Scarce Hardcover Issue of a Key 1990s Graphic Novel

V for Vendetta [Horowitz/Rae Issue]

Moore, Alan and David Lloyd

Publication: New York: DC Comics, 1990. First hardcover edition.

Notes: This is the first hardcover issue of Moore and Lloyd's influential graphic novel, published by the Book of the Month Club (the commercially published version was a paperback).

This is one of the most significant graphic novels of the 1980s, written beginning in 1981 as a response to Thatcherism in the United Kingdom. Its inspiration, Guy Fawkes, allowed Moore to explore themes of political repression and anarchism, unusual topics for comics and graphic novels at the time.

"V for Vendetta was an ambitious and even audacious project, formally as well as in terms of its narrative. Fittingly for the subject matter the comic was an example of constrained writing/artwork, as Moore and Lloyd (at the latter's suggestion) set themselves certain conditions in the use of thought bubbles and sound effects. There were none. The idea was that their absence would promote ambiguity and complexity, turning these restraints to their advantage."—The Cambridge History of the Graphic Novel.

This is the only edition of V for Vendetta in hardcover format until the 2005 movie tie-in edition. The dust jacket for this edition, with the title in one line, matches the design of the comic book store paperback cover (the trade edition, for bookstores, has the title in two lines).

286, [2:blank] pages.

NB: There are two versions of this hardcover. The most common has a paper label on the copyright page identifying the printer as Ronalds Printing. The label covers a printed BOMC text about recordings and compact discs. The other variant (this copy) does not have a paper label but has an ink stamp on the rear endpaper identifying the printer as Horowitz/Rae Book Manufacturers.

Edition + Condition: First hardcover edition (stated "First Printing" on the copyright page with no label on the copyright page; printer stamp on the rear endpaper). A fine hardcover copy in a near fine dust jacket.

Item No: #366301

Price: $500