Voilà! How V for Vendetta sparked a real-life revolution

Since it first appeared in the Warrior anthology in 1982, V for Vendetta has become more than just a beloved comic.

It’s grown into a symbol of resistance and revolt, a fixture at protests worldwide, and proof of the power of comics as a medium.

Now, the legacy of V for Vendetta is being examined in an exhibition at The Cartoon Museum in London.

V for Vendetta: Behind the Mask features original artwork loaned to the museum by illustrator David Lloyd...

and costume designs by Sammy Sheldon Differ, from the 2005 movie adaptation.

Also on display are prototypes of V’s iconic mask and the actual mask worn by Hugo Weaving in the movie.

The exhibition tells the personal story of main characters V and Evey, and charts V for Vendetta’s evolution from comic strip to symbol of revolution.

As in V for Vendetta, V’s mask has become synonymous with protest and uprising in the real world, particularly during the worldwide Occupy protests of 2011.

As curator Emma Stirling-Middleton tells Inverse, the anonymity provided by the masks and the grassroots nature of protests make it impossible to tell who was the first to connect V for Vendetta to real-world uprisings.

But there were other masks that protestors could have chosen, and other stories about revolution to latch onto. Why has V for Vendetta endured?

The comic’s success owes much to the relationship between writer Alan Moore (pictured) and illustrator David Lloyd, who spent hours on the phone developing the world of V for Vendetta, Stirling-Middleton tells Inverse.

V for Vendetta’s grounding in real-world issues and the talents of its creators resulted in the “alchemy” that made it so special — and keeps it relevant today.

Before V for Vendetta left its mark on real-world protests, it was part of a wave of comics that helped transform the medium in the public eye.

Until the ‘80s, comics were largely seen as “something for children, not of any great quality — low art that would never be looked at as part of literature or art,” Stirling-Middleton tells Inverse.