David Lloyd (comics)

David Lloyd
Lloyd at the Big Apple Con, 14 November 2008.
Born	1950
Nationality	British
Area(s)	Writer, Penciller, Inker, Colourist
Notable works	Night Raven V for Vendetta
lforlloyd.com

David Lloyd (born 1950) is a British comics artist best known as the illustrator of the story V for Vendetta, written by Alan Moore.

Lloyd was born in Enfield, London.

David Lloyd started working in comics in the late 1970s, drawing for Halls of Horror, TV Comic and a number of Marvel UK titles. With writer Steve Parkhouse, he created the pulp adventure character Night Raven. Lloyd names Ronald Embleton, Steve Ditko, Tony Weare, John Burns, and Jack Kirby as artistic influences.

Dez Skinn set up Warrior magazine in 1982 and asked Lloyd to create a new pulp character. Lloyd and writer Alan Moore, who had previously collaborated on several Doctor Who stories at Marvel UK, created V for Vendetta, a dystopian adventure featuring a flamboyant anarchist terrorist fighting against a future fascist government. Lloyd, who illustrated in cinematic chiaroscuro, devised V's Guy Fawkes-inspired appearance and suggested that Moore avoid captions, sound effects and thought balloons. Lloyd stated in a 2005 interview that "I don't know why I thought of Guy Fawkes, because it was during the summer. I thought that would be great if he looked like Guy Fawkes, kind of theatrical. I just suggested it to Alan, and he said, 'that sounds like a good idea.' It gave us everything, the costume and everything. During the summer, I couldn't get any of these masks. These masks that you could get in every shop had a smile built into them. So I created this Guy Fawkes mask with a kind of smile. It was an ideal costume for this future anarchist persona." After Warrior folded in 1984, the series was reprinted and continued in colour by DC Comics in 1988 and collected as a graphic novel in 1995. It was adapted into a film released in 2006. The stylized Guy Fawkes mask that Lloyd created for V for Vendetta has transcended the story and made its way into the real world, frequently being used by protesters (particularly Anonymous) demonstrating against the injustices of governments, cults, financial institutions and other powerful organizations.