CREATOR CHAT

BrianKVaughan

Brian K Vaughan

With his latest graphic novel from Titan, Pride of Baghdad, gaining rave reviews and sparking features in national newspapers and on Radio 4's Today programme, writer Brian K. Vaughan's profile has never been higher.

Inspired by a true story, and beautifully illustrated by Niko Henrichon, Pride of Baghdad details the travails of a pride of lions that escaped from Baghdad's zoo during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Also the author of the continuing graphic novel series Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina, Vaughan kindly took time out from his busy schedule to answer a few questions.

1. Have you been surprised by the response to Pride of Baghdad?

I only ever write for myself, so I'm always surprised when something I helped to create connects with other people. The response has been very gratifying.

2. You've stated that Pride of Baghdad is an attempt to tell a story about the suffering of Iraqi civilians, but why did you choose to do that with 'talking' animals? And what attracted you to the story of the escaped lions?

With fiction, audiences can watch endless horrors inflicted on human beings, even children, but put a dog in danger, and watch people walk out in droves. Similarly, I think it's hard for even the most sympathetic person to truly feel for the civilian victims of foreign wars we see on TV, but strangely, many of us can somehow bridge that emotional gap when it comes to seeing innocent animals suffer. I wanted to write about war from the perspective of noncombatants, and because animals transcend race or creed or nationality, having them be our sole protagonists hopefully allowed us to tell a story that's universally relatable.

As for what attracted me to the story, from Carl Barks' Scrooge McDuck to Art Spiegelman's Maus, our medium has always had a rich tradition of telling meaningful stories with anthropomorphized animals. I was looking to push myself by experimenting with this storytelling device, and I was also hungry to write something that addressed my conflicted feelings about the still-ongoing Iraq War. When I read reports of a pride of lions escaping the Baghdad Zoo back in 2003, I knew I had a starting point for the story I needed to tell.

3. You mentioned you have conflicted feelings about the Iraq conflict. Did writing Pride of Baghdad help you to resolve that conflict at all?

Definitely, the process of researching and writing this book did help me come to peace with my feelings about this war, ironically enough. I never like to talk about my own politics, but yes, my views did change because of the graphic novel.

4. How did you respond to Niko's visual interpretation of your words? Did the story change at all?

It changed a great deal, most significantly by the sheer amount of editing I did, trimming words that his stunning visuals made unnecessary.

5. Have you said all you want to say about Iraq now, or is it a subject you might return to?

I honestly don't know. I kind of hope I've said all I have to say, but if we're still at war a year from now, maybe not.

6. It'd probably be fair to say that 9/11 and subsequent events have had a big impact on your writing - not only Pride of Baghdad, but Ex Machina, and also to an extent Y: The Last Man. How have these series been influenced by 9/11 and its aftermath? Would they have been possible without it?

I'm in California now, but I was living in New York City in 2001, and I watched the Twin Towers fall from the roof of my apartment in Brooklyn. Like every writer/artist/human who witnessed that moment, my worldview immediately changed. I think every comic that I've written since September 11th has been coloured by that day, whether it's the surprising way survivors use humour to deal with tragedy in Y: The Last Man, or the altered political landscape of Ex Machina, or even the very existence of the real-world story that inspired Pride of Baghdad.

7. How do you think the way comics have been dealing with 9/11 and its aftermath has developed in recent years, particularly in the wake of events in Iraq?

I think comics' response has become more political over the last few years. This country [the US] has been understandably frightened since 9/11, and when people are scared, we like to feel like we're surrounded by -- and especially being LED by -- heroes. You don't need to look any further than Bush in his flight suit, Kerry running on his service in Vietnam, the Terminator being elected Governor of California, etc. But do true heroes really exist, or are they just a fiction we create? Over the last fifty years, no medium has explored that question better than comics, so it's only natural that we're returning to it now.

Pride of Baghdad was published October 2006 by Titan Books.

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