V for Vendetta: New Edition [Paperback]

To understand 'V For Vendetta', you have to understand the times in which it was written. Britain of the 1980s was wracked by recession and with discontent against the Conservative government. Hanging over this was the ever-present Cold War mentality.

The premise of this book is that the Conservative government are voted out (as Moore expected at the time, but which didn't come to pass) and the new Labour government insists on nuclear disarmament. So it is that when the Cold War becomes World War 3, Britain is uninvolved, but not unaffected.

As nuclear fallout affects the weather and radiation causes widespread death a fascist regime rises to offer England stability and order. The price for this is the internment and execution of blacks, homosexuals, liberals and all those who don't conform to the fascist ideals. The future Moore paints is a bleak and painfully believable one.

However, one man decides to destroy this new order so that freedom can be rebuilt from the rubble. The man is known only as V. When it comes down to it, V is the greatest element of this book. He's cultured, witty, mysterious, charismatic and ruthless. Also, David Lloyd's design of the character as a man dressed in a smiling mask and Guy Fawkes costume is inspired. My favourite bit of the book is when V sneaks into the home of a child-abusing bishop and confronts the corrupt clergyman with a Rolling Stones quote; 'Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste'.

There are numerous other characters integral to the story; the widow Rose, forced to become a stripper; the Leader, an insane fascist in love with Fate, the computer which effectively controls England; as well as the various heads of the Party. However, there are two characters who reveal about V what he never reveals himself.

The first is Mr. Finch, a police officer tasked with hunting down V, who undertakes a personal quest to understand V's mind (which includes an LSD trip in a death camp).

The other character is Evey. At the beginning she is a helpless girl who turns to prostitution to make ends meet. However, after meeting V she begins an education at his hands in the meaning of freedom which breaks her and then remakes her.

At it's most basic level this book is about freedom, both personal freedom and freedom as an abstract concept. Dark, disturbing and thought-provoking, this book still manages to be exciting and uplifting. Certainly one of the best pieces of literature (not just comic-form) that I've ever read.

Back to graphic novels after a long absence, I had never read V before, but ordered a copy.

Lets just say I'm not often motivated enough by a book or CD to want to review it on Amazon, but this book does.

Absolutely superb read, complex story with super characters. Really couldn't put this one down.

After reading, immediately watched the movie which has had mixed reviews. In my view not a truly bad film at all, but a far cry from the book with some serious storyline changes. I mention this because if you have seen the film, dont let that cloud your judgement of whether to read the book.

The book is a lot more sinister - due to its age it actually carries a wonderful style - very Orwellian, very Brazil (The film, not the country!).

Please read, its well worth it.

I tend to listen to friends advice very often, and I also happen to like being generous when I by them Christmas presents. So a friend of mine talked alot about how much he wanted to read From Hell by Moore. So I bought it as a Christmas present for him, mostly because I wanted to read it myself. And we both liked it. Later, I owed the same guy some money, and after listening to him muttering that V for Vendetta might just be even more brilliant, I bought it to him too. And it was awesome. I have always been a little scared of superhero books, and I never really liked Batman or Punisher very much. But this was beyond great. The hero is so extremely complex and sophisticated, that any comparison to the more famous superheroes is impossible. And the setting is really one of the best grim futures I've encountered in any literature or movie.

Set in London in some future, the world has been torn apart by some great war, and several continents are wiped out. England has prevailed. And now she is being controlled by a totalitarean (is that a word) and facsist government, who seem to put her future in the hands of the all knowing computer Fate. Anyone who strays from the ideals and looks the government want, are arrested and taken to camps. In this future, music, art and literature is forbidden, unless it is approved by the government, and not much is. In the middle of this we follow Eve, a young girl lost in the city and drawn to prostitution to survive, and her mysterious captor/savior V, a terrorist and visionary, who tries to turn England back to what it were before the war.

If you like Neil Gaiman or Garth Ennis, you'll love V for Vendetta, also if you like any story about dark futures, like George Orwell's 1984 (well that's more a dark past).
Now I really look forward to buying "The Watchmen" and "Swamp Thing". Guess my friend is too.