Must-read graphic novels are futuristic classics that shouldn't be missed. Of course, not every must-see is perfect. That's why we've rated them 1-5 on the patented "crunchy goodness" scale.
Title: V For Vendetta
Date: 1982-1988
Vitals: It's fascist future England time! Only a carnival-masked psychopath can save us from the heavy hand of an Orwellian uber-state. But can terrorism, however jolly, ever be justified? (Answer: yes.)
Famous names: Alan Moore, David Lloyd
Crunchy goodness: 5
Social message: Moore doesn't hide his commentary on the rise of Thatcher in Britain below the surface. In fact, Moore criticized the American movie adaptation for sticking to the comic's British setting. If the Americans wanted to comment on Bush-era excesses, Moore said in an interview, they should have made a movie set in America and featuring a clear Bush analog.
The shit: Evey, V's only friend, starts out as a frightened girl and travels through hell (partly at V's own hands) until she is able to rise up and take his place. Her suffering and transformation allows the reader to do what V's grand-guignol speechifying can't: understand the desire to rise up and smash the state at any costs.
Deadliest spoiler: V isn't really a person, he's an idea, man.