false 5805 1401207928 9781401207922 7444 533 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165548128m/5805.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5805.V_for_Vendetta 3961 Alan Moore 72259 7540 3 3 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 18 13:44:09 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 29 08:54:37 -0800 2007
V, who comes to represent anarchy, and the British government, who represent facism, are both one dimensional. The fascists are all deviant ghouls, and V's idealistic approach to anarchy is never questioned. In effect, Moore posists a strawman argument that isn't even strong to begin with. I suppose it's fine to say that eventually anarchy will sort itself out into the best possible government (or lack there of), but I'd hate to be the test group for this hypothesis.

Even if you take the novel as an action comic which coincidentally has a political theme (hard to do with all of the obvious metaphor, and proselytizing) it's just not very captivating. The chapters don't transition very well, the characters aren't interesting, and there's too much going on that just isn't terribly interesting. The art is drab and rather generic, and the action isn't conveyed very well.

I can see a definite improvement in the years where Moore wrote this, and the years where he wrote The Watchmen. Vendetta is probably worth reading if you've already read Watchmen, and want to read more of Moore's work, but I wouldn't recommend it to a newcomer.

Post Script: I've had time to think about it, and I bumped my rating up a notch. Moore definitely doesn't make V the hero, even if he still seems to be advocating anarchy (which I do believe, given interviews I've read). That in mind, the book can be taken as a warning of the chaos that fascism creates. When a society tightens its grip on its citizens, it only buys temporary respite from chaos, as the people grow more and more disatisfied with their lack of liberty. Still, that doesn't change the quality of the art, characterization, or plotting, but it does make the book easier to swallow.]]>