V for Vendetta
written by Alan Moore; illustrated by David Lloyd
DC Comics; DC Database; GCD; TV Tropes; Wikipedia

Originally published in England in the early 1980s, the story is set in the late 1990s. There's been a nuclear war, and Europe's in pretty bad shape. Later order was restored to England, but it's become a very "Big Brother" kind of dictatorship. Ultimately decisions are made by a computer called "Fate," and the only one who can talk to Fate is the Leader (Adam James Susan, who's in love with Fate, and going mad). But things are pretty much run by the people who report to Susan, the heads of various departments; the Finger, the Nose, the Eye, the Ear... all different branches of the police, I guess. The state has eliminated various minorities, leaving basically just white, heterosexual Christians.

There were concentration camps awhile back, and one of the prisoners escaped, though we never see his face or learn his name. He does seem to be a bit crazy, never really seems to say much of anything in a straightforward manner. He quotes alot of literature and old songs and things, since such stuff has also been abolished by the state. And he wears a costume and mask modeled on Guy Fawkes. He calls himself "V," and commits various acts of terrorism against the state, so the police are trying to find him. Meanwhile, he takes in a teenaged girl named Evey Hammond, and she ends up working with him to help bring down the evil government and return power to the people.

Well, there's a great deal more I should probably mention, like there are various characters who are quite important, and subplots and things... but it's all a bit too complicated for me. I think mainly the thing to concentrate on is the nature of anarchy and terrorism... whether they're actually bad or not rather depends on various factors, like just how bad the system is against which one is rebelling. I suppose all terrorists believe they're right and their enemies are wrong. And usually, the terrorists are probably very wrong about that... even if their enemies have their flaws, the terrorists themselves tend to be far worse. But in some cases, like V's, I'd definitely say, crazy as he may be, he's taking pretty much the only sane course of action available to him. Definitely an interesting character. The whole story is really quite remarkable...

You may want to see the film adaptation of the graphic novel. It had some differences, and wasn't quite as good, but it was still reasonably cool....