V for Vendetta

Some have suggested I don't like Moore's Watchmen because I have no appreciation for the subject matter of the satire. The reasoning is sound, they could very well be right. This earlier work has no such baggage.

Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta takes on politics, which should interest everyone because it affects every aspect of life especially the quality of that life.

The nuclear bombs have fallen around the world but have left at least one island of humanity to try to continue. The reasoning for leaving England may be silly (and the creators are quite willing to admit naivete), but it is only the fact that England was spared that is important to the backdrop of the story, why is just window dressing and neither is part of the story itself. In response to the pressures of trying to survive in a world laid waste, a powerful police state has grown up with no checks on itself.

As the story opens, this situation has been allowed to fester for years. We meet a criminal and the police but quickly find out who the real criminals are and that there is no police. And then we meet Guy Fawkes. For the Americans who aren't certain why we should "Remember, remember, the 5th of November," it will be explained. This image of a classic criminal is V out to do what he can to save England from itself. And blow up Parliament.

Thus it starts. As V continues with his vendetta, England's oppressive government will try to cope with this new menace it can't see even though it thinks it can see everything. We find out more about how it got to be the way it is as the saved girl tells her history. This sharply contrasts with only ever finding out the snippets of V's life that others can discover.

Musings on the basic nature of freedom, change, government, and more. It's all covered in here wrapped smartly in an interesting story. Altogether, an amazing read.

Apparently there's a movie too.