I did not enjoy this; we’ll start there.

If my review is too long-winded, check out 🔗 @notlizlemon’s review for something shorter that captures my feelings too!

It’s been years since I’ve seen the film adaptation, so I won’t be making comparisons to that here. I specifically read the 🔗 30th Anniversary Edition but I am leaving my review on this listing, as this is the main edition and the one featured in a Quest.

Reading V for Vendetta in 2026 was a disconcerting experience. It is terrifyingly relevant, I fear bordering on prescient, and despite the message of resistance to the regime it inspired more dread than hope within me.

This series is dark both thematically and visually, and it is difficult to read on both accounts.

This comes down to personal preference, but I did not enjoy the art style. There is real artistic skill here, especially in the restrained use of color, so I don’t mean to say the art was bad, it just was not good for me. Processing visual information does not come as naturally to me as does processing written information, so V for Vendetta was legitimately challenging to me as a reader. I struggled to follow the story at times and felt confused more often than I think was intended. Aside from V, I had extreme difficulty in distinguishing characters, even including Eve(y) at times.

Worse, the lettering was also difficult to read. The letters weren’t crisp. The font itself was confusing (a U and the letters LI were often rendered almost identically, for example). Text was often italicized, making it even harder to read. It took far too much focus for me to just read the words from a visuals standpoint. I worry that beyond being unpleasant stylistically, this actually quite impedes accessibility.

It’s just really hard to forgive a comic/graphic novel for being so laborious to read when it comes to both the art and the lettering — what’s left after that?

I think the message of this story is so important, so vital. It is a story of resistance and hope and regaining humanity. It is a decidedly anarchist narrative, and its very creation was a form of protest. The creators intentionally portrayed this near-future as oppressively bleak and didn’t shy away from how awful authoritarianism is and how evil the accompanying prejudices are. It’s effective for sure, but sometimes it’s effective at the reader’s expense. I haven’t compiled CW but I recommend finding a list before reading this.

It’s a work that I consider valuable, but not a work I would actively recommend.