Pride

Awesome! Like Nevermore! But completely different!

Pride was about four lions who escaped a zoo in Baghdad during a U.S. air strike. Though free, the four lions all had different opinions on what they should do. The only male, , embraced the freedom and felt that it was time be free. His wife, , shared a similar view, but was more radical about it. The third lion, whom I believe was a past wife of the male was the most conservative of all the lions. The last, a small boy cub, shared the opinions of the elder lions. . The story begins in the zoo, still intact. The zoo acts as a

Since the beginning all the quotes were screaming symbolism. I think that Pride was criticizing the meaning of freedom. I will start with the Zoo. The zoo was representation of a society with a Communist system in place, combined with racial segregation (literally). In the zoo system, the different species of animals were kept with their respective species. Animals were fed consistently, each day every day. To the animals, their “keepers” were very caring and would never try to hurt them; they could only protect.

The art style was superb. I know I say that for nearly every graphic novel I read, but it is always true. This has been no exception, especially since the subjects at hand are not human but animals. They were all drawn to life, with very human like expressions that effectively cloyed the fact that they were animals. Even the turtle looked suspiciously human. Should there be a comparison to how the character’s complexions, I would immediately say The Lion King. However their styles are very different. Pride took a more realistic approach, and the Disney classic kept to its guns. I’d also like to note the lush colors of Pride. I have always assumed that Baghdad was all desert land. Apparently that’s all of what the TV showed and I never bothered to question it. In Pride this is not true. Pride’ Baghdad is rich in color, from the forest expanses, from the river, even from the buildings. Everything was colored so vividly, so alive. I think that the scene that really stuck to me artistically was the last few, when the group gets to see the horizon. That was one of the best panels I have ever seen in a graphic novel. Absolutely stunning. In this same collection of panels, the lions are massacred by U.S. soldiers. And I mean massacred: the artist drew the bullets tearing through the victim’s body’s, even the cub’s. It was sad to see the characters introduced seemingly moments ago were being teared down so brutally by soldiers acting in “self defense.”

Quotes I picked up:
“Everything’s got a name. It’s how we make things belong to us.”

“Don’t you have loyalty to anything?”
“Yes, to our pride.”
“If that’s how you feel, you take that first bite. You tear into the flesh of one of the creatures who protected us.”

“There’s black stuff under the earth , son. Poison.”

“You’re...you’re wrong. They may have been our captors, but they weren’t our torturers.”

“Rashid wasn’t a prisoner, he was a pet...and he lived just as comfortably as you spoiled pussy cats ever did.”

“I’d finish the blind one first, but her only crime was believing the lies that came out of your mouth. God, you ignorant young ‘radicals’ disgust me. Then again, seeing as you’re just about to become one with my waste, I suppose you’ll be enlightened soon enough.”

“No, not wild.” – “They’re free.”


Presentation: A+
Story: A+
Art: A+
Overall(not averaged): A+