Pride Of Baghdad
September 25, 2006 | Trades
Pride Of Baghdad
Brian K. Vaughan & Niko Henrichon
Vertigo/DC Comics
$26.99/$19.99 US (Hardcover)
**** 1/2 (out of five)
The sky has fallen in the Garden of God and the wild things are loosed upon it.
In one of the most intriguing stories of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Baghdad, four starving lions escaped from the zoo after the bombings and were later shot after they lunged at a platoon of American troops.
But what might the great beasts have done with their freedom before they met their fates?
Writer Brian K. Vaughan, voted by Canadian fans as this year’s Joe Shuster Award winner for outstanding international creator for Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina and Runaways, along with artist Niko Henrichon of Quebec City (whose outstanding work here ought to earn him a 2006 Shuster nomination), take readers inside the pride as they explore the aftermath of the invasion.
Past burning palm trees, flattened buildings and ever-billowing smoke, the lions cautiously explore the world outside their bars. With tenderness reminiscent of Disney’s The Lion King and the brutality of John Irvin’s Hamburger Hill, Vaughan and Henrichon examine the fragility of freedom and its sometimes-heavy price in what is hands-down the smartest and most affecting post-9/11 comic so far.
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