“BRIAN K. VAUGHAN _ -. NIKO HENRICHON wy / - IDE 4BRIAN K. VAUGHAN is the Eisner Award-winning writer of Y:THE LAST MAN and EX MACHINA. He lives in California with his wife a NIKO HENRICHON tives in | Quebec City with his wite and cat as well PRIDE OF BAGHDAD is his second graphic novel ‘ a am Ll on SUGGESTED FOR MATURE READERS — 1h | i 9 W7a1so1" 205146 Il \ Xe » PAS 1299 15 2697 0 tnaorzosnto) i “This story of a pride of lions who escape from the Baghdad Zoo during Operation Iraqi Freedom bombing is simple, lavishly drawn, and devastating. . . . Stunning.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW) “Stunning and heartbreaking, Pride of Baghdad lingers with you like a haunting dream. Let it sink its teeth into you.” — BRAD MELTZER (BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE FIRST ‘COUNSEL AND THE BOOK OF FATE) aL verTigocomics.com Le 2 s a & FROM AWA! i NG WRITER OF “Y: THE LAST MAN” AND “EX MACHINA® % BRIAN K. VAUGHAN NIKO HENRICHO WLLAR. IN APRIL OF 2003, A PRIDE OF STARVING LIONS ESCAPED THE BAGHDAD ZOO DURING. THE AMERICAN BOMBING OF IRAQ.. -_ ag =Xil IN APRIL OF 2003, A PRIDE OF STARVING LIONS ESCAPED THE BAGHDAD ZOO. DURING. THE AMERICAN BOMBING OF IRAQ.. PRIDI eXPRIDE OF BAGHDAD INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY writTEN By BRIAN K. VAUGHAN art By NIKO HENRICHON LeTTERING BY TODD KLEINSayit again, “< and I swear T'll come up there and swallow you whole. . or) We =| excellent climbers, Oh, will you please shut { up? The damn sky \The sky is falling! The sky is falling! ~ You “Hard saw them, to miss, old by il? _, woman, Tr; iP) 5 Imay have a . few winters on you, but \ “I’m felling Ican see what's coming “ you, before long, down the pike more clearly everything we withmy one good eye "know willbe ‘han you ever could /\\ “gone. / with two, Don't be so dramatic, Safa. — The keepers are still yj ~ ) / T'mnota ea (fares, I'ma And lion, Icertainly don't belong Tigris is the name of the river, dummy. ‘got a name. It's how we make crap belong fous. And this stretch crap ismy fishing hole. Calm yourself, turtle. We're just here to drink. (n that case, be my guests. Maybe you'll scare the goddamn hawksbills away... fsdon't / remember hearing about any of your kind living in the 200. dweller, lady. that where you two busted out of? This has happened before? More than ‘once. Last time was a dozen or so years ago. Adozen? How old are you? Yeah, the sky fellon our old house. hatched during the first big war...back when this sinkhole was still an empire.What's wrong with you?You think only those stupid things know how Im OF course Of course not neady for BMT you're ready. You've this been ready since the Not this day your mother $007 awed through your cord. We're ail born wanting this. Isn't that what you used to say? Only ( captivity ha: be learned. And how it umlearned, ill? How doIt's what the walkers call their shells, / What» (was that, \ Safa?" ———_ Sounded ( like a...a Stomach rumbling. Abig Don't { worry, they \ ain't real lions. You remember what I said about names, right?Babylon's a town 7” downriver. Their lion's 0 statue Legend says that as long “ 4 SY of one of younkind trying to eat as that statue's sfill - aman...but the man's fighting 4 standing, this land'll Off the big stone cat. never fall to outsiders, They're just, what do you call’em... ( symbols. You know walkers, never say what they mean, Maybe all you're bo! Or maybe yo neither. What's it matter? Idon't even know if the damn rock’ still there any- more, I Yes, but this is oun land now, too. Who are we supposed to be in the statue... the lion, or the man? re 7 ee Yep, those are the other Lion: of Babylon, all right. Just like the last time. Id tuck your heads in if I was you. What does that mean?What the heck was that guy talking aout Turtles’ brains are much smaller than our: We shoulda eaten } him, ys “ithe brains Belong ce our mouths, not in our heads Well, for once, your mother and I actually. >} a The trees K moved There's no be F wind, but the ae trees... IQ‘ Li a ,: Sy You See Be were justV, Thad NG a “Gonding , toget you there! 4 tomove, or we : Pe’ A, woulda gotten Se ile msIhave no idea, but there are hundreds of th v jampede is a mile long. It off our only path to the zoo try to cross those beasts, we'll be trampled to death But what if they're not charging towards prey? What if they're ging away from a Wedbe punning right into Apredator? 7e how big hey are..2 What's) (happening? ‘We move in the opposite direction of what- ever prey they're charging towards, stay parallel to the ‘march until itends.Well, wouldn't that be bloody perfect. Oh, bite your tongue, Safa, You're the ‘one who wanted to spend the rest of her life behind bars. If we don't find food or shelter soon, we'll be ready for the vultures by fy Br) ys “a Then we should keep moving upwind, so any prey ahead of us won't be able to catch our scents. Save it, Where are we? ) barely keep my damn eye open. Are you mad, Noor? IF we keep walking into this storm, we'll be sliced to pieces. Safa’s right. If there were any free meals out here, we probably would have stumbled acros one already We should) double back and look for a place to rest until the wind dies down.ee, Now that you've finished spilling your seed into me, my opinions are worthless, is that it? But when Ibring back a fresh kill, don't ‘ask me to share. Have fun bedding that shrew, Come, Ali. We'll hunt on our: own,Eo BRIGK | oe ednIs... is that a keeper? Or one of their cubs, Either way, he should be enough to feed the lot of us. We're not going toeat 5 him! é He looks pretty fresh tome, Besides, we've spent the last few years of our lives feasting on carcasses. TyBecause we never would have had tho: if it wei Don't you have loyalty to anything? j around and make them your lunch? They're the who kept us alive! Yes... toour pride. ‘And they'll continue to keep us alive... .as long as we stop looking at them a anything but meat. If that's You tear how you feel, then into the fle you take the first of the creatuné protectedNo sudden movemen anyone. They're like gazelles, without the damn horns Whatever they are, the second we send one’s intestines spilling onto the sand, the others will run like hell. Waich is why we're going to attack together. “4 If we each Stand by, strike @ different one 4 everyone. We'll simultaneously, we should be pounce on my able to bring down three word. Ready, of them while the set. others flee. Thret What about me? Tecan kill one, too!a 2 ome TERRES /)< SW) a” .° ‘ a AGthank me yet. But I'm afraid... Ido. Another dozen strides. and my heart is going to explode. T'llhave to let you go...at the next pass. It was Understood.” nice to run with you, if just for fer than I ever was...even in my prime. But if you tell the aid so...T'lleat jour young.Icaught my breath, then I just followed the stench of Fear. Yes, well, this place scares the hell out of me, Then it must be Heaven. I don't think we're there yet. . Our own private watering hole? The safety of the zoo, but the freedom to come and go? What else could this be? Those ‘overgrown mules you lost. I think we're in the den of the keepers, This is where they must have gone when they left us at night. If that's the case, then where did they all--Hold a moment. Callus whatever you want, but you're only delaying the inevitable! Rotting meat. Probably Just.You're... you're wrong. They may have been our captors, but they weren't torturers. Remember last spring, when we heard rumors of creatures from other cages being disappeared? This must be where the keepers brought them. You have another word for whips and chains? Evenif the keepers did do this, it wasn't our keepers. Safa, no matter how they might treat us, those who would hold us captive are always tyrants. remained as we were, we would have ended up hanging from a leash just like this poor bastard... and you know it as well as I,RASHID WASN'T ‘A PRISONER, HE WAS A PET..AND HE LIVED Just As COMFORTABLY As YoU SPOILED Pussycars EVER Dib. nothing but skin and bones. a £2, | ae a rugs yes, WELL, T MAY HAVE ACCIDENTALLY EATEN A FEW OF AIS MEALS. my NAME 1S FABER, BY THE BY. Ym tHE MAN OF THE HOUSE NOW, BUT PLEASE.Mm, quite an eye you have. But where are Safa and your mother? Who cares? Let’s kill those things! Al, that's. that's women's work. What, are you scared or something? ‘Of course not. But you and T aren't hunters, we're--Quiet, girl What kind of demon are you? A < 5 MERCIFUL Soup NE. You go ° DY for his balls, 7 If E/THER OF YOU WILLINGLY SUBMITS HERSELF TO my SAWS, PLL LET THE OTHER GO. FIGHT ME, AND I DESTROY YOU BOTH. T'llopen his throat. 1 HOPE a YOWRE LEss \ \ GAmEY THAN r) THE HORSES. \ y i yaYOWRE MAKING...A THE eRDER vou NSOYED MAY MISPAKE..oL> een: =\_ A PRKE... But YM SURE You REMEMBERBITE to MATCH YOUR: BARK.Bay Gro bel § Chectak: 25 maT 4 CARUGK: CA-C ike adOr Till. Tilleat your TONGUES! you CAN'T CALL THE BLOODY CAVALRY!Are you okay? What...what happened to Safa's eye? Just @...0 scratch, child, Please, don't smell so frightened. Safa told me what she heard when Twas blacked — Thank Should Tkeep chasing the white things, Zill? Perhaps...but not today.wd SPINES IN TWO. END ME... ALREADY. He doesn't deserve @ quick finish Leave what's left of him for the camel spiders and the-- What? Now you're the one with the delicate appetite? Idon't think Fireflies eat flesh, baby.7 Be al ij Yes, well, en last time I © op , checked, we JI” Actually, oe don't have JM some of us do. You're not helping, you know.earth. It's uneven. Wh the chil u taking I's another one of the ke homes, Sa Itused’ used to theirs but not This. this ‘anymore. is something new.It's beautiful, Forgive me, Safe. 1 ot that you nt Don't apologize. I've 4 ‘moment a hundred ‘thousand times. T see better than you de.RE CTU SS Aa Oras—~ aeWHERE'D THEY COME FROM, SIR? THOS: THINGS AREN'T WILD OUT HERE, ‘ARE THEY? ITT. CHARGED RIGHT AT Us, SIR. IDION'T WANT TO PUT 'EM DOWN, BUT.In April of 2003, four lions escaped the 5 Baghdad Zoo during the bombing of Iraq. PVCs ine Coogan hg shot and killed by U.S. soldiers. a oO Pa . aBue Ce TCE se COBBRIAN K. VAUGHAN ee a ae Pees ee eae a eee ce eee CT aS Sea eater oe Maa ng UCM em Meet Deu OUR ck ie an eae emg em RCn nace ec aes ORO eee co Cee se ae en Pee ae eR geet ae world. And very special thanks to the dedicat- CR RUM me Rent ae cn OE nC Utama USS OSS eR aun ed interpretation and viewpoint(s) are obviously MOU Rotate aac cas the feelings and opinions of the many people who kindly offered us their help. Any artistic liberties are my responsibility and mine alone, Pee macs OR Loe mmc RCM ICOM eae Se card to the San Diego Zoo. Brian is the Eisner Award-winning writer of ee Ue a nner Cae RO . NIKO HENRICHON en Ie a a family who have provided me support during the whole year it took to produce this book. TSCM CU ee at a citizens, reporters and soldiers—who were Sean R Ce Cann iat rs ence in Written form or through pictures, Ce TCR eM Re CRO RCL ee eae aa rts as Niko lives in Québec City,with his wife and [Tae CL Pe Reade Coo ee RO ee ge ace cheered ot ete Pe deen ae ae Ceres ar lane eras ee ro rn et ete ee Ngee eA at en ea ee Ten re eT nee eg ie tna rere rena Meee ee Re aad are ieee La tect acre a ea NodMORE FROM WRITER BRIAN K. VAUGHAN i Y: THE LAST MAN The ongoing saga of YORICK BROWN, the only male survivor ofa mysterious, worldwide plague. ° co . CNT a cae ca eae 5 oa more Ncon i UN a “Innoyative and unique...unlike anything going” AN MSe One Ua Pe UR g Cee ade asain VOLI- UNMANNED — VOL II ~ CYCLES VOL II|- ONE SMALL STEP VOL IV ~ SAFEWORD. SCOTUA ie IN CROl mE CLES! VOL VI -GIRLON GIRL VOL VII ~ PAPER DOLLS , + EX MACHINA The ongoing story of MITCHELL HUNDRED, the super-powered mayor of New York City compelling entertainment with fiery thoughtfulness.” Sea Mla Las M AL MUS Saga) SIC Rn Coa Racca ee STAC IOg “For any fan of contemporary comics, EX MACHINA is the series to read.” Bae SiN sg VOL | - THE FIRST HUNDRED DAYS = VOL II - TAG MORE FROM ARTIST NIKO HENRICHON BARNUM! Me Ae UN en ee eRe CR er)BRIAN K. VAUGHAN & the Elsner Award-winning writer of Y:THE LAST MAN and EX MACHINA. He lives in California with his wife. » NIKO HENRICHON tives in Quebec City with his wife and cat as wel, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD is his second graphic novel“This story of a pride of lions who escape from the Baghdad Zoo during Operation Iraqi Freedom bombing is simple, lavishly drawn, and devastating. . .. Stunning.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW) “Stunning and heartbreaking, Pride of Baghdad lingers with you like a haunting dream. Let it sink its teeth into you.” — BRAD MELTZER (BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF THE FIRST ‘COUNSEL AND THE BOOK OF FATE) FROM ONE OF AMERICA'S MOST CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED GRAPHIC NOVEL WRITERS ~ INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS, A STARTLINGLY ORIGINAL LOOK AT LIFE ON THE STREETS OF BAGHDAD DURING THE IRAQ WAR. In his award-winning work on Y: THE LAST MAN and EX MACHINA Cee ara ee RO aaa Oma ce Brian K. Vaughan has displayed an understanding of both the cost of survival and the political nuances of the modern world. Now, in this oe eee Cc ee Rec cce In the spring of 2003, a pride of lions escaped from the Baghdad Zoo CTT UCSC Re a eee La A a RU eR se eo RE Reg Ae / DRUM aL CLP) eT dy SU ag ee earned only through self-determination and sacrifice? RCSA CEU Raa Lous (BARNUM!) have created a unique window into the nature of life during wartime, illuminating this SSR RUC ae bra. a A\a ‘SUGGESTED FOR MATURE READER: | | 51999 9 F7eig01" 205146