Graphic Reads

Following the bombing of Baghdad in 2003, a small pride of four lions escaped from the ruined Baghdad Zoo and wandered about the city until they were shot by U.S. soldiers. This slim graphic novel, told from the lions' point of view, details what those days may have been like for Zill, his two female companions, Safa and Noor, and Noor's young cub, Ali. Richly illustrated in warm browns, yellows and reds, The Pride of Baghdad is the collaborative effort of Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon and begins just before the bombs land on the Zoo. Noor, vibrant and lithe, lies plotting her escape from the Zoo, determined to live in freedom. Freedom, it turns out, is more than the pride had bargained for. As the bombs fall, Vaughan and Henrichon depict the terror and chaos of the animals as they flee their ruined homes. The lions take to the streets of Baghdad, discovering the ruined and deserted palaces of the "keepers". The text can seem stilted in parts, but that is more than made up for in the illustration, which is remarkable and heartfelt.

The Pride of Baghdad is more than anthropomorphosized storytelling, though. At the heart of the book is a debate between Noor, who is in her prime, and Safa, who is older, crippled, and jaded. The lionesses argue about the merits of freedom: is it better to be caged, but well fed and looked after, or free and starving in a ruined city? The debate is clearly adaptable to the human residents of Baghdad, and as the pride meets other residents of the bombed-out city, it is clear that to be kept has its own perils. Though the authors give these kinds of debates to the two lionesses, the text refrains from being heavy-handed, preachy, or trite. There are no easy answers - for the lions or the reader. In the end, the lions' sad deaths are simply collateral damage in the aftermath of the invasion, reminding the reader that war causes many losses, both great and small.