Pride of Baghdad
DC Comics/Vertigo
Vaughan was canny enough to seize upon the symbolism of the lions receiving the unexpected, un-asked-for gift of freedom so violently bestowed upon them, and extrapolates a surprisingly moving story from it by getting in their heads. Taking an anthropomorphic approach that visually calls to mind Disney's Lion King (for obvious reasons), Vaughan's lions and other animals can all talk to one another. We meet the pride—male Zill, female Safa (who's old enough to remember being free on the African plains), young female Noor (who is not) and her cub Ali—just before the bombing begins.
What's perhaps most surprising about the story—aside from how sad, funny and scary it can be in different parts—is its lack of a point-of-view. Or rather, the fact that it contains many points-of-view, instead of just one. Rather than a rant or manifesto on the nature and price of freedom, Pride of Baghdad is a meditation, looking at the heady, heavy subjects from a variety of angles.
Vaughan's script, which effectively works both as an animal adventure story and a human allegory, is brought to life by artist Niko Henrichon, whose smooth, brightly colored art similarly works on two levels. You've no doubt heard a lot about Pride of Baghdad in a variety of media already, and with good reason—if there's one graphic novel worth talking about today, it's this one.
Otherworld Vol. 1
DC Comics/VertigoThe sales pitch for this epic fantasy series is one that few pop culture connoisseurs should be able to resist: A large cast of grown-up characters from our world's LA find themselves transported to another world, where they're the chosen champions, à la C.S. Lewis' Narnia books. Two factions make war on one another there: Cyborgs, robots and machine life occupy the sci-fi side of the demilitarized zone, while gods, wizards and mythological monsters are on the other, fantasy side.
Or, put another way, it's the characters from The O.C. choosing sides in a war that pits The Matrix vs. The Lord of the Rings.
It all comes from the fertile mind and even more fertile pen of Phil Jimenez, whose hyper-detailed art is reason enough to give the story a chance. The characters can be a little lazily written, and the plot doesn't really rise above the quality expected from mediocre offerings from either the sci-fi or fantasy genres, but it's an inspired premise with some of the best pencil-and-ink art on the stands right now.
Blade No. 1
Marvel ComicsSick of superhero movies yet? Blame Blade; his 1998 surprise hit got the current superhero cinema boom going, a Hollywood trend that shows no signs of slowing just yet. Not only did the Blade film result in just about every character in Marvel's catalog being greenlit for a flick of their own (Hell, they've even got an Ant-Man movie in the works), it spawned two sequels and a live-action TV series.
Only one thing seems to be missing in this comic book character's career lately—a comic book. Marvel seeks to correct that with this new series by writer Marc Guggenheim (a TV writer whose credits include CSI: Miami) and artist Howard Chaykin (responsible for legendary mid-'80s indie series American Flagg).
The first issue is thankfully easy reading for newcomers, pitting Blade against a vampire-ized Spider-Man and an unfortunately mustachioed Dracula.
It manages to borrow just enough of Wesley Snipes-style coolness to be worth a look.