60 pages • 2 hours read
Alan MooreV for Vendetta
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Adult | Published in 1990A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Further Reading: Literature
1984 by George Orwell (1949)
This classic piece of dystopian fiction, like V for Vendetta, serves as a cautionary tale for its readers. Set in the near future relative to its composition, it depicts a totalitarian version of Great Britain embroiled in constant war. Like Moore and Lloyd’s Norsefire, Orwell’s “Party” uses police violence, state propaganda, and ubiquitous surveillance to control its populace.
- 1984 on SuperSummary
Watchmen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons (1986)
Watchmen is a critically-acclaimed limited comic series published by DC Comics from 1986 to 1987. While V for Vendetta depicts an alternate future, Watchmen imagines an alternate history in which superheroes emerged in the 1940s and 1960s to fight in World War II and the Vietnam War, helping the United States win the latter. As V for Vendetta is partially a reaction to Thatcherism in Britain, Watchmen is partially a reaction to Reaganism in the United States. Moore, who is openly critical of the superhero genre, uses the series to complicate the concept of heroism. In comparison to V for Vendetta, it is much more explicitly animated by Cold War fears.
- Watchmen on SuperSummary
Anarky in Gotham City written by Alan Grant and illustrated by Norm Breyfogle (1989)
This two-part comic series represents the introduction of the character Anarky and the philosophical concept of anarchy to the DC Universe. One of the guiding concepts for Anarky’s character was Moore and Lloyd’s V. In the comic, Batman finds that his intended target has already been incapacitated and left for the police, along with a circle-A symbol. Anarky, a preteen vigilante, is supported by the local unhoused population, who attack Batman when he tries to capture Anarky. While Batman upholds the structure of Gotham City, Anarky challenges and destabilizes it.
Further Reading: Beyond Literature (Nonfiction)
“Alan Moore” by Vanessa Thorpe, The Guardian (2005)
This profile of Alan Moore details his history in the field of comic writing and his dislike for filmic adaptations of his work, which he believes water down complex themes for capitalist consumption. Moore demands that his name be removed from movie versions of his work and allots the money he would have received entirely to that work’s illustrator.
“1979 and all that: a 40-year reassessment of Margaret Thatcher’s legacy on her own terms” by Kevin Albertson and Paul Stepney, Cambridge Journal of Economics (2020)
This detailed article analyzes Thatcher’s policies, their effects, and their legacy. Thatcher privatized most sectors of the British economy, and her union-busting strategies saw benefits for the British economy and capital at the expense of workers. Her reign saw an increase in unemployment and wealth inequality that continues to affect Britons in the 2020s. In one infamous case, Thatcher struck out at striking coal miners with the power of the police state. She claimed that individuals and traditional family units were at the core of British society and introduced anti-gay legislation that lasted until 2000. These are some of the tenets of Thatcherism that Moore and Lloyd extrapolated into the Norsefire government.
“Cold War—An Overview” by Khan Academy
This primer details how the development of nuclear weapons changed the cultural consciousness around war after the United States used nuclear bombs against Japanese citizens at the end of World War II. This prompted the development of nuclear technology in other countries and stoked fears of American aggression. Fear of nuclear war likely contributed to the development of nuclear weapons in the Cold War and prevented their use in direct combat.
Video & Podcast Resources
V for Vendetta, written by the Wachowskis and directed by James McTeigue (2005)
The film adaptation of Moore and Lloyd’s graphic novel stars Hugo Weaving as V and Natalie Portman as Evey. The screenplay is by the Wachowski siblings, who also wrote and directed the dystopian near-future Matrix series. While Moore and Lloyd’s novel responds to 1980s Cold War tensions and Thatcher’s conservative government, the 2005 movie critically references actions undertaken by the United States’ George W. Bush administration. While Lloyd supported the film, Moore criticized it partially based on its near-total elision of anarchy and the white supremacist elements of Norsefire. He says that the film recasts the conflict of two moral extremes like fascism and anarchism “as current American neo-conservatism vs. current American liberalism” (Macdonald, Heidi. “A FOR ALAN, Pt. 1: The Alan Moore interview.” GIANT Magazine, 1 Nov. 2005).
“V for Vendetta—What is Anarchism?”: Renegade Cut (2018)
This video essay explains and debunks common misconceptions about anarchy, through the lens of V for Vendetta. It explains several key tenets of anarchism that animate the graphic novel, as well as why the movie version of V for Vendetta, whose creation Moore did not support, omits almost all mentions of anarchism.
“SYMHC Classics: Gunpowder Plot”: Stuff You Missed in History Class (2022)
This rereleased podcast episode from 2011 goes over the history of the Gunpowder Plot. It details how Catholics were treated in 16th-century England and what led a small group of recusant Catholics to plot the overthrow of the British monarchy. It also briefly discusses the oversized historical legacy of Guy Fawkes, who was not the leader of the Gunpowder Plot.
