10 Great Comics You Didn't Understand The First Time

Thanks to organizations like Anonymous and its use by protesters everywhere, the iconic Guy Fawkes mask that graced the cover of Alan Moore's V for Vendetta has become synonymous with anti-establishment movements. Those who have seen the 2005 movie adaptation or not done a close reading of the original graphic novel largely believe that the titular vigilante was an agent of anarchy and that, through him, Moore was endorsing the virtues of a functioning anarchist society over that of a fascist dictatorship.

This could not be further from the truth and, as a result of this misunderstanding, Moore has disavowed all subsequent adaptations of his collective works.

Despite all the protagonists, meaning V, Evey Hammond, and Rose Almond, endorsing anarchy in one form or another, it is made clear by the end of the story that their ideology is fundamentally unsustainable.

V himself puts it best when he describes his perfect society as a "land of do-as-you-please," and that the only way to achieve it is a temporary period of a "land of take-what-you-want." However, he dies soon after and his role is taken up by Evey, who, in her attempts to carry on his legacy, takes an apprentice of her own, implying that V's "land of take-what-you-want" will last far longer than he believed - if it ever ends at all.