V for Vendetta originally hit the scene over 30 years ago in humble black & white, (before it was colorized in future republications). Yet somehow, this haunting standalone story continues to resonate with us, without any tacked on story continuations or reboots. Its movie adaptation hit the market to box office success, and its iconic imagery remains a primary symbol for underground change.
What is it about this small 10-issue story arc that continues to speak to us? With all of the changes that have occurred in society since the 1980âs, and all the modern works of fiction commenting on the current state of surveillance and government control, why does V for Vendetta remain core reading? And anyway, is V really the kind of hero we want to look up to?
âEve: All this riot and uproar, V⌠is this Anarchy? Is this the Land of Do-As-You-Please?
V: No. This is only the land of take-what-you-want. Anarchy means âwithout leadersâ, not âwithout orderâ. With anarchy comes an age or ordnung, of true order, which is to say voluntary order⌠this age of ordung will begin when the mad and incoherent cycle of verwirrung that these bulletins reveal has run its course⌠This is not anarchy, Eve. This is chaos.â
Thatâs all I remember about the story⌠or movie? I canât remember if I have a copy of that or not.
(Could be both? I have a hard time separating them in my brain.) You definitely remembered a fundamental theme of the book, if nothing else! It seems like anarchy is being praised as giving humanity the opportunity to live up to its best potential, but⌠wellâŚWe might struggle sometimes with living up to our potential, even when given the opportunity.
Well⌠without starting a fire, someone typing at this computer may or may not agree with aforementioned opinion of Watchmen. But I thought the âV for Vendettaâ film truly tried to capture the spirit of the comic. I wonder what he specifically disagreed with.
I certainly understand the reasons why the film version of V For Vendetta might not be available today on DCU, but where is the original comic version? DC still has the rights to that, donât they?
@christowhit.7544, the structure of DC Universe isnât as clean as having access to all the comics. Weâre currently looking into expanding our library and the best way to do it for both internal interests and our fanâs happiness. Stay tuned!
âI donât know where to stop, or how to go on. I stop when I shouldnât. I go on when I should stop. There is weariness. But there is also defiance. Together they define me these days. Together they steal my sleep, and together they restore my soul. There are plenty of problems with no solutions in sight. Friends turn into foes. If not vocal ones, then silent, reticent ones. But Iâve yet to see a foe turning into a friend. There seems to be no hope. But pretending to be hopeful is the only grace we have . . .â - Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, 2017
âI love the unanswered question, the unresolved story, the unclimbed mountain, the tender shard of an incomplete dream. Most of the time. But is it mandatory for a writer to be ambiguous about everything? Isnât it true that there have been fearful episodes in human history when prudence and discretion would have just been euphemisms for pusillanimity? When caution was actually cowardice? When sophistication was disguised decadence? When circumspection was really a kind of espousal? Isnât it true, or at least theoretically possible, that there are times in the life of a people or a nation when the political climate demands that weâeven the most sophisticated of usâovertly take sides? I think such times are upon us.â - Arundhati Roy, Power Politics, 2002
A crucial aspect to its continued resonance. It presents an intelligent meditation on fascism and anarchy, with all the gray hued in-between layers, and without ever turning away or resorting to hollow caricature.
David Lloydâs art at its most powerful and haunting for me. Just look at one of his original pages from issue one of Warrior . . . beautiful.
