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22 December 2023
Obviously, I read comics. Why would I be writing this column if I didn’t? I read Spider-Man, Batman, The Incredible Hulk, as well as the new Transformer stuff and tons of crap that every other fanboy reads every month.
However, I’ve also read The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger, Invisible Man by Ellison, and Animal Farm by Orwell. Not that these are spectacular accomplishments; most people with a high school education have read at least one of those. But I still hold on to a firm belief that comics can be literature as well as escapist fantasy.
One of the examples I hold closest to my heart is a ten issue mini-series written by Alan Moore and drawn by David Lloyd called V for Vendetta. This story follows in the vein of other British literature, such as Orwell’s 1984, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and, recent release of British cinema, Equilibrium.
Political sabotage, murder, genocide, fear, and freedom. These are the key points in V for Vendetta. In a post-WWIII Britain setting, a fascist regime has taken control and taken away personal liberties. The chaos created by a nuclear holocaust has made the British people complacent with any form of structure to come along, no matter what the cost. Homosexuals, the elderly, the handicapped, and all who dared to voice opposition to the party were hauled off to camps and experimented on, slaughtered, or both. The only person now standing up to the government is a terrorist known to them only as "Codename V".
V destroys key government buildings, kills prominent party members, and sabotages the inner clockwork of the system, all in the name of the personal freedom that so many seem to have forgotten. As if that weren’t enough, during the whole ordeal, the party is entrenched in a struggle as power-hungry members advance their own agendas at every step. The plot of the story is like a complex medical illustration, with layer upon layer of painted acetate built one on top of the other to form the whole of the body.
The art flows cinematically. All of the action is within the movement of the characters and their expressions (i.e. no motion lines). The settings are grim, gritty, and realistic; and the beautiful coloring only emphasizes the fact.
Even though this book is now 15 years old, the form and style read as fresh and relevant as they did in 1988. Regardless of your medium of choice, V for Vendetta is a classical story with a gripping plot that anyone who reads fiction will appreciate.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS
However, I’ve also read The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger, Invisible Man by Ellison, and Animal Farm by Orwell. Not that these are spectacular accomplishments; most people with a high school education have read at least one of those. But I still hold on to a firm belief that comics can be literature as well as escapist fantasy.
One of the examples I hold closest to my heart is a ten issue mini-series written by Alan Moore and drawn by David Lloyd called V for Vendetta. This story follows in the vein of other British literature, such as Orwell’s 1984, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and, recent release of British cinema, Equilibrium.
Political sabotage, murder, genocide, fear, and freedom. These are the key points in V for Vendetta. In a post-WWIII Britain setting, a fascist regime has taken control and taken away personal liberties. The chaos created by a nuclear holocaust has made the British people complacent with any form of structure to come along, no matter what the cost. Homosexuals, the elderly, the handicapped, and all who dared to voice opposition to the party were hauled off to camps and experimented on, slaughtered, or both. The only person now standing up to the government is a terrorist known to them only as "Codename V".
V destroys key government buildings, kills prominent party members, and sabotages the inner clockwork of the system, all in the name of the personal freedom that so many seem to have forgotten. As if that weren’t enough, during the whole ordeal, the party is entrenched in a struggle as power-hungry members advance their own agendas at every step. The plot of the story is like a complex medical illustration, with layer upon layer of painted acetate built one on top of the other to form the whole of the body.
The art flows cinematically. All of the action is within the movement of the characters and their expressions (i.e. no motion lines). The settings are grim, gritty, and realistic; and the beautiful coloring only emphasizes the fact.
Even though this book is now 15 years old, the form and style read as fresh and relevant as they did in 1988. Regardless of your medium of choice, V for Vendetta is a classical story with a gripping plot that anyone who reads fiction will appreciate.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS
artid
1476
Old Image
5_11_longbox1.jpg
issue
vol 5 - issue 11 (jul 2003)
section
entertainmental