REMEMBER, REMEMBER... V FOR VENDETTA

Few days ago it was Guy Fawkes Night in Britain, the 5th of November national festivity. They celebrate the day a group of Catholic plotters decided to kill their protestant king, James I. But they actually celebrate the fact that the king was saved, the plot discovered and the culprits executed.

Anyway,  we are not telling you the story of Guy Fawkes today, only that  he is the inspiration of what happens in the story of one of my favourite comic book, V for Vendetta.

THE PLOT

If you don’t know this comic book, you may remember the 2005 movie.

The graphic novel was released in 1988 by DC comics and it was illustrated by David Lloyd and written by Alan More.

The story depicts a near future (1990s) in a post apocalyptic and dystopian version of the United Kingdom.

After a nuclear war in the 1980s that devastated most of the world, the fascist North Fire Party had exterminated its opponents in concentration camps and now ruled the country as a police state.

The graphic novel follows its title character and protagonist V, a  revolutionary anarchist whose real identity is hidden under a Guy Fawkes mask.

The story follows the events of this theatrical elaborated and revolutionary campaign to kill his former captors,  bring down the fascist state and convince the people to abandon false democracy in favour of anarchy.

Before we dive into more details I want to suggest you to read the comic, it’s really good, even if you are not a fan of comics.

Still there uh? Ok let’s go on!

THE MAIN CHARACTER: V

Let’s talk about V! He is probably one of the coolest yet kinda scary character out there.

Think about it, you have this resourceful terrorist that believes in nothing but anarchy and can literally blow up whatever important monument he wants in no time.

Though at the same time he is very intriguing, even after all the bad things he does trough out the story we almost never feel anything else but sympathy for him.

He is very fascinating, well cultured, polite and with a refined artistic taste.

We have already established there is a great symbolism in his behaviour that immediately make us think of Guy Fawkes, the only difference is that V actually succeeded, literally blowing up the parliament, though he died before his plan was accomplished (still feel sad for him).

A HISTORICAL COMIC

We can see obvious similarities with the nazi movement of the 40s, a clear reference is the existence of concentration camps where  enemies of the government are tortured and killed.

There is no such thing as liberty in the world V defies, anybody who is not part of the ruling class can’t do a lot of things.

Can you see why it’s so easy to fall in a strange sense of sympathy for V, though he is  a terrorist?

I can’t actually fully explain how good this graphic novel, so I decided to leave you with a decent sense of interest   and a recommendation:   get a copy of the comic and experience it yourself!   

Till next time! 
                                                                Simone