V for Vendetta is in my estimation Alan Moore's finest work. I know that Watchmen gets enormous attention and deservedly so, but it's always been this more relentlessly somber tale that's captured my fancy first and foremost. Perhaps it's because it all seems so very very real. V for Vendetta first ran in the magazine Warrior, where Moore partnered with David Lloyd created a dour vision of Britain run by Fascists and standing up to them was only a single man who refused to be just a man,but became a symbol of revolution.
The story survives because it found a home at DC Comics where thanks to the success of Watchmen, it has remained in print. I prefer it, but I think it doubtful this dour tale of a dark tomorrow would be so readily available if Alan Moore wasn't such a bankable name.
Despite the fact that Moore wouldn't put his name on the film version. The movie is exceedingly entertaining, if a bit more hyperbolic than the relentless comic story, but those are variations I think fitting to the form. V for Vendetta was written many years ago when it seemed that regressive forces were seizing command of the society, a retrograde movement which fought against the future, a future filled with greater liberties for a broader range of people.
The story is about staying true to one's self when doing so is not just upsetting but possibly dangerous. Dangerous times are on us again alas and the words about Guy Fawkes have a resonance in these grim times.
Remember, remember, the Fifth of November
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot:
I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
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