V FOR VENDETTA 665
V for Vendetta emerged from a number of sources. In his early 20s, Moore had
submitted a proposal for a character called Th e Doll to DC Th omson, the Scottish
publishers of long-running comics Th e Beano and Th e Dandy. Th e idea was rejected,
and Moore later admitted that expecting DC Th omson to publish a story about a trans-
sexual terrorist was perhaps unrealistic. When Warrior launched, editor Dez Skinn
paired Moore with Lloyd and asked for a dark, mysterious strip, capturing the edgy
tone that Warrior was striving for. Lloyd had previously worked on Night Raven for
Marvel UK, a dark thriller set in the 1930s. Asked to do another 1930s mystery Lloyd
resisted, wanting a chance to do something more contemporary. Moore turned back to
his idea for Th e Doll, and things slowly came together. From initial character designs
that were quite conventionally superheroic emerged the idea to blend a range of infl u-
ences that would make this a uniquely British series. In his companion piece “Behind
the Painted Smile,” which appears in the graphic novel, Moore recounts a long and
eclectic list of infl uences on V for Vendetta (270). It was apparently Lloyd who sug-
gested that the central character be modeled on Guy Fawkes; Moore seized on the idea
and V was born. Fawkes was Catholic soldier who was executed for his part in the Gun-
powder Plot of November 5, 1605, when a small group planned to blow up the English
Houses of Parliament in order to destroy Protestant rule. Every year, on November 5,
the plot is remembered by British school children who burn Guy Fawkes effi gies, sing-
ing “Remember, remember the fi fth of November, Th e gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.” By turning the
Hugo Weaving as V in the 2005 film V for Vendetta, directed by James McTeigue. Warner Bros./
Photofest
