Pride of Baghdad: Inspired by a True Story

AUTHOR: Vaughan, Brian K.

ARTIST: Niko Henrichon (illustrator); Todd Klein (letterer)

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 2006

Publication History

Pride of Baghdad was first published as a hardcover edition by DC Comics’ Vertigo line in 2006. It is Brian K. Vaughan’s first work in a stand-alone graphic novel. His work often straddles the line between high-concept adventure and social commentary as seen in his work on Runaways (2003-2009), Y: The Last Man (2002-2008), and Ex Machina (2004-2010). Vaughan has said that he was looking to test himself as a writer and challenge his reputation as a “cliff-hanger guy.” He was also eager to write a story about his conflicted feelings regarding the war in Iraq. After seeing the report about four lions that escaped the Baghdad Zoo during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Vaughan said, “Everything just kind of fell into place.”

Niko Henrichon’s previous work on Barnum! In Secret Service to the USA (2005) included illustrations of realistic but highly expressive animals. Editor Will Dennis thought Henrichon would be a good fit for the project and facilitated a meeting between him and Vaughan. Previously, Henrichon worked for Marvel and DC, providing interior and cover art for major titles. Since he handled penciling, inking, and painting duties, the project took Henrichon more than a year to complete. When Vaughan first pitched the idea, it was during a time when questioning the war was considered treasonous, so he praised his editors for supporting the project. Despite winning multiple awards for his other series, Vaughan has said, “Pride of Baghdad will probably always be the work I’m most proud of.”

Plot

The story of four African lions loose in war-torn Baghdad begins with a bird screaming that the sky is falling. Immediately afterward, the leader of the pride, Zill, looks up and sees a squadron of incoming American bombers. As the lions try to make sense of the humans’ actions, bombs begin to fall, destroying the zoo perimeter and freeing several species from their cages. As the smoke clears, the lions wonder if they are dead, only to discover that they are free.

The lions venture outside the zoo for the first time and are greeted by the panic and horror of war. A stampede of all types of animals rushes out of the zoo, and a giraffe that pauses to praise the gods for his newfound freedom is killed in a direct hit from a falling bomb. The lions continue on past fleeing Iraqi tanks and encounter a turtle that has lost his family to the war. The turtle informs the lions that the humans are fighting over a “poison” called oil and tells them of a large stone statue in Babylon of a lion trying to eat a man. According to legend, “as long as that statue’s still standing, this land will never fall to outsiders.”

The lions continue downtown, encountering a pack of white stallions roaming the deserted streets. Safa and Noor, the female hunters, pursue the horses and are led into a ruined palace. Inside, they witness the space and luxury of their human keepers. They meet an injured lion, declawed as part of its domestication, and a bloodthirsty bear. The bear attacks, tossing Noor aside and blinding Safa in her other eye. Zill arrives to face the bear and the fight spills into the street, where Noor’s cub Ali saves the day by causing the horses to stampede, killing the bear.

Momentarily safe, but still hungry, the lions climb a hill of rubble that used to be a zookeeper’s home. At the top of the mound, the lions witness a glorious sunset. As they stare at nature’s beauty, they hear a gunshot and Zill falls over dead. As the other lions try to flee, a hail of gunfire cuts them down. A group of American soldiers approach the fallen pride. A blackbird soars over the smoking, backlit Baghdad skyline, and a simple caption reads: “In April of 2003, four lions escaped the Baghdad Zoo during the bombing of Iraq. The starving animals were eventually shot and killed by U.S. soldiers. There were other casualties as well.” The final image is the blackbird landing on the statue of a lion. Both the pride and Baghdad have fallen.

Characters

•Zill is the leader and the eldest male in the pride. While he is accustomed to life in captivity, he fondly remembers the sunsets he saw while living in the wild. Zill is a “benevolent opportunist,” caring more about providing for his pride than seeking freedom. He is the first to venture out of the zoo after American bombs knock the walls down.

•Safa, the eldest female lion and Zill’s former mate, clearly remembers her days in the wild, but she does not remember them fondly. She bears a scar across her face and one blind eye as reminders of the pride that attacked and raped her. To Safa, captivity is a blessing, and she is reluctant to leave the confines of the zoo and the protection it provides. In fact, when the lion’s enclosure is destroyed, she initially chooses to stay behind, hoping that the zookeepers will return and take care of her.

•Ali, a young lion cub, has never lived outside the zoo and is eager to venture into the new jungle of Baghdad, where he anticipates being a king. His youthful optimism and curiosity about the world supply the group’s energy and levity.

•Noor, an adult female lion, is Ali’s mother and Zill’s current mate. She tries to persuade some of the other animals in captivity to aid her in an escape attempt but cannot persuade them to trust that they would not simply be prey for the lions. Noor is a fierce hunter and a protective mother.

•Antelope, the female leader of the antelopes, plots with Noor to escape the zoo.

•Bukk is a savage lion who attacked and raped Safa in the wild.

•Turtle is an old creature that lost its family in previous wars.

•Rashid is a wounded lion that lived as a pet in the Baghdad palace.

•Fajer is a crazed and formerly domesticated bear that rules the abandoned palace.

Artistic Style

While the appearance of the animals may remind some readers of Disney’s The Lion King (1994), the strong line work and detailed shading create a strong sense of realism that separates the illustrations from traditional animation. The lions’ movement and physiology are amazingly accurate while still featuring recognizable human emotions. For example, the cover image shows Zill’s piercing eyes staring out from behind concrete and metal rebar. At first glance, the lion’s face may appear human with the rebar dangling over the eyes like strands of dark hair. Seeing a human face supports the animals’ narrative role as dramatic characters. When humans are featured in the story, from fleeing zookeepers to American soldiers, they are always faceless. The lack of recognizable people reinforces the humanizing role of the lions.

Henrichon’s color palette favors the red, yellow, and brown of a dusty and sun-ravaged Iraq. The color selection mirrors the burning ruins of the city and the African landscape that was once the lions’ home. At times, lush green and blue are used to highlight the remaining beauty of the abandoned world and the natural splendor that exists beyond the walls of the zoo. The landscape reinforces the realistic setting, including recognizable Baghdad landmarks, such as the statue of Saddam Hussein and the hands of victory.

The narrative flow of the story is highly visual and includes several nearly wordless pages. The dialogue bubbles are traditional, relying on bolded text for emphasis and using a jagged and erratic font for the bear alone. Similarly, there are few sound effects, usually reserved for crucial moments. While traditional straight-line borders are used throughout the story, there are a variety of angles and perspectives used to depict the action, including close-ups and extreme long shots, as well as overhead and floor-level perspectives.

Themes

The primary themes of the story are war and freedom. War is a clear narrative force, constantly endangering the protagonists while also raising fundamental questions about the effects of war as an inter-species event. Read as a parable, this interpretation is best expressed by the loss experienced by the turtle, representing the plight of Iraqis caught in the conflict. In a silent moment of remembrance, the reader sees the turtle’s family drowning in the oil that spewed into their river. The parable angle also helps explain why the lions continually choose not to eat the other animals they encounter.

Despite being mighty predators, the lions are free in a world that was never meant for them. They are motivated by a quest for food, yet their attempts to eat are continually thwarted as the result of rational and human decision making. They choose not to eat the turtle out of pity and question eating a man’s corpse because of their previous relationship with humans. In the historic events that inspired the story, the lions were starving and desperate, which justify the soldiers’ actions, however in the story, the lions’ conscious decisions not to eat mark them as sympathetic and humanized characters.

Throughout the story, the lions wrestle with the cost of their freedom. Safa and her desire to remain in captivity can be interpreted as an endorsement of zoos and the protection they provide against the threats of the natural and human world. However, as a counterpoint, the domesticated animals in the palace are either mistreated or emotionally scarred by their experiences. The pride has human perspectives on freedom and whether it can be given or if it must be earned. The temporary freedom the lions have leads them on a fatal journey that asks the reader to confront the costs of war on all forms of life.

Impact

Pride of Baghdad earned praise from several notable comic reviewers and crossed into the world of mainstream entertainment. The literary tradition of talking animals expressing human sentiments echoes the work of George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1946) and Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (1894), as well as the graphic novels of Art Spiegelman (Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, 1986) and Grant Morrison (We3, 2004). While many aspects of the story can be read as a parable, the author has clarified that it is not a simple allegory in which each character represents something specific in twenty-first-century Iraq. The anthropomorphic depiction of the lions, in both language and reasoning, complicates their narrative role because it clashes with lions’ natural motivations and instincts.

The limited dialogue, vivid art, and layered interpretations make Pride of Baghdad a strong introduction to graphic novels, and the book is a popular choice among high school and college teachers. Those interested in exploring comics as literature and animal narratives in fiction will find this book a stellar example of both. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) selected Pride of Baghdad as one of the top ten graphic novels for teens.

The authors were also honored with an invitation to hold a book signing at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Further Reading

Morrison, Grant. We3 (2004).

Smith, Jeff. Bone (1991-2004).

Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (1986).

Bibliography

Leong, Tim. Interview with Brian K. Vaughan. Comic Foundry, July 6, 2006. Available at http://comicfoundry.com/?p=1522.

Mangum, Teresa, and K. Corey Creekmur. “A Graphic Novel Depicting War as an Interspecies Event: Pride of Baghdad.” Society and Animals 15, no. 4 (2007): 405-408.

Richards, Dave. “Joy of the Pride: Vaughan Talks Pride of Baghdad.” Comic Book Resources, September 11, 2006. Available at http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=8051