Pride of Baghdad, as a graphic novel, was very much a collaboration between Vaughan and artist Henrichon. Written over the span of a year first by Vaughan who then, with his editor, tried to find an artist who could create visuals “more realistic than Disney, but was still able to create characters who could express emotion” (Miller, 2006). Which was how Henrichon was brought on to the project. It would then be two years of work from both Henrichon and Vaughan before Pride would be complete.
“It's sort of a back and forth, where we would talk every day. I would send over the script, then he would send over some sort of thumbnail sketches, and we'd adjust back and forth” (Conan, 2006). Vaughan credits Henrichon for “the whole look” from colour palettes to the realism in setting (Miller, 2006). And it is that realism, both in setting and in the realistic and yet very expressive animals from Henrichon that works to both give the lions and other animals human emotions yet keep them intrinsically animal. Adding to this is Henrichon’s use of full, rich colour and how panels are orientated. The pages of slightly overlapping panels contrasted with full-spread, sweeping scenes helps give a great sense of urgency to the plot as well as indicate space. And the use of single, close-ups enclosed in panel boxes within larger images really helps add that sense of human emotion to the animals.
“It's sort of a back and forth, where we would talk every day. I would send over the script, then he would send over some sort of thumbnail sketches, and we'd adjust back and forth” (Conan, 2006). Vaughan credits Henrichon for “the whole look” from colour palettes to the realism in setting (Miller, 2006). And it is that realism, both in setting and in the realistic and yet very expressive animals from Henrichon that works to both give the lions and other animals human emotions yet keep them intrinsically animal. Adding to this is Henrichon’s use of full, rich colour and how panels are orientated. The pages of slightly overlapping panels contrasted with full-spread, sweeping scenes helps give a great sense of urgency to the plot as well as indicate space. And the use of single, close-ups enclosed in panel boxes within larger images really helps add that sense of human emotion to the animals.
What really struck me about Pride of Baghdad was the attention to detail in the art. Buildings are intricately drawn. Monuments are reproduced with startling accuracy when compared to photographs. Even the uniforms worn by the American soldiers seem to be carefully researched and reproduced in the art.
That same attention to detail has been paid to the colours and colour palettes Henrichon uses. There are subtle colour changes that indicate present action and internal flashbacks from some of the characters. There are also less-subtle colour changes that happen as the setting change that help impart mood and setting. Shadows change and shift in the cloudless sky to indicate the passage of time. Dappled shadows suggest the gentle shade of trees in one scene while stark contrast of light and shadow indicate a more urban setting in a different scene.
That same attention to detail has been paid to the colours and colour palettes Henrichon uses. There are subtle colour changes that indicate present action and internal flashbacks from some of the characters. There are also less-subtle colour changes that happen as the setting change that help impart mood and setting. Shadows change and shift in the cloudless sky to indicate the passage of time. Dappled shadows suggest the gentle shade of trees in one scene while stark contrast of light and shadow indicate a more urban setting in a different scene.
There are so many possible symbols, signs, and icons used in Pride of Baghdad that I could write an entire paper just on that topic. There are the lions that, as species, represent nobility. But then Vaughan flips that imagery with the inclusion of the image of a lion attacking but being resisted by a man representing encroaching forces. He flips it again when a huge mural or mosaic of a majestic winged lion in flight is depicted later in the story. Individually, each lion character can be a symbol for different generations, or a symbol for “different portions of Iraqi culture prior to American liberation” (P., n.d.). Or they can each represent a different viewpoint on war.
One of the more interesting symbols is a black bird. The first line of Pride of Baghdad comes from the beak of this bird. “The sky is falling!” calls the bird, an omen that the other animals disregard. But then, as jets fly over the zoo, the bird flies off, still yelling the news. Moments later, the bombs fall that will allow the lions their freedom. Later, at the end of the graphic novel, American soldier look down regretfully at the lions they’ve just shot and killed.
They’re not wild, states one of the soldiers, “they’re free” as the same bird looks on and then flies off. This opens to a two-page spread of the bird flying away from Baghdad as jets drop more bombs on the city, another two-page spread of the bird leaving the city behind as it flies over the zoo and then the outskirts of the city, and then, on the final page of the book, comes to rest on the same statue of a lion attacking a man mentioned before. A black bird is an interesting choice. It’s not the eagle so commonly used by America to depict bravery and freedom, nor is it a white bird reminiscent of the white dove so often an icon of peace in times of war. Maybe the imagery of the black bird is supposed to reflect that of the black American fighter jets. Whatever the interpretation, it's powerful imagery to open and close Pride of Baghdad on.
Copyright Cassidy Munro 2016
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Created for LIS 518
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