V For Vendetta

by aszecsei

Published February 24, 2010

In Miscellany

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Okay, it's technically a graphic novel. It counts anyway, though :wink:.

Plot
It's Alan Moore at his best. Watchmen just had too much interconnected plot, while V for Vendetta had enough to keep things interesting, but didn't overwhelm the reader with insane numbers of characters. The entire political commentary (it's one of the first books to actually have a romantic anarchist) and love story is strikingly beautiful. 10/10

Art
The art is pretty crappy, to be honest. The Guy Fawkes mask is distorted most of the time, and often it's difficult to distinguish between characters. Or even to understand what's going on. 0/3

Characterization
Holy cow, the characters were awesome. No matter how many times Alan Moore says that it's morally ambiguous, though, it's pretty obvious which side he's on. Moral ambiguity would just put metaphorical icing on the metaphorical cake. 7/7

Overall: 17/20

Comments & reviews · 2
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RedBird
Review
RedBird wrote a review Review · May 6, 2011

I personally love this book, and while I too had some trouble figuring out who was who when I first read it, by the end of the book, I had all of the characters down. It helps if you read it slowly, and then reread each "chapter", I found. Anyway, I think that the distortion in the art is very, very purposeful. The art, I think, is supposed to be the compliment of the plot, which is distorted and full of twisted imagery, as well. That might not make much sense, but what I'm trying to say is that the art reflects the attitudes and decisions of the characters, or perhaps, how V sees the world.

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Critiq
Review
Critiq wrote a review Review · Feb 27, 2010

Yeah, anyone interested in graphic novels should probably read V for Vendetta. It's not perfect, but the core idea is just so enticing its totally worth it. You can't be lazy when reading it and expect to know which character is which, but the commentary on anarchy is so good it might just change your mind about some things.



Every first draft is perfect, because all a first draft has to do is exist.
— Jane Smiley