Book-It 'o11! Book #43
The Fifty Books Challenge, year three! (Years one and two, just in case you're curious.) This was a library request.
Title: V For Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd with Steve Whitaker and Siobhan Dodds
Details: Copyright 2008, Vertigo
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "A frightening and powerful story of the loss of freedom and identity in a totalitarian world. V For Vendetta is the chronicle of a world of despair and oppressive tyranny.
A work of sterling clarity and intelligence, V For Vendetta is everything comics weren't supposed to be.
England Prevails."
Why I Wanted to Read It: This is alleged to be one of the classics of the graphic novel genre and I had never read it. I'd never even seen the movie. With the iconic Guy Fawkes mask adorning so many protestors from anti-WBC/pro-LGBT rights groups to the Occupy Wall Street crowds, I knew I had to at least read the book.
How I Liked It: I enjoyed the fact this edition is prefaced with the original creators' forwards which gave me a better sense of where they were coming from than the "Behind the Painted Smile" article in the back of the book.
Falling out of the politics of the '70s, the creators (well, Alan Moore, judging by his commentary) imagined a world where it would take nuclear war (rather than any one major political party) to drive England to fascist police state.
So the story takes place in the "future" of the time, the late '90s, after a nuclear war of the '80s (following a recession and trouble between Poland and Russia) that annihilated Africa and Europe, causing mass food shortages, poisoning of the water supply, and rioting. In the early '90s, fascists took control of England and instituted much of the same genocide as the Nazis, interring and slaughtering blacks, Pakistanis, gay people, socialists, radicals, and other political dissidents. That brings us to November of 1997 where our story begins.
I've expressed my loathing for non-comedic fiction set in the future, but the creators have a deft hand, keeping technology consistent with the times they were writing in rather than inserting any speculation about technology (video phones, flying cars), probably due to the fact the future they chose wasn't that distant and was therefore reasonably plausible.
The story as a whole is strong, as is the premise, but there's plenty to throw the reader out of the narrative thread. A widening cast of characters (mostly several virtually interchangeable corrupt government figures) whose appearances are fleeting yet clearly impact the plot heavily don't get as much narrative time as they should to establish their personalities and identities. When the death toll starts rising, the reader doesn't quite get the thrills and chills that should come about, there's too much struggling to remember who is what: I found myself wishing I had a cast key to turn to to keep me straight.
The history provided for the environment itself, however, is sound and well-developed through various character flashbacks. The few that could be called the protagonists of the story do actually experience character development and growth and even the intentionally cipher lead character is continually decoded (although never completely, as is the point) as the book continues. Two of the three major female characters in the novel probably boast the most evolution as the reader is allowed to be witness to it. The book boasts a strong, full-circle ending that manages to satisfy despite the number of questions that should be answered that go unresolved.
The politics and rhetoric of the book heavily borrow, as Moore attests to in his end commentary, to the concepts of George Orwell. Orwell is given a rather fleeting attribution in said commentary, possibly because the author doesn't want to draw further attention to the likeness, lest he risk the accusation of imitation.
The social and political themes can, on occasion, come across as rickety as the creators appear to struggle to convey their setting. The occasional lack of subtlety can come off more "freshman-year-of-philosophy/human behavior" rather than Orwell and it lessens the story's impact by making it look cartoonish.
The art of the story is generally well-executed, particularly the coloring given the quality of the paper of the pages (think newspaper but very slightly thicker), although one can't help but wonder what it would look like updated with the fancy generated look now so commonplace. The shadows are especially well executed, even if the characters occasionally recall the flatness of vintage Rex Morgan MD or Mary Worth cartoons. The latter is more or less forgivable given the style of graphic novels at the time (save for, say, Maus). The most glaring distraction to me was the fact that one of the central characters looks not the like the teenager she is (especially when drawn at her most vulnerable at the beginning of the book), but rather middle-aged, her forehead lines and mouth corners sharply defined. Oddly, about the only time in the book where she looks relatively close to her age is a scene halfway through which is meant to illustrate the annihilation of her innocence; her youthful hope and naivety appearing to be gone once and for all, leaving her bitter, empty, and transformed.
The book is hindered by minute flaws, both of the period and of the creators' missteps (Alan Moore describes leaving the early work in with the entire collection despite "warts and all" and "youthful creative inexperience"), but it still has a rightful place in the graphic novel hall of fame where it resides.
Notable: When winding through backstory of the history that led to the current distopia, a character makes mention of America in roughly the mid '80s under "President Kennedy".
Moore, when discussing his mindset starting the book, ruefully points out that at the time, a Conservative defeat seemed inevitable.
It's possible, even likely that Ted Kennedy, who challenged the then very unpopular President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic nomination for president, seemed able to successfully oust him and to go on to win against Ronald Reagan in the general election, particularly to a non-American.
Title: V For Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd with Steve Whitaker and Siobhan Dodds
Details: Copyright 2008, Vertigo
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "A frightening and powerful story of the loss of freedom and identity in a totalitarian world. V For Vendetta is the chronicle of a world of despair and oppressive tyranny.
A work of sterling clarity and intelligence, V For Vendetta is everything comics weren't supposed to be.
England Prevails."
Why I Wanted to Read It: This is alleged to be one of the classics of the graphic novel genre and I had never read it. I'd never even seen the movie. With the iconic Guy Fawkes mask adorning so many protestors from anti-WBC/pro-LGBT rights groups to the Occupy Wall Street crowds, I knew I had to at least read the book.
How I Liked It: I enjoyed the fact this edition is prefaced with the original creators' forwards which gave me a better sense of where they were coming from than the "Behind the Painted Smile" article in the back of the book.
Falling out of the politics of the '70s, the creators (well, Alan Moore, judging by his commentary) imagined a world where it would take nuclear war (rather than any one major political party) to drive England to fascist police state.
So the story takes place in the "future" of the time, the late '90s, after a nuclear war of the '80s (following a recession and trouble between Poland and Russia) that annihilated Africa and Europe, causing mass food shortages, poisoning of the water supply, and rioting. In the early '90s, fascists took control of England and instituted much of the same genocide as the Nazis, interring and slaughtering blacks, Pakistanis, gay people, socialists, radicals, and other political dissidents. That brings us to November of 1997 where our story begins.
I've expressed my loathing for non-comedic fiction set in the future, but the creators have a deft hand, keeping technology consistent with the times they were writing in rather than inserting any speculation about technology (video phones, flying cars), probably due to the fact the future they chose wasn't that distant and was therefore reasonably plausible.
The story as a whole is strong, as is the premise, but there's plenty to throw the reader out of the narrative thread. A widening cast of characters (mostly several virtually interchangeable corrupt government figures) whose appearances are fleeting yet clearly impact the plot heavily don't get as much narrative time as they should to establish their personalities and identities. When the death toll starts rising, the reader doesn't quite get the thrills and chills that should come about, there's too much struggling to remember who is what: I found myself wishing I had a cast key to turn to to keep me straight.
The history provided for the environment itself, however, is sound and well-developed through various character flashbacks. The few that could be called the protagonists of the story do actually experience character development and growth and even the intentionally cipher lead character is continually decoded (although never completely, as is the point) as the book continues. Two of the three major female characters in the novel probably boast the most evolution as the reader is allowed to be witness to it. The book boasts a strong, full-circle ending that manages to satisfy despite the number of questions that should be answered that go unresolved.
The politics and rhetoric of the book heavily borrow, as Moore attests to in his end commentary, to the concepts of George Orwell. Orwell is given a rather fleeting attribution in said commentary, possibly because the author doesn't want to draw further attention to the likeness, lest he risk the accusation of imitation.
The social and political themes can, on occasion, come across as rickety as the creators appear to struggle to convey their setting. The occasional lack of subtlety can come off more "freshman-year-of-philosophy/human behavior" rather than Orwell and it lessens the story's impact by making it look cartoonish.
The art of the story is generally well-executed, particularly the coloring given the quality of the paper of the pages (think newspaper but very slightly thicker), although one can't help but wonder what it would look like updated with the fancy generated look now so commonplace. The shadows are especially well executed, even if the characters occasionally recall the flatness of vintage Rex Morgan MD or Mary Worth cartoons. The latter is more or less forgivable given the style of graphic novels at the time (save for, say, Maus). The most glaring distraction to me was the fact that one of the central characters looks not the like the teenager she is (especially when drawn at her most vulnerable at the beginning of the book), but rather middle-aged, her forehead lines and mouth corners sharply defined. Oddly, about the only time in the book where she looks relatively close to her age is a scene halfway through which is meant to illustrate the annihilation of her innocence; her youthful hope and naivety appearing to be gone once and for all, leaving her bitter, empty, and transformed.
The book is hindered by minute flaws, both of the period and of the creators' missteps (Alan Moore describes leaving the early work in with the entire collection despite "warts and all" and "youthful creative inexperience"), but it still has a rightful place in the graphic novel hall of fame where it resides.
Notable: When winding through backstory of the history that led to the current distopia, a character makes mention of America in roughly the mid '80s under "President Kennedy".
Moore, when discussing his mindset starting the book, ruefully points out that at the time, a Conservative defeat seemed inevitable.
It's possible, even likely that Ted Kennedy, who challenged the then very unpopular President Jimmy Carter for the 1980 Democratic nomination for president, seemed able to successfully oust him and to go on to win against Ronald Reagan in the general election, particularly to a non-American.