Pride of Baghdad is the story of four lions who escaped from the Baghdad zoo after a bombing raid and was inspired by actual events. It probably goes without saying it didn't end quite as well as The Lion King . . . Noor, a younger lioness, mother to Ali, and Zill's current mate. She longs for freedom from the zoo. She and Safa rarely agree, and they often fight verbally.

This is an important work, strongly recommended for all adult collections."-- LIBRARY JOURNAL, starred★ 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.Lavishly drawn, and devastating...Vaughan has his marvelously imagined characters debate the concept of freedom versus desire for safety...the total effect is memorable."-- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred★ It’s inspired by the true story of real lions that escaped during the chaos, but the comic adds a mythic feel to the story. The story follows Zill, the alpha male of the pride, the elderly lioness Safa, the idealistic Noor and her young cub Ali. I was hoping the combination of a graphic novel (a/k/a pitcherbook) and the use of animals rather than people to tell the story would persuade my non-reader into reading. I thought I’d get the added bonus of the subject matter making him ponder some deeper subjects like the price of freedom . . . Vaughn himself has said in interviews that he never intended certain species to represent political groups so neatly, so it’s a futile exercise to try and map current affairs onto the creatures. That’s not to say that there’s no political commentary in the book – it’s decidedly anti-war – but this is first and foremost the story of a family attempting to find safety. If the lions represent anyone at all, then it is more likely to be those in Iraq displaced or killed by a war they never asked for. The four lions wander the streets of Baghdad as bombs fall, tanks rumble and their preconceived notions of freedom shatter.

Bittersweet Ending: All of the main cast are shot and killed by U.S Soldiers, but, at the very least, they died free, and Zill got to see one last sunset. Completely and utterly averted by Saddam Husein's horses, who don't speak and spend the whole time they're in the book running away from the lions. The sky is falling!” a bird cries as it swoops over the Baghdad Zoo shortly before two fighter jets scream past overhead. An omen, perhaps, of things to come. Whatever the future, tension weaves throughout the cages, and our four lions each view the seeming portents distinctly. When they’re released from the Zoo after a series of mortar strikes, our protagonists must determine how to proceed, despite their differing viewpoints. What does life hold for them now? 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.”Based on the true story of four lions who escaped the Baghdad zoo during the American bombing of 2003, Pride Of Baghdad is a Beast Fable about the horrors of war, and the nature of freedom and captivity. Written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Niko Henrichon, it is a seriously massive Tear Jerker. You have been warned.