“People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” This famous line is from the masked protagonist of the graphic dystopian novel, “V for Vendetta” by the British writer Alan Moore.
Initially done as a serial strip, it went on to be published by DC Comics before being adapted into a 1982 Warner Bros. (WB) film. The comic illustrator, David Lloyd developed the idea of dressing the hero as a resurrected Guy Fawkes after the best-known member of the English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
Lloyd’s striking black and white mask of a smiling face, a wide moustache upturned at both ends, and a thin vertical pointed beard has since become ubiquitous worldwide, ending up a bestseller on Amazon for revelers celebrating Halloween and “cosplay” or “costume play,” with a cut of the profits going back to WB.