Recommendations: V for Vendetta

Because it’s November 5, I thought I’d give a recommendation to Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta.  The story revolves around a fascist, post-disaster version of England in the 1980s.  After nuclear war nearly destroyed the planet, England more or less survived, and a tyrannical government rose up when the people demanded security.  But now, a mysterious person, known only as V, has decided to rise up and fight for freedom.

Like Watchmen or The Wire, nearly every character is believably fleshed out, and even those who do abhorrent things believe that what they are doing is right.  And, unlike in the film adaptation (which was definitely a response to the era of George W. Bush, an American politician, as opposed to that of Margaret Thatcher, the UK Prime Minister targeted by the book), V is not a clear-cut hero.  Some of the things he (?) does are pretty damn horrific and go beyond what is necessary to achieve his (?) goal.  Although the comic was originally published in black and white, this world is anything but.