664 V FOR VENDETTA
new talent and was subsequently given small writing jobs. His fi rst major work was
DC-Vertigo’s Swamp Th ing but it was not well-received and resulted in the book’s
cancellation after 20 issues. In 2006, his graphic novel Pride of Baghdad, illustrated
by Niko Henrichon, was inspired by the true story of four lions who escaped the
Baghdad Zoo during Operation Iraqi Freedom. A parable about the ongoing Iraqi
confl ict, the work was acclaimed by mainstream critics and fans alike.
Vaughan has written single and multiple issues for various DC and Marvel titles, how-
ever, it is his work on his own creations (or co-creations) where his unique voice stands
out. Such works include Runaways (for Marvel), Y: Th e Last Man (for Vertigo), and Ex
Machina (for DC-Wildstorm). Runaways is an all-ages comic book where a group of chil-
dren discover that their parents are super-villains. Y concerns a young man named Yorick
Brown who quickly realizes he is the last man standing while the rest of his gender has
been killed by some unknown plague. As he travels around the world he is befriended by
those women who wish to protect him and fi nd a cure, and threatened by those women
who want him dead. Vaughan planned the entire 60-issue run from the start and rarely
diverged from his original storyline. Co-creator Pia Guerra’s interiors were essential to
maintain the sense of continuity over the fi ve years of the series. Y treats what could
have been a bad B-movie storyline with intelligent (and often humorously, if naughtily
phrased) observations regarding growing up, the nature of gender, and extremism.
While living in Brooklyn, Vaughan witnessed the collapse of the World Trade
Center Towers and he has suggested that this experience has shaped much of what
he has written. Ex Machina, another one of Vaughan’s long but fi nite series, con-
cerns a superhero who becomes Mayor of New York City after September 11,
- Th e work is a commentary on the failures of political leadership and ponders
whether there can be real heroes. Much of his work has been optioned for fi lms,
and Vaughan himself has contributed to the popular television series Lost starting
in 2007. Vaughan’s work features his gift for clever yet natural dialogue, his ear for
pop culture references, interesting twists on mainstream storylines, and his ability to
create exciting cliff -hangers.
Jeff McLaughlin
V FOR VENDETTA. A dystopian tale of a near-future fascist Britain terrorized by a mys-
terious freedom fi ghter known only as V, this brooding story, written by Alan Moore
and drawn by David Lloyd, initially appeared in the short-lived but hugely infl uential
British comic Warrior (1982–85), created by Dez Skinn, a former editor at Marvel
UK. Published by Quality Communications, V for Vendetta appeared alongside Moore’s
Marvelman (known as Miracleman in the United States), and was originally in black and
white. V for Vendetta was incomplete at the time when Warrior ceased publication, but
Moore’s rising stardom in American comics, especially with his acclaimed Watchmen,
ensured that V for Vendetta was reprinted by DC Comics, allowing Moore and Lloyd
to complete the story. Th e American comic was colored by Lloyd and was collected as a
book in the wake of the graphic novel boom of the mid-1980s.
