On Tuesday 18 May, The Cartoon Museum in London’s Fitzrovia re-opens with an exhibition examining the cultural impact of V for Vendetta, from seminal graphic novel to hit film.

One of the most ground-breaking series of comics ever to be published – V for Vendetta: Behind the Mask (18 May – 31 October) – will chart the rise from graphic novel, to hit film and now global phenomenon as the symbol of protests.

Including rare loans from the art department of Warner Bros., The Cartoon Museum will present a history of this modern classic with original artwork and covers, as well as costumes and designs that have never been seen in the UK before.

Illustrated by David Lloyd and written by Alan Moore, the central character of the masked and mysterious ‘V’ became an iconic symbol of comics, cinema and the hacker group, Anonymous. Its cultural impact, spanning nearly 40 years, is explored through 36 original artworks by David Lloyd, displayed alongside the original mask worn by Hugo Weaving in Warner Bros.’ blockbuster 2005 movie adaption, one of only three that were used during production, as well as costume designs and storyboards.

The iconography and themes of V for Vendetta, and how they have spread from the page and screen into people’s lives, will also be a major focus of Behind the Mask. Anyone can be V, so where does the line between anarchism and protest sit for the individual? The exhibition explores the voices of protesters in the real world, all under the looming presence of the 21st century’s most recognizable protest art – the mask of V.