60 pages 2 hours read

Alan Moore

V for Vendetta

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Adult | Published in 1990

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Background

Authorial Context: Alan Moore, David Lloyd, Politics, and the Superhero Genre

V for Vendetta was co-created by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. It was initially serialized by Warrior, an independent comic that sought to “negotiate a space for underground and fanzine principles” within the British comic market (Gray, Maggie. “‘A fistful of dead roses...’. Comics as cultural resistance: Alan Moore and David Lloyd's V for Vendetta.” Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 2010). The autonomous and grassroots nature of Warrior allowed Moore and Lloyd extensive time and space to collaborate on the comic’s creation. Moore has written that “it isn’t ‘Alan Moore’s V’ or ‘David Lloyd’s V.’ It’s a joint effort in every sense of the word” (Moore, Alan. “Behind the Painted Smile.” V for Vendetta, DC Comics, 1990, 276). Moore has also worked on graphic novels such as Watchmen and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Lloyd, a comic illustrator, has worked on projects such as Night Raven, Hulk, Doctor Who, and Wasteland.

Moore and Lloyd, both English, developed and produced V for Vendetta throughout the early 1980s. As such, it is heavily influenced by conservative Thatcherism, whose xenophobic rhetoric, increased surveillance, authoritarianism, and nationalism appealed to British far-right radicals in the 80s (Gray, 36-37).