Thursday, November 5, 2020

Remember, Remember the 5th Of November

I am a comic book fan, not an advocate for starting any political debate.  

I had never heard of V for Vendetta or Guy Fawkes prior to the release of the movie in 2005.

The movie starred Natalie Portman (Evey) and Hugo Weaving (V) and takes place in a future dystopia.  V is a vigilante with terrorism attacks on his mind to try and change how things are.  The movie is based on the 1982 British comic book by creators Alan Moore (famous for creating The Watchmen) and David Lloyd.

Furthermore I had never read V for Vendetta until I had a rare opportunity to have dinner with one of it's creators, David Lloyd.  He was visiting the United States to promote his upcoming graphic novel and a local comic fan and friend of mine was hosting his visit to New York.  My then girlfriend and I met up with David and my friend and we went to a restaurant in NYC.  David was kind enough to draw the lead character for me (and my then girlfriend) a sketch using only the crayons provided at the table.  
The character V wears a Guy Fawkes mask. 

In the United Kingdom, every November 5th is celebrated as Guy Fawkes night.  Guy Fawkes was arrested in 1605 for guarding explosives that were placed under the House of Lords. People celebrated that King James had survived the attempt on his life by lighting bonfires throughout the country.

I never learned about (at least I don't remember it anyway) any of these gunpowder treasons or assassination attempts when I was in school.  It was only through the movie V For Vendetta that I even heard of Guy Fawkes.  The graphic novel/movie both bring and recite a famous nursery rhyme "Remember, Remember the 5th of November"

I may not know the backstory of Guy Fawkes or the real inspiration of V For Vendetta, but I do know about another Vee Has An Agenda.

Gary Vaynerchuk, or Gary Vee as he is more well known, is a famous investor in sports cards.  He has been hyping some cards up for the past few years and has gone on to predict that the sports card market would see an incredible boost in the next few years.  If this year was any indication, he was right.


I have a few Gary Vee signature cards because he put Andrew McCutchen in as an insert subject for the Topps Direct set made last year around the time of the National.
I was able to get this quick Gary Vaynerchuk Sharpie signature from a reputable source of the McCutchen card.
The back of the card talks about Andrew's love to sketch and draw.  I actually own an original Andrew McCutchen that was done for a celebrity sketches charity a few years ago. I'll have to show it off sometime.

I also own this pair of Topps Certified autographs of Andrew's insert in the set.  The base isn't numbered, but trust me when I saw it is extremely rare.  The red is also very short printed with only 10 copies produced.

Are you familar with the story of Guy Fawkes?

Have you seen V For Vendetta?



8 comments:

  1. I've never seen the movie, but I do know a bit of the history. At the end of the John Lennon song "Remember" he sings "Remember, remember, the 5th of November".

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  2. I knew of the graphic novel before the movie came out but didn't read it until after I saw the movie. I really enjoyed both and watched the movie again about a month ago.

    I was familiar with Guy Fawkes Day before V for Vendetta. And now also use the day to remind myself to remember, remember that it is my friend Claire's birthday!

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  3. Cool that you met Lloyd and got that sketch.

    I haven't seen the movie, though I've seen the mask plenty of times.

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  4. I tried to do the Sporcle quiz. I had no idea what the heck it was about until it was over...but I do know who Guy Fawkes is.

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  5. I vaguely remember the movie. Might have fallen asleep or something, b/c I don't remember any of the details. Cool Gary V autograph.

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  6. I saw the movie when it came out, but haven't seen it since. I don't recall really caring for it though.

    Remember when Gary Vee came to my yard sale? The weirdest part was that I had cards for sale - both grab bags and clear plastic boxes, and he didn't remotely even look at them. Was more interested in the hot wheels/toys.

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  7. Awesome sketch! I've seen the movie, and vaguely recall some of the history. If I'm not mistaken, the whole terrorist plot was undone because Fawkes fell asleep at his post.

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  8. I watched V for Vendetta again just a few weeks ago. Great movie and relevant.

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