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View Full Version : V for Vendetta: Read it? Liked it?



Beleriphon
2006-08-07, 03:45 PM
Having not found a current thread about V for Vendetta I thought that I would start one. I personally find it to be one of the best graphic novels written, and as a story is absolutely spectacular.

I managed to get a TPB in colour, rather than the original black and white issues. That I enjoy immensely, but I need to kill a buddy of mine if he doesn't return it soon.

So if you've read it, did you like it? And if you haven't read it, what are you doing here?

Jack_Banzai
2006-08-07, 04:28 PM
I've read it a billion times and have original prints of Warrior magazine and the original run of the DC reprint. Yeah I love V for Vendetta. The movie didn't disappoint me either, even though it's a really loose adaptation. I still believe, however, that both Watchmen and Miracleman are even better works by Alan Moore. Still, V for Vendetta is masterful.

Ing
2006-08-07, 09:55 PM
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Quetzi
2006-08-08, 03:06 PM
It was good but Watchmen is so much better.

Ing
2006-08-08, 10:50 PM
It was good but Watchmen is so much better.

That is like saying "I really like pepsi soda...but sex is so much better"

Tzarinchilla
2006-08-14, 11:19 AM
I thoroughly enjoyed reading V for Vendetta but I also have to agree that Watchmen is a far superior work.

That being said, I would still advise anyone to read it, as it is a 'jolly good read!'

Faramir
2006-08-15, 01:57 PM
Okay, I'll play Devil's Advocate here. Back when Watchmen and V for Vendetta were first published I also thought that Watchmen was the superior work. Rereading them last year I thought that V had held up better and Watchmen seemed a little dated. The threat of nuclear war between the US and USSR has receded (through no fault of Mr. Moore :) ) but the themes of V seem just as relevant if not more so in today's world.

Jack_Banzai
2006-08-15, 03:58 PM
If you read both when they were originally released, then that means you're a child of the Cold War just like I am. In which case, I'm really jealous that you have managed to forget the cloud that all of us lived under at that time. It really was a bizarre time to be alive. I'm not surprised that we destroyed our environment since we all unconsciously felt, on one level or another, that we were all ultimately doomed.

I put myself in this frame of mind whenever I elect to reread Watchmen and it hits me as hard as it did in the eighties.

I hear the new(est) script for the prospective Watchmen movie abandons the Cold War roots in favor of terrorist themes, which would make sense if you want the sense of impending doom that was present during the book's run.

Ing
2006-08-17, 12:02 AM
If you read both when they were originally released, then that means you're a child of the Cold War just like I am. In which case, I'm really jealous that you have managed to forget the cloud that all of us lived under at that time. It really was a bizarre time to be alive. I'm not surprised that we destroyed our environment since we all unconsciously felt, on one level or another, that we were all ultimately doomed.

I put myself in this frame of mind whenever I elect to reread Watchmen and it hits me as hard as it did in the eighties.

I hear the new(est) script for the prospective Watchmen movie abandons the Cold War roots in favor of terrorist themes, which would make sense if you want the sense of impending doom that was present during the book's run.


Now i'm mixed on that, V worked well with it, but Wathman had a kind of fantastic alien hopelessness that I liked. Honestly I think it could still be put in cold war form but whatever.

Faramir
2006-08-17, 07:46 PM
If you read both when they were originally released, then that means you're a child of the Cold War just like I am. In which case, I'm really jealous that you have managed to forget the cloud that all of us lived under at that time. It really was a bizarre time to be alive. I'm not surprised that we destroyed our environment since we all unconsciously felt, on one level or another, that we were all ultimately doomed.

I put myself in this frame of mind whenever I elect to reread Watchmen and it hits me as hard as it did in the eighties.

I hear the new(est) script for the prospective Watchmen movie abandons the Cold War roots in favor of terrorist themes, which would make sense if you want the sense of impending doom that was present during the book's run.

I see your point, and maybe I'll try that the next time I reread it. I know it affected me that way at the time, but on rereading I was more "Oh yeah, that was a big worry back then wasn't it?"

But Watchmen still has some of my all time favorite scenes in a comic - the final interactions between the newsvendor and the boy. If the movie handles that well (though I don't really see how they can) I'll be satisfied.

Jack_Banzai
2006-08-18, 12:56 PM
I see your point, and maybe I'll try that the next time I reread it. I know it affected me that way at the time, but on rereading I was more "Oh yeah, that was a big worry back then wasn't it?"

But Watchmen still has some of my all time favorite scenes in a comic - the final interactions between the newsvendor and the boy. If the movie handles that well (though I don't really see how they can) I'll be satisfied.



Agreed. The final scene between the newsreader and the boy was as close to perfection as I've ever seen in a comic book. Tightens the chest every time.

Dareloth
2006-08-19, 04:51 AM
I think that one of Watchmen's strengths is its complexity. Its the kind of thing you need to read twice to really get it. But because of that, I enjoy reading V more because it is simpler, and because I spend less time trying to wrap my head around the plot, I can enjoy and identify more with the characters.
I loved the movie, even though it did differentiate from the novel allot. I think that most of the changes were neccessary, especially with regards to the "futuristic" computer technology Moor visualized in the 80's. It was far inferior to what today's audiance would expect, even for a modern day movie, much less a distopia.

Logic
2006-08-20, 07:08 AM
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i think the arrow would look a little better like this



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mine's just more obvious

orange
2006-08-25, 06:43 PM
V for Vendetta is the only work from Alan Moore I thoroughly enjoyed. Watchman was a bloated story. If it wasn't for Rorschach, I would of burned my copy long ago.

Malachi, the Lich King
2006-08-26, 10:37 PM
I also much prefer V for Vendetta over Watchmen. I thought Watchmen was good for the most of the run but the last issue really seemed completely stupid to me. Each time I reread it, I enjoy it less than the time before it [I'll probably stop rereading it eventually]

V holds together better because it can focus on a smaller cast. The story is probably a little 'purer' because of that.

I still haven't seen the movie but the few people I know who have seen it say it was pretty good so I'll most likely buy the DVD if I find a decent deal on it.

Tiberian
2006-09-12, 07:37 PM
I just finished reading V for Vendetta myself two days ago, and I agree with the Watchmen > V for Vendetta crowd. Then again, I do have mad props for the movie. The graphic novel, interesting in its storytelling methods, was altered enough that my mind is having difficulties separating it from the gradiose film adaptation. The thing is though, just like Watchmen, my generation (gaining motor skills when the Cold War ended) wasn't ingrained with the threat of nuclear war and we don't know what it was like coming of age during the Cold War. Therefore, the Cold War references in both works left me, well, cold.
I did however thoroughly enjoy V the book and encourage all of my friends who enjoyed the film to read the graphic novel, as they should.

Chaszmyr
2006-09-17, 11:45 AM
I adored both the comic book and the movie - V For Vendetta presently runs joint first place with Equilibrium as my most favourite movie, those are certainly the most watched in my house.

And yes, although the plot was different in many ways in the book to the film, due to the worldly themes it was representing it hasn't dated much at all.