Lost Pride

I read Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan, a graphic novel with the art by Niko Henrichon.  The story is based on the fact that a pride of lions escaped a zoo in Baghdad when the Americans were bombing.  If you expect a true to life story of the zoo animals roaming the city you're going to be very disappointed.  The main characters are lions, that much is true, but the lions are extremely humanized so much as to be talking to and making plans with antelope.  There were several events that didn't seem to progress the plot or if it did progress the plot did so awkwardly.  When Ali, the cub, is taken by the monkeys it only serves to get Safa to leave the zoo but overall I'm not sure what the point was for Ali to be kidnapped by monkeys.  And when Safa flashes back to remember a rape...well I had NO IDEA how that helped the plot at all other than to show her reluctance in leaving the safety of the zoo.  I'm sure this is an allegory full of double meanings that most young adults will not understand and frankly I didn't get most of them right away either.  The best part of the entire book was the wonderful art.  I really liked the artists ability to put expressions on the lions faces without making them look too human.