Official Pride of Baghdad Review Thread

[Keepcoolbutcare]

I’m a sucker for anthropomorphism in fiction, particularly those of the allegorical and/or fable variety... “Animal Farmâ€

[doglips]

Hey, great review KC, I am bursting to get my hands on this now.

[DennisMM]

KC, please post this in Comic Book Reviews so the BKV ignorant may share. I am teh poor at the moment and so will have to wait to buy a copy. New furniture.

[Pacino86845]

Well, that was excellent. The only part I didn't like was Vaughan's acknowledgments at the end. 9/10

I would say more except keepcool's review more or less covers all bases.

[doglips]

How good is Bryan K Vaughan?

What a fantastic read. Simple and heartfelt storytelling from BKV, who lets Henrichon turn the narrative into a eye watering visual feast. Pride of Baghdad is Uber-Disney!

The artwork projects powerful visual metaphors, that play with the emotions and ultimately leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

9/10

KC, you should tidy that review up a bit and submit it to the main page, it's V.Good.

[Leckomaniac]

My copy just arrived in the mail and I read through the first twenty pages or so...

Boy was a I impressed. Vaughan can tell a story...and Henrichon's art is just...outstanding.

I can't WAIT to finish reading the rest of it and hopefully I'll have a review up for all of you to see.

[Leckomaniac]

I just finished reading it for the first time. I plan on reading it many many times before I write up any sort of review.

My initial impressions:

I loved every word, every panel, every page. I will faithfully purchase ANYTHING with Niko Henrichon's name attached. His artwork stirred me from head to toe. I love BKV...and this book is no exception...but Niko is without a doubt the star of this picture.

[Silent Shout]

I thought I'd "look through the first few pages" of this last night, and ended up reading the entire thing. I was sold after looking at the art on the first page. This book is beautiful to look at through out the entire story, I almost felt as if I was watching a terrifically animated movie. The story is also great, and I like the political symbolism it brings up (which I honestly thought worked better as symbolism of these political issues in general than a symbol of Iraq specifically). The emotions and politics of this book were not "loaded", and never in any way do they force you to feel one way or another, which I really appreciated.

Overall, great book. I'd honestly recommend this to anyone, not just comic fans.

[Ribbons]

Even taken at face value, it's heartbreaking, but Vaughan balances the literal and the allegorical perfectly. Niko Henrichon's art was beautiful: detailed, well-plotted, lush. It makes me want to find "Barnum!" just to see what else he's done. Very good stuff.

As far as what certain animals stand-in for, I'm curious what other people made of the bear. At first I thought he was supposed to represent America, but now I think that maybe America has no stand-in in the story besides for itself, and the bear is some other oppressor.

[Pacino86845]

I still wonder if Vaughan's choice of using lions is just a coincidence, but in Arab culture the lion is a very important figure, symbolising nobility, strength and pride. It is often used as a symbol of the nation, a way of uniting people.

So I'd have to reread Pride of Baghdad, but if the lions in some sense represent the Iraqi people, then the bear, rest assured, can easily be attributed to Saddam himself or members of his regime. But I would have to reread to comment more on this.

[Ribbons]

I still wonder if Vaughan's choice of using lions is just a coincidence, but in Arab culture the lion is a very important figure, symbolising nobility, strength and pride. It is often used as a symbol of the nation, a way of uniting people.

I think he has to be conscious of it on some level, because of the significance of the painting and the statue in the story, but whether or not he chose the lions for that reason, I don't know.

[Pacino86845]

Way to spit on my musings, Ribbons!!!

[Ribbons]

Way to spit on my musings, Ribbons!!!

I think what you're saying is right, though, that it's important to the story, whether or not BKV chose lions as the main characters because he read about them in the news and everything just sort of fell into place, or whether it was deliberate. I liked the one line by the bear, "Don't get up." That has to be a double-entendre.

[Pacino86845]

Yeah, I really have to reread it, and thanks to your bumping this thread I might do so soon enough!