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I'm surprised no one's mentioned 'V for Vendetta' yet. It's a literate, layered story, by Alan Moore, about anarchy and freedom vs. totalitarianism, set in a near-future, dystopian UK. The imagery of V draws upon the traditional Guy Fawkes/Gunpowder Plot story, and there are clear parallels. The Guy Fawkes mask that V wears has become a popular symbol worn by real-life demonstrators in recent years, at events like the Occupy demonstrations.
It's a great read, that rewards the reader for paying attention to detail, and seems even more relevent to society now than when first published.
I've long been a fan of Judge Dredd. Forget the Stallone film, if you saw it. Go read the comics. Some stories are single adventures but others collect together into substantial arcs, like the Apocalypse War, the Judge Child Quest and The Cursed Earth. There's a lot of character material and it can often be surprisingly moving, while still being full of action. There's plenty of humour too. The judges often have to tread that line between doing right by an individual, and doing what's best for the greater good, in their vastly overcrowded megacities, where the majority of the population will never have a job. The judges have to be superhuman but underneath the highly trained professional, they are as human as the people they protect and serve, and sometimes the human comes into conflict with the professional. It's a very complete world, with a certain amount of social satire too. There's just so much to enjoy in it.
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