Helpful Score: 4
This is a textual novelization of the film.
Helpful Score: 2
Novelization based on the screenplay.
Helpful Score: 2
Better than the movie.
Helpful Score: 1
You really can't go wrong with a story about a totalitarian government. The author's only limits would be talent and imagination. Moore proves this in Chapter 5 entitled 'Versions' in Book 1, where V. breaks up with that easily purchased whore Lady Justice. It is, quite simply, a brilliant scene. If only this chapter- with such poetry and symbolism and depth- was the standard for the story to follow.
Even with it's Orwellian theme and Guy Fawkes-styled hero, I didn't find the execution of the whole very impressive. There are so many possiblities for Moore to explore here, yet all of the major ideas go underdeveloped or unexplored. The art work is nothing special. The action doesn't match the narration very well and every guy in a suit looks like the one introduced before and after him. Also, the storyline is disjointed, which I might be willing to forgive considering the comic was discontinued for a number of years before it was actually completed.
Finally, I have the same problem with this graphic novel as I do with most others. Dialogue. What fans of the genre probably refer to as 'classic', I see as one- dimensional, predictable; boring. There's not much left to appreciate when you're bored with seventy percent of the dialogue and confused by just as much of the illustrations.
I'm not going to count out Moore (or comic books) just yet, however. I have it on good authority that his later works 'Batman: The Killing Joke' and 'Watchmen' are more enjoyable and I'm looking forward to reading both.
Even with it's Orwellian theme and Guy Fawkes-styled hero, I didn't find the execution of the whole very impressive. There are so many possiblities for Moore to explore here, yet all of the major ideas go underdeveloped or unexplored. The art work is nothing special. The action doesn't match the narration very well and every guy in a suit looks like the one introduced before and after him. Also, the storyline is disjointed, which I might be willing to forgive considering the comic was discontinued for a number of years before it was actually completed.
Finally, I have the same problem with this graphic novel as I do with most others. Dialogue. What fans of the genre probably refer to as 'classic', I see as one- dimensional, predictable; boring. There's not much left to appreciate when you're bored with seventy percent of the dialogue and confused by just as much of the illustrations.
I'm not going to count out Moore (or comic books) just yet, however. I have it on good authority that his later works 'Batman: The Killing Joke' and 'Watchmen' are more enjoyable and I'm looking forward to reading both.
Helpful Score: 1
From the Publisher
REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER
Imagine a Britain stripped of democracy: a world of the not-too-distant future, in which freedom was not lost, but surrendered willingly to a totalitarian regime that rose to power by exploiting the people¹s worst fears and most damning weaknesses.
This is the setting for the parable of Evey, a young woman who is saved from death by a masked man calling himself only V. Beguiling and dangerous, V ignites the fuse of revolution when he urges his fellow citizens to wake up and shed the blanket of tyranny and oppression in which they have permitted themselves to be cloaked.
While those in power take steps to neutralize the threat, the police pursue the mystery of V, unaware of the terrible truth that awaits them at the end of the trail. It is Evey, however, who, with V as her enigmatic guide, sets out on the most painful path of all: a journey of deception and self-discovery, deconstruction and re-creation, vindication and vengeance.
REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER
Imagine a Britain stripped of democracy: a world of the not-too-distant future, in which freedom was not lost, but surrendered willingly to a totalitarian regime that rose to power by exploiting the people¹s worst fears and most damning weaknesses.
This is the setting for the parable of Evey, a young woman who is saved from death by a masked man calling himself only V. Beguiling and dangerous, V ignites the fuse of revolution when he urges his fellow citizens to wake up and shed the blanket of tyranny and oppression in which they have permitted themselves to be cloaked.
While those in power take steps to neutralize the threat, the police pursue the mystery of V, unaware of the terrible truth that awaits them at the end of the trail. It is Evey, however, who, with V as her enigmatic guide, sets out on the most painful path of all: a journey of deception and self-discovery, deconstruction and re-creation, vindication and vengeance.
