Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Alan Moore, Comics, david lloyd, v for vendetta, wikileaks

Did Julian Assange Learn The Politics Of V For Vendetta From Birgitta Jónsdóttir?

Published Sat, 08 Jan 2011 05:09:00 -0600

Last updated Sat, 08 Jan 2011 20:28:59 -0600

Birgitta Jónsdóttir is the Icelandic politician at the center of the latest Wikileaks controversy involving the US Dept of Justice trying to force Twitter to turn over direct Twitter messages sent to and from her, Julian Assange, and others.

But what is Birgitta Jónsdóttir's relationship with Julian Assange? And how do comic books come into it?

Well, Birgitta likes comics. She talks about her collection of work by Alan Moore, Joe Sacco and more, V For Vendetta, Maus and Palestine in particular as well as promoting famed Icelandic comic shop Nexus and the city library's stock.

She's used her (very public) Twitter feed to promote these books too;

Birgittaj: this brightmas/christmas/Xmas i wrapped up a book from me to myself by
Alan Moore, never read a novel by him – only brilliant graphic novels

Birgittaj: If you need something new to read, try graphic novels by Joe Sacco,
Spiegelman & Alan Moore. Palestine, Maus & V for Vendetta a good
start.

And her New Year's greetings on her website come in the form of a comic strip;

She even posted Christmas photos of either her or a friend wearing a V For Vendetta mask well before the Anonymous group made it a symbol.

Birgitta has acted as a co-conspirator with Julian Assange from very early on and was there at some of WikiLeak's bigger moments, although they did appear to fall out at one point.

Well, a New Yorker story about Assange from this summer has him at his defining moment — the Wikileaks release of the video of the Apache gunship cutting down iraqi civilians — him with Birgitta in Icelandic capital and Birgitta's home town…

Reykjavik's streets were empty, and the bells of a cathedral began to toll. "Remember, remember the fifth of November," Assange said.

That's straight from the popular-in-the-UK Guy Fawkes rhyme, made popular around the world by V For Vendetta. And while there are major political philosophical differences between the comic and the movie, both show an unknown individual, V, in such garb, bringing down a totalitarian government single handed, often by using their own technology and information against them.

Wikileaks supporters Anonymous have used the Guy Fawkes mask, first in their battles against Scientology and now in their support of Assange. This will likely continue for future targets and protests.

Did Birgitta Jónsdóttir use the philosophies presented in V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd to influence world politics on a dramatical level?

Here's Birgitta's Facebook profile picture from the end of last year;