V for Vendetta 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

Given the current political climate in the United States it’s chilling that V for Vendetta opens with the “voice of fate” imploring every man to seize the initiative to “make Britain great again”. There is no single charismatic leader at the head of the fascist state in Britain but the government is clearly using fear of minorities to seize power. Unlike in the U.S. there was a singular catastrophic event that turned people towards fascism and in this case it was a bit more of a seizure of power rather than an embrace of fascism by some of the populace. With 30 years gone by since V for Vendetta was first published by DC, the story is now more relevant than ever and the classic Guy Fawkes mask has only grown more iconic.Technically speaking V for Vendetta started being published in Britain in 1982, which is well beyond 30 years, but it was cancelled after just two issues worth of material. To the eternal credit of DC they picked up the baton in 1988 and completed the 10 issue series. This is one of those once in a lifetime stories that Alan Moore used to produce on a regular basis and arguably his most influential story ever. It’s also one of Alan Moore’s earliest works and it is not without flaws. The story follows V’s revenge against those who experimented on him and others at a concentration camp but after his revenge is complete the story kind of loses focus and meanders around. I also think the ending was not one of Moore’s better ones. V was set up as some superhuman result of scientific experiments and the ending, having him pass on the mantle to an absolutely normal human, seemed highly unlikely and I guess we’re to believe that the V persona can be passed from person to person. It would be like Batman bestowing his legacy to Joe Blow except it’s even worse because Bruce Wayne wasn’t superhuman.One of the things I don’t love about the story is the politics of it and although I respect Alan Moore tremendously as a writer I don’t agree with him politically. This is not to say that I don’t want writers to include their own personal beliefs in their stories but V is such an amazing character and then he says things that I found ridiculous. Alan Moore is a self described Anarchist as is V so I think we can assume that when V is promoting Anarchy he’s speaking as Moore. Anarchy seems to resemble Libertarianism in the belief that if you remove state power that liberty will fill its place. More likely power would accumulate in an increasingly small number of non-governmental, unaccountable institutions and individuals. V seems to see the difference between Anarchy and Chaos being that Anarchy is Chaos running swimmingly but to me that sounds like a pipe dream.Although V points the finger at the people of Britain as the cause of the fascist regime I get the feeling that his blame is more for inaction rather than actively creating the situation. Alan Moore would have been around 30 when he conceived of the story and I think he was a little naive even as his writing was brilliant. Fascism doesn’t just spring from the Earth. It nearly always has a tremendous amount of initial popular support and that support often remains even as the darkest aspects of fascism take hold. To think that there could be a popular uprising against a fascist regime after a few bombings and a video speech seems unlikely but the comic medium IS generally an idealized medium.The Deluxe Edition is a bit unique in my collection in that the slip cover and book cover have a matte finish with a soft feel. DC also went with a cheaper non-glossy page but I suspect this was done for reasons other than cost. The artwork would seem completely out of place on glossy paper and speaking of artwork I’ve never really liked it. I think I finally figured out what the problem is. The art of the first two issues were done in black and white and the color was added later by DC. The problem is that black and white is a different kind of medium that tends to use heavier inking and when color is added looks rather unpleasant. It would have been better if the color had not been added but this is what we get and it’s much more of a story driven comic anyway. I also found it difficult to distinguish characters which made the very complex story even more difficult to follow.V for Vendetta is not a perfect story but it is a great one and absolutely deserving of a deluxe edition. Along with the story we also get a 7 page article on V for Vendetta by Alan Moore from 1983 which means it was written while the story was still being worked on. We also get 18 pages of artwork. I’ll probably read the story at least once more because it’s very complicated with a lot of moving parts and I might have a slightly different opinion on a second read. If so, I might edit my review but I highly doubt I’d ever give it less than 5 stars.

As for the story, its a classic comic book story by one of the most legendary writers, earlier in his writing career than most of his stories that have gathered acclaim. As such, the story does come off as a bit overly idealistic at times, and plot elements feel like they might've been concocted by a rebellious teenager. This mostly subsides the about 1/3rd of the way through, and you really start to enjoy its more tender and human moments. David Lloyd's art style is very old school for comics, which I personally wasn't looking for, but it is a memorable art style, and Lloyd is clearly a very skilled artist.As for the product and the edition, the form is very good. I really like the sleeve, with the simple Guy Fawkes mask, and the red foil "V". There are letters and writings from Alan Moore and David Lloyd throughout the book gathered from various fan magazines discussing their inspiration and feelings about their work years after it gained fame, and also includes plenty of concept art from Lloyd which I personally really enjoyed to see. They include some of the original covers and promotional material which are one of the best parts of V for Vendetta. The paper is thin and matte, not glossy or heavily inked, which can feel fragile, but I didn't have any issues reading through without tearing.Overall, I'm very happy with the product. It wasn't the art style I'm typically into, the writing isn't super sharp and is a little amateurish for Moore at times, but the book is itself is very clean and looks great, and the story is very deserving of being a classic comic.

Este cómic es un clásico dentro de la no tan extensa pero muy significativa obra en cómic del genial Alan Moore. Situada en una Inglaterra totalitaria en una especie de futuro cercano post apocalíptico, la enigmática figura de "V" se alza como un rebelde solitario que se enfrenta a un gobierno opresor y tirano, en una clave de anarquía que disimula un plan de liberación muy estudiado , y que nos dará momentos muy memorables, en una trama que se nos antoja siempre de actualidad. Muy recomendable aunque casi tiene 40 años de publicado.

Story of course is great, a classic, but halfway through the book the pages were stuck together, I had no way of fixing this, and its badly damaged unfortunately. This is pretty annoying

Una obra con extensas referencias tanto a la cultura de su época como a la rebelión de la pólvora siglos atrás. Prepárate para un escabroso viaje lleno de desobediencia social que da la voz de alerta ante los peligros de los regímenes totalitarios.

This was the best thing to come out of DC Vertigo. Had to grab a piece of history, I can easily see this set spiking in price after the end of Vertigo.

Very well put together, the art is awesome and the story is so good. You will not be disappointed with this book.

This edition of V for Vendetta is beautifully printed and bound, and a fantastic addition to any library or graphic novel collection, and a fantastic read for our authoritarian age.

Aside from the movie i’d seen once and probably a decade ago this was my introduction to V For Vendetta. I had never read this comic before and figured since it was a complete and contained story I would go with the anniversary hardcover edition. Typically I'm not one for hardcover editions and prefer paperback for some odd reason I figured I'd pick up the anniversary edition hoping it would contain extras and a more premium experience compared to the standard paperback.For anyone new, this is a story with a political focus, I for one am not one for politics at least right now I'm not, but this story had my complete focus and was captivating every chapter. The thing I found most immersive and interesting was the world and how it's delivered by Alan Moore. Since this has a relevance to politics this is one series that will always be relevant throughout time in my opinion and because of that regardless of the year it will always be a comic you can pick up and read whenever. I myself already plan to read it again on a nice summer weekend. The story was well written and like I said I can't wait to come back to it and maybe pick up on more details that I probably missed, making it even better to come back to. The artwork was also great although it does show a bit of age to it in terms of style and the colours but is still a classic story.Well, what makes the 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition different from the trade paperback?, well it includes the complete 10 issue story along with the pages that bridge the issues together, a history of the creative process of creating V and the series and some artwork. The paper is also different from the trade paperbacks as well, feeling more … I'm not sure if vintage is the right word but it's thinner and seems more old fashioned, something I can't relate to as I've only been reading comics for maybe 7 months. It also has the issue covers which is great to see where the issues are split up and cool to see them included which I loved and think it should be done more.The only downside I can think of for the collection are that I wish there were a few extra pages of the sketchbook, the paper, tends to show creases (I'll show in pictures) although it's fine I'm just being nit picky about it. I also found a mark on the bottom of one of the pages I read, luckily it didn't affect the artwork and was only on the one page but it would be impossible not to notice.Overall I loved the story and what was included in this anniversary edition, and would recommend this to anyone. Should any higher up of DC be reading, I'd like to make request for what may be included in a 40th or 50th year anniversary deluxe edition. I would like an interview with Alan Moore and David Lloyd discussing the impact V For Vendetta has had on their lives and modern day comics, I would also like the final script included (something done for Batman Arkham Asylums 25th anniversary) I know it would be long and take up a lot of space in a collection but it would be cool. Lastly for some odd reason I think a fabric bookmark would be nice to save your spot. I think the paper would be fine because the thicker gloss paper would take up a lot of room but would be appreciated if used. I look very forward to diving into Alan Moore's Watchmen as I’ve heard it's a phenomenal story as well.Hopefully you found this review helpful and happy reading.

This is a wonderful re-issue of a decades old book, from the new cover to the rejigged contents. I'm not sure how much is new for this edition and what's been available before but it works really well for me and has made me pleased I've bought a collected edition of this book for the first time.I've always wanted a collection complete with the pages that were added to the individual DC issues but I'm not a fan of the oversized Absolute editions which is the only place I believe these were available before. Having each chapter beginning with the original cover is fairly standard but keeping these inclusive of the original numbering, logos and dates etc is a nice nostalgic touch.One thing that has always annoyed me, right back to its original appearance in Warrior, is the little "fnnf fnnf" sound effect when Delia Surridge detects the smell of roses in her room. It stuck out like a sore thumb in a book where there were no other sound effects and it's nice to see that removed - is this the first time that's been done? Maybe it's not even been done on purpose but I love it.There are a few minor colouring errors where the pointers from the speech bubbles have been painted over. Given that the pointers are hard to see anyway means the error isn't surprising but it would have been nice if someone had spotted it during production. A small complaint however in what is a major success I think.

The extra art pages really make it worth getting this edition. I suppose if you find the serialised format distracting, you won’t like it, because it does break up the chapters so it’s obvious where they start and end, which I don’t remember with the trade paperback. I don’t really think the book delivers on what the opening chapters were promising, but re-reading it after about 10 years I did appreciate the stories of the side characters more (although it was still kind of hard to keep track of them).I think I like this more than Watchmen, because there’s a clear antagonist and it doesn’t need you to know about a genre of comics to get it. I suppose this still calls back to type of vigilante comic hero, but there’s no direct references.

Great story and art but unfortunately came damaged the corners were dented the first page was slightly ripped and the front page as partially unglued with the seam split at the top, I must say I’m disappointed as this is a repeat problem with all the graphic novels I’ve ordered from amazon the always come damaged and for the money you pay for the novels you would expect them to come in good condition especially since they’re a collectors item

Arrived as expected.