in the world loses all sense of its political heritage and persecutes the hell out of its inhabitants' is, historically, the ONLY trend in British apocalyptic fiction, but this is the worst I've ever seen it done.

I don't know. What is Moore posing here as the only options for political ideology? He paints a world in which one can only be either a ethnocentric homophobic racist fascist or an 'anarchist'. All right. What does he mean by 'anarchism'? Returning to a state of nature? Gradual and spontaneous shift to democracy? End of the modern mechanized world? Spontaneous national transformation a leaderless socialist state? Hmm. Moore handles his material childishly. For me, the political-apocalypse stories that WORK show the protagonists yearning after a leave-me-alone-let's-all-be-friends sort of political neutralism-- a state of 'let's have universal human rights and that's all please' joy. A utopia of 'being a normal person again'. Children of Men is like this. Even Watchmen is less heavy on the socialism and focuses more on the 'let's stop being persecutors and start being nice to everyone else again' mentality. Readers can therefore identify with the protagonists-- they aren't radicals. They're just normal people trying to be normal again. But in V for Vendetta, the only way peace can be achieved is if every individual person is a politically-radical crowd member willing to use mob violence.

Not inspirational.

I don't care what you think about the degree to which individuals must be political to preserve their rights. This book makes no coherent political point and the messages it DOES articulate are comprised solely of platitudes. It fails to represent any realistic view of any political spectrum whatsoever. Instead of focusing on human rights/the dignity of man/the right to be free, it sours the whole batch by presenting some shallowly-conceived idea of anarchism as the solution to all modern political crises. The fact is that this book reads like a poorly-contrived piece of anti-Thatcher propaganda.

Which is essentially what it is.

Some people apparently like this book becuase 'V is an amazing character.' V is, in fact, almost not a character. Moore specifically has him talk about how he considers his own identity unimportant. V is a big bundle of soggy political ideology stuffed up into a man-suit with a funny mask on the front. The whole backstory bit exists to give the situation-- the SITUATION, not the character-- plausibility. The fact that the backstory even exists sours Moore's ideological point, which is unfortunate, since the point was shallow enough to begin with. V is suppsoed to be an 'everyman', and is supposed to represent the potential in all of us to make a difference. But how did he get like this? First of all, he's insane, mildly or seriously, but slightly insane at some level. Secondly, he's got SUPER POWERS of combat/the mind that he was given in a crazy SCIENCE-FICTION HORMONE EXPERIMENT. All right. So the potential to make a difference is there in all of us, but we need a hero to tell us this is so, and that hero himself needs to be a super-human person in some way before he can take up the job? I don't think so.

There's some extreme cognitive dissonance in this story. Moore can't decide whether to espouse the power of the people as a body or the power of the individual-- an individual who, in some ways, is nearly as charismatic as a 20th-century dictator, yet who is, in other ways, utterly flat and irrelevant.

V is not a character. V is an idea, and a cloudy one at that. ( )

Yes, it's a fascinating book with sometimes engaging reading... but there's something overall that doesn't bring me the kind of satisfaction I'm looking for. Perhaps it was the conclusion itself -not that I'm a fan of the happily-ever-after. Maybe the last act build-up was too extended that it didn't pull me into the drama and I was simply waiting for it to end. Maybe I wanted to know more about V and who he was pre-Room V. Maybe it was because I read it now in 2008 and not in 1990.... ( )

Basic Reason for Beginning: Now this I do remember as a positive recommendation by a friend. (Yup. That's all I need unless I've a good reason to distrust friends' recommendations.)
Basic Reason for Finishing: Story.
Texture: Has none. They're pictures.

Full review here.

Rereadability: I would, if the art didn't make me feel weird.
Recommendation: Mmmhmm. If you want something nice and deep and challenging. ( )

I'm tempted to just copy and paste what I said about Moore's "Watchmen" in here, as much of it applies, or at least in my humble opinion.

"V for Vendetta" is another must-read. Not just simply because it's written extremely well, or because the story is fantastic, but because it also has much to say about the world we numbingly stumble through on a daily basis. It may be a brief glimpse behind the curtains, or at least some of them, but it is a look. ( )

There is a lot to say about this book. Par for the course with Mr. Moore, really, but, like, a lot even for him. More than LoEG, even. Or not more, but more important things.

How did you predict the future so hard? I mean, not the details - one of the peculiarities of future-racist dystopias is that they always have thinly veiled British Mosley Nazis like it's the '30s or something, which is obvs ridic. Nobody will go for that now, not in post-imperial Britain - leave it for the continentals or the wackos, the rest of the country will take their other-hatred in the name of "security" or fighting "terrorism," thank you very much. And the Christ-y stuff is so halfhearted that I can only assume it's an attempt to make godless Brits shudder than an actual stab at prognostication. But all the rest - "Fate" and the surveillance mechanisms are the missing link between 1984 and CCTV; the squawking prolegramming fills the gap between 1985 and Little Britain; that indelible, shocking scene with Evey and the fingermen at the beginning fits neatly in between "Hallowe'en Jack is a real cool cat" and ASBOs or hoodie bans. England has been blessed with a lot of Cassandras, but this is one dark future that seems a lot less averted than most. Maybe because it's comics?

(And yeah, it's breastier and more histrionic and LSD is more involved that it could be, and it's definitely the work of young men who think V is super badass, but they're not wrong, when you come right down to it.) ( )

This was a very dark graphic novel, yet I feel that it would not have succeeded otherwise. Alan Moore's strength in this one is to create characters so morally complex as to make the reader wonder who it is to "cheer" for and whom to "despise" I put those words in quotes because here, unlike the current literary trend of presenting strong anti-heroes, V is for Vendetta sets its sight on promoting an anti-villain and his violent methods. Taking that perspective forces us readers to think and process throughout the course of reading this graphic novel. Something so many other works of fiction fail to do. ( )

I think I expected too much from V for Vendetta and as a result, I found the book disappointing. The V character was, to me at least, kind of stupid, listening to Motown and wearing that stupid Guy Fawkes mask and putting Evey through incredible psychological torture to "liberate" her. I guess the author was trying for a certain level of moral ambivalence in the character, but his vision of anarchy left me frankly flat.

Maybe I need to reread the book to pick on its nuances, or maybe I'm just not cut out to appreciate the whole superhero genre or whatever genre this book falls under. ( )