V For Vendetta

A clever and dark futuristic England, and the downfall of its dictatorial political regime

by Alan Moore

Rating: Adult

Genre / themes: Politics, freedom, terrorism, Guy Fawkes, Future England.

Art level: Basic, gets the job done. All black and white and quite small.

Star Rating: 4/5

Number of Books: One.

Other notes: Very thick book, a lot of writing and talking. 'Classic' of graphic novels. The recent film starring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman was based of this book. Alan Moore also wrote Watchmen




My Review
Another book by Alan Moore, V For Vendetta was recently made into a fantastic film featuring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman. Futuristic England is in the grip of fear and dictatorship, and V is the mysterious terrorist who decides to bring back the memory of Guy Fawkes and free England. A very good book, and again, like Watchmen, not for kids.

A thick book, with small black and white illustrations and a lot of text, this is a very interesting book to read and well deserves to be ranked up with classic novels (I'd put it well above The Great Gatsby for example!)

This isn't light reading, but it's one you'll go back to.

The film of the book

V for Vendetta (Widescreen Edition)

The recent movie, starring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman, is one of my favourite films. It neatens up the storyline (of course) but is still very effective - dramatic, with sword fights and bullets, classical music and explosions, mysterious masks, government cover-ups, medical testing, plagues, people being 'disappeared', the Voice of London, murders, and imprisonment. And roses.

Three of my favourite parts include the explosions to music, the story of the woman who was questioned and executed for loving another woman, that Evey found (...for three years I had roses and apologised to no one) and of course V's entire speech from his very vivacious and veritably versatile first appearance:

V: Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villian by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. (he carves a "V" into a sign) The only verdict is vengence; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. (giggles) Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.


Evey: Are you like a crazy person?


V: I'm quite sure they will say so.

Watchmen

The classic gritty mockery of the superhero genre

by Alan Moore

Rating: Adult.

Genre / themes: Realistic/psychological take on superheroes, modern day, urban,

Art level: Functional. A couple of decades old and it shows. Everything is quite crammed in, and the colours look faded compared to today's books.

Star Rating: 4/5

Number of Books: One.

Other notes:  The recent film Watchmen was based on this book. Very large thick book, considered one of the classic greats of graphic novels. In the top 100 novels of Time magazine.

Watchmen : Amazon Blurb
Has any comic been as acclaimed as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, but Watchmen  remains the critics' favorite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and Watchmen a more complex and dark and literate creation than Miller's fantastic, subversive take on the Batman myth. Moore, renowned for many other of the genre's finest creations (Saga of the Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, and From Hell, with Eddie Campbell) first put out Watchmen in 12 issues for DC in 1986-87. It won a comic award at the time (the 1987 Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards for Best Writer/Artist combination) and has continued to gather praise since.

My Review
Any list of graphic novels must include this. A gritty and cynical take on the popular (and often happy and mindless) superhero comics that became popular, Watchmen follows the story of a group of vigilante superheros years after their boom-and-bust fame, and the intricate plot they either get caught up in, or mastermind, to fix their miserable world. The art is a little outdated, but not as badly as a lot of comics from that period - it takes a little adjustment, but works well enough not to spoil the story, and the dark, slightly distorted feel works well for everything set within the city.

Not for younger readers, this is very definitely a book for adults, and is big enough to take hours reading. And yes, it was the source material of the recent movie. I've put it first on the list because, although I prefer his other major graphic novel V for Vendetta, it is his best known and most recommended book!