Graphic novel, published by
Vertigo Comics in 2006, written by
Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by
Niko Henrichon. It’s based on an incident from the early days of the most recent
Iraq war where a number of animals escaped from the bombed-out
Baghdad Zoo, with several starving
lions being killed by U.S. troops after several days of freedom.
So that’s the core of the story. We follow a small pride of lions from the Baghdad Zoo -- Zill, the calm but somewhat
spineless male; Safa, an older, half-blind female who wants to stay
safe in the zoo’s wreckage; Noor, a younger
lioness desperate for
freedom; and Ali, Noor’s cub, who has never known a life outside of the
zoo.
Once the American jets blow a hole in the lions’ enclosure and free many of the other zoo animals, the lions make their escape into the bombed-out remains of Baghdad. They encounter various animals, including a short-lived
giraffe, a long-lived
turtle, a herd of
horses, a bunch of
militaristic monkeys, and a very, very bad
bear. They also have a run-in with some armored
tanks, which are completely
perplexing and
terrifying to them.
And they all argue a lot. Safa’s need for
security and
safety clashes with Noor’s
rebellious desire for freedom, and both of the lionesses are a little disappointed in Zill’s
weak will. And they’re all set on edge by the difficulty in finding
food in the city.
It’s a great story -- a fable about the prices of freedom,
security, and most importantly,
war. The lions have to go through a number of trials that the Iraqi people went through during the war -- would-be
warlords (the monkeys try to
kidnap Ali and turn him into a member of their
army), random horrible
violence (hello and goodbye, giraffe), savage
cruelty (the bear is certainly the most
frightening character in the book), and
opulence,
terror, and
starvation all side by side. The
environmental horrors of the previous Iraq war also get a mention, thanks to the turtle’s
heartbreaking monologue.
Vaughan’s writing is just outstanding in this book --
characterization and
dialogue are great, and the plotline feels even stronger by weaving in and out of the
fable itself. Yeah, it’s a heartbreaker of a story -- don’t go into it expecting
funny animals, or you’ll be deeply disappointed.
The big standout here is the art -- just brilliant,
beautiful artwork. Everything Henrichon draws is breathtakingly
gorgeous, from
landscapes to
action scenes to individual animals -- the stuff he puts down on paper here is simply amazing. Some of the splash pages Henrichon creates, as the lions discover the rapidly decaying
grandeur of modern
Baghdad, will stop your heart.
It's a beautiful story, and a sad one. But no one gets through a
war happy.