Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of V for Vendetta {New Edition}

V for Vendetta {New Edition}
kayprime avatar reviewed on + 38 more book reviews
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.