In March 1982, the first issue of Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta comic book hit shops. Nine issues and seven years later, in 1989, the comic book came to its end. V for Vendetta was a major hit for DC’s Vertigo imprint and yet another example of Alan Moore’s creative genius. It is a comic book that not only became a pop culture phenomenon, it also helped reshape comic books in a very delicate period, just when the Modern Age of Comic Books was being born. Today, I am going to discuss the narrative continuity of V for Vendetta.
There are no more V for Vendetta comic books because Alan Moore completed the story. A new story would be needed to continue the series, but seeing how the original one ended, and taking into account Moore’s animosity towards sequels, there is really no point in continuing it.
In today’s article, I am going to tell you about the complete narrative unit that comprises V for Vendetta. You’re going to find out how many comics there are and why Alan Moore never continued his story. For fans of the comic book, I am also going to list some alternative titles you could check out after reading V for Vendetta. Enjoy!
How Many V for Vendetta comics are there?
There is only one V for Vendetta comic book, published between 1982 and 1989. The comic book was initially published on a monthly basis in the British anthology comic book Warrior, with each issue corresponding to one chapter of the whole story. The practice continued until 1985, when Warrior ceased publishing Moore’s story, stopping at #26, corresponding to Book 2, Chapter 12. The remaining two chapters of Book 2, as well as the complete Book 3, were never published by Warrior.
As far as the “Books” are concerned, V for Vendetta is divided into three major books – Europe After the Reign (Book One), This Vicious Cabaret (Book Two), and The Land of Do-As-You-Please (Book Three). Books One and Three had 11 chapters, while Book Two had 14. Now, we can go back to the publication.
Six years after the story’s original publication, DC Comics obtained publishing rights and started publication in September 1988. DC’s publications collected three or four original Warrior issues in one single issue published on a monthly basis. This series ran until 1989 and is the only place where one could find the last two chapters of Book Two and the complete Book Three.
V for Vendetta has also been republished as a single collected edition several times. So, this answers the question of why there is only one V for Vendetta comic book but also explains the overall structure of the whole narrative, which some people might find confusing. Regardless of all the chapters, issues, and a total of three “Books”, V for Vendetta is just one, single narrative and its internal structure bears no significance for that fact.
Why are there no more V for Vendetta comics?
In an earlier text about the Watchmen, I have explained how Alan Moore writes his stories. Okay, it was a pretty rough explanation that certainly doesn’t even come close to Moore’s writing process, but it was good enough for people to understand the whole concept. The same can be applied to V for Vendetta.
For one, V for Vendetta has always been envisioned as a standalone story. Moore took inspiration from different historical events and people, crafting a story about an anarchist tearing down a tyrannical state. The story itself certainly has substance for, at least, a couple of prequels, but seeing how the story finally ended and what Moore’s intention with the story and the characters was, we’re not really sure whether it would make any sense for him to continue it after the events of V for Vendetta.
The story is just done. Moore told the story he wanted to tell, he told the ending he wanted to tell and that’s about it. If one would want to continue it, he would have to come up with something completely new and different, which, in our opinion, wouldn’t be that good, unless Moore himself decided to do it. This brings us to our second point.
Alan Moore dislikes sequels. Why? We don’t know, but if you look at his best and most popular stories, they’re all pretty standalone and even if they are connected to some larger universe (e.g. The Killing Joke), Moore still refused to write a sequel. His stories are standalone, and although they could function well as a series, he doesn’t really like doing that to his stories.
This is why V for Vendetta doesn’t have a sequel and, in my personal opinion, won’t ever get one, at least not one written by Alan Moore.
Are there alternatives to V for Vendetta?
Alan Moore’s stories are pretty unique if you ask me. So, finding some alternatives for them is quite difficult, unless you look into Alan Moore’s other work. The only author that comes to mind that has a similar aesthetic and narrative approach is Frank Miller.
Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, as well as 300 and Sin City, are all titles that have a similar approach to the medium as Moore’s approach, but they are very different stories than V for Vendetta. You might like them for their art and style, but if you want something narratively similar, these stories won’t really satisfy your needs.
In that case, you could consult Watchmen and even From Hell, with the former being far more similar to V for Vendetta than the latter. Both great stories, they once again prove how good of a writer Moore is and they are certain titles you will enjoy. The Killing Joke is another one of Moore’s stories you could read, but that one is narratively quite different and falls into the same category as Miller’s stories – they are stylistically similar, but narratively different.