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Animal Pound #1-5
Animal Pound
When animals grow tired of being caged and abused, it’s only a matter of time before they have nothing to lose but their cages… When an uprising puts a pound in control of the animals, they make quick comrades, united against everything that walks on two legs. But with this newfound power comes a sudden challenge: how best to lay the groundwork for this new democracy as they write their first constitution. The conditions are ripe for a dictator, primed for instating a new system of brutality and death. When two groups of animals work together will their efforts be enough to prevent further animal authoritarianism?
Discover a timely graphic storytelling event from celebrated New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-winning writer Tom King (The Human Target, Love Everlasting) and New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-nominated artist Peter Gross (American Jesus, The Books of Magic), collaborating for the first time ever to bring this enduring Orwellian allegory to life for the 21st Century. Collects Animal Pound #1-5.
Discover a timely graphic storytelling event from celebrated New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-winning writer Tom King (The Human Target, Love Everlasting) and New York Times bestselling, Eisner Award-nominated artist Peter Gross (American Jesus, The Books of Magic), collaborating for the first time ever to bring this enduring Orwellian allegory to life for the 21st Century. Collects Animal Pound #1-5.
176 pages, Hardcover
Published April 1, 2025
18 people are currently reading
172 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
July 30, 2025
Fucking hell i hate PiggyTrump! I had to put down this book with only about 32 pages to go because he nauseated me so much and made me want to commit violence against his hideous fucking vile face and all the asslickers who surrounded and supported him and i don't like feeling that way but there are just some "people" who make me want to be an animal again.
King does a good in-writing imitation of TheRump's speaking style and that's also odious. So if you really hate the current chief executive officer of the United States of America, Inc., then you might wanna avoid the last half of this comic book.
I can't say how successful it is as a retelling of Animal Farm because i haven't read Orwell's book in many years. I'm tempted to reread it soon. Then again ... i don't really wanna get angry and feel the urge to murder again, do i? It's a conundrum. But as a story that purports to retell the history of the USA up to the present and into the near future, it was well done. Naturally, King gives most of the screen time to the current situation. His re/solution feels somehow both pessimistic and optimistic at the same time: Can we really hope that eventually the asslickers will begin to hate the ass they've been licking? Should we really expect that our entire society will revert to an earlier much-worse time?
Bottom line: i prefurred the cats; they had more likeable purrsonalities. The rabbits aren't given much development. The dogs are mostly horrible or pathetic. The humans are wonderfully treated as if they're just pawns on a chessboard (you might hate that part). I believe the world outside of the titular pound wasn't intended to be real-world representational, so i'm not dinging King for failure to build a whole world. As an allegory, it's acceptable to be insular.
End of randumb thoughts unless i decide to add images of the horrific piggytrump to scare away the faint hearted.
July 30, 2025: Warning! a page of PiggyTrump is below. View it only if you have a strong stomach or if you want a reason not to read this book.
King does a good in-writing imitation of TheRump's speaking style and that's also odious. So if you really hate the current chief executive officer of the United States of America, Inc., then you might wanna avoid the last half of this comic book.
I can't say how successful it is as a retelling of Animal Farm because i haven't read Orwell's book in many years. I'm tempted to reread it soon. Then again ... i don't really wanna get angry and feel the urge to murder again, do i? It's a conundrum. But as a story that purports to retell the history of the USA up to the present and into the near future, it was well done. Naturally, King gives most of the screen time to the current situation. His re/solution feels somehow both pessimistic and optimistic at the same time: Can we really hope that eventually the asslickers will begin to hate the ass they've been licking? Should we really expect that our entire society will revert to an earlier much-worse time?
Bottom line: i prefurred the cats; they had more likeable purrsonalities. The rabbits aren't given much development. The dogs are mostly horrible or pathetic. The humans are wonderfully treated as if they're just pawns on a chessboard (you might hate that part). I believe the world outside of the titular pound wasn't intended to be real-world representational, so i'm not dinging King for failure to build a whole world. As an allegory, it's acceptable to be insular.
End of randumb thoughts unless i decide to add images of the horrific piggytrump to scare away the faint hearted.
July 30, 2025: Warning! a page of PiggyTrump is below. View it only if you have a strong stomach or if you want a reason not to read this book.
September 13, 2024
An uncomfortably modern allegory-- the final act plays out with harrowing, Orwellian aplomb.
July 30, 2025
This book has one of the most off-putting introductions I've ever read. Tom King tells us this book is not only inspired by George Orwell's Animal Farm but is just as important -- a masterpiece to be taught in schools and discussed in the streets.
Suuuuuuurrrrre.
Except for a fairly apt portrait of Trump, I found the symbolism of the book a bit confusing as the animal groups -- dogs, cats, and rabbits -- seem to shift around in meaning at times, sometimes representing Founding Fathers, then Republicans vs. Democrats, the masculine vs. the feminine, working class vs. elites, various races, classes, and protected classes, and opposing sides on free trade and globalism or immigration and refugees.
So maybe pick it up for the condemnation of Trump, sure, but be prepared to be bored by the rest of the political mire.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contains material originally published in single magazine form as Animal Pound #1-5.
Contents: Introduction -- Chapter One. The Proud Dog Dies -- Chapter Two. A Rabbit Can Only Run -- Chapter Three. Piggy Performs -- Chapter Four. Titan's Bad Day -- Chapter Five. Who's a Good Dog? -- Cover Gallery / Peter Gross, Yuko Shimizu, Gabriel H. Walta, Bill Sienkiewicz, Skottie Young, Clay Mann, Mike Del Mundo, Bilquis Evely, Phil Hester, Julian Totino Tedesco, Matias Bergara, and Jorge Fornes, illustrators
Suuuuuuurrrrre.
Except for a fairly apt portrait of Trump, I found the symbolism of the book a bit confusing as the animal groups -- dogs, cats, and rabbits -- seem to shift around in meaning at times, sometimes representing Founding Fathers, then Republicans vs. Democrats, the masculine vs. the feminine, working class vs. elites, various races, classes, and protected classes, and opposing sides on free trade and globalism or immigration and refugees.
So maybe pick it up for the condemnation of Trump, sure, but be prepared to be bored by the rest of the political mire.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contains material originally published in single magazine form as Animal Pound #1-5.
Contents: Introduction -- Chapter One. The Proud Dog Dies -- Chapter Two. A Rabbit Can Only Run -- Chapter Three. Piggy Performs -- Chapter Four. Titan's Bad Day -- Chapter Five. Who's a Good Dog? -- Cover Gallery / Peter Gross, Yuko Shimizu, Gabriel H. Walta, Bill Sienkiewicz, Skottie Young, Clay Mann, Mike Del Mundo, Bilquis Evely, Phil Hester, Julian Totino Tedesco, Matias Bergara, and Jorge Fornes, illustrators
August 13, 2025
sigh Tom King's Animal Pound is a thinly veiled reflection of our current political environment. Through an Animal Farm-style narrative where the animals take control of the pound, King demonstrates what happens when good-intentioned political decisions lead to a charismatic, idiotic, populist, power-hungry ruler. Perhaps you can picture such a person.
It's Tom King, so it's expertly contrived, building slowly but surely to the terrible conclusion. Interestingly, King continues the narrative beyond the "fascist regime is in place forever" point, showing how, in such a scenario, the populace might ultimately welcome the cage.
Again: sigh
The artwork is fantastic in its realism, showing cats, dogs, and bunnies of all shapes and sizes. It's fairly static, though, and King's relentless narration and dense dialogue basically mean you're reading a prose novel. You might, like me, find yourself reading a few pages without actually noticing the art.
It's Tom King, so it's expertly contrived, building slowly but surely to the terrible conclusion. Interestingly, King continues the narrative beyond the "fascist regime is in place forever" point, showing how, in such a scenario, the populace might ultimately welcome the cage.
Again: sigh
The artwork is fantastic in its realism, showing cats, dogs, and bunnies of all shapes and sizes. It's fairly static, though, and King's relentless narration and dense dialogue basically mean you're reading a prose novel. You might, like me, find yourself reading a few pages without actually noticing the art.
July 31, 2025
Orwell's Animal Farm inspired Animal Pound, which is a political allegory based on current political leaders. Set in an animal pound, the cats, rabbits and dogs stage an uprising to push out humans and fend for themselves. Two of the original leaders, Titan the dog and Madame Fifi the cat, help establish a democracy but then step down for other animals to be elected. But as time goes by, the dog Piggy, who gained fame and money on the video camera for the pound, is elected. His rise to power is obviously modeled on Trump, and the political structure falls into chaos when elections are suspended so Piggy can remain in power. Readers will find uncomfortable parallels with much of what befalls the animals in our current political climate, as the author Tom King spotlights the hypocrisy of leaders and how those subjugated cope under a dictatorship. Peter Gross's art elevates the story.
Other books that I would recommend that tie animal stories to our human experience are Animal Castle (when will V2 come out?!) by Xavier Dorison and Felix Delep, and Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon.
Other books that I would recommend that tie animal stories to our human experience are Animal Castle (when will V2 come out?!) by Xavier Dorison and Felix Delep, and Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon.
March 27, 2025
Along with Love Everlasting at Image and Helen of Wyndhorn at Dark Horse, Animal Pound is another of King’s titles that pull apart aspects of classic literature, in this case updating the Orwellian animal-infested allegory. Instead of farm animals like pigs, horses and sheep, the comic focuses on the pound animals of dogs, cats and rabbits who grow tired of being caged, killed, and sold off. What began as a dream from Lucky the dog before being sent to the animal disposal, the cat Fifi and the Doberman Titan lead an uprising that puts the animals in control of a pound, thus creating a new democracy built on freedom and equality.
Please click here for my full review.
Please click here for my full review.
March 31, 2025
An obvious extension of George Orwell's satirical allegorical novella, Animal Farm, Tom King's version is updated naturally to fit into the context of the contemporary American political landscape. Much like Orwell's version, Animal Pound explores the dissolution of a utopian and egalitarian society into that of authoritarianism, nationalism and fascism. Set in an animal pound that houses dogs, cats and rabbits, the story begins with a violent uprising facilitated by a Doberman named Titan and a housecat named Madame Fifi. Both are tied to the teachings of a wise older dog named Lucky, who passed down his vision of a free animal society where all "the doors will remain open" to Fifi in his final days. Inspired by Lucky's words, Titan and Fifi uncage all the dogs in the animal pound and drive the human caretakers out. For the coming months, the animal pound is completely under the control of the animals.
But the three animal factions quickly divide along species lines, with the dogs and cats maintaining a tenuous peace that rests entirely on the backs of Titan's and Fifi's friendship. The rabbits, seen as the frail and helpless "other" group, is often left on the fringes of the new society, and live on the whims and goodwill of the incumbent leader. Titan and Fifi devise a political system that maintains the peace in the pound, one that serves as a placeholder for equity to be maintained. And for a while, this works well. Titan serves as the first two-term president, and ushers in new practices and customs to keep the dogs, cats and rabbits happy. Fifi follows after with her own two-terms, and is seen as a natural extension of Titan's peaceful reign. But slowly and surely, the subsequent terms bring about new turmoil and strains on the fragile system of checks and balances, all leading towards the rise of a demagogue leader.
It's a thinly veiled allegory for where American politics stands today, with the ever growing rise in populism and polarization in discourse. Lucky's legacy - which initially serves to unify the population - soon is used to misconstrue agendas and craft populist slogans. The cries for a bygone era emerge, though the meaning of which is often left ambiguous and opaque. Animal Pound reflects on how easily political conventions can be challenged by an individual, especially if there's no one willing to enforce practices. It's a not so subtle reflection on politics today, with a system of checks and balances only working as long as everyone participates in the system. A single outsider can begin to tear this all down if no one is willing to stand up to them.
The use of animals to portray sociological and political phenomena is naturally not new, with Orwell's iteration being the most well known of the sort. Xavier Dorison and Félix Delep did their own comic adaptation with Animal Castle, and similar themes emerge. The animal kingdom is subject to the natural shift into hierarchies, typically based on physical prowess. With dogs being the strongest of the three factions, Animal Pound takes its time to reflect on how easily the more powerful can inflict suffering on the less than. It's not new storytelling by any means, but King's version here really does a good job of calculating when exactly one group will decide they've had enough of another group. The "otherization" concept is handled in quite the interesting way, and it's what makes this a strong and compelling read.
Naturally, any story that handles contemporary politics is going to be branded as being "on the nose", which undoubtedly is true for Animal Pound. The allegory is very much in-line with recent election cycles, taking the discourse around economic growth, immigration and culture directly from the source. For some, this will make the satire more exhausting and hackneyed. But I would challenge that idea by saying the best political commentary occurs during and not in hindsight. Whether King's allegorical version holds up is only for us to decide in the years that follow the current political landscape, not during. For now, all we can do is try and weather the challenges of the present and hope that for once, we can learn to not repeat the mistakes of the past to preserve what we still have. Wishful thinking perhaps, and even the coda to Animal Pound is reflective of the fact that no political system will survive forever.
Peter Gross' artwork is great throughout - tons of expressive panels to reflect the multitude of animal characters throughout. It's a strong visual choice to keep all human faces obscured, but one that really adds to the heightened reality of Animal Pound whereby animals are smart enough to craft their own society. In a way, humans serve as an existential force of nature that serves to challenge the survival of the animals. Gross does a spectacular job with the tonal shifts of the story, weaving in the sudden bursts of violence and fear amidst the rather cute designs of all the animals.
But the three animal factions quickly divide along species lines, with the dogs and cats maintaining a tenuous peace that rests entirely on the backs of Titan's and Fifi's friendship. The rabbits, seen as the frail and helpless "other" group, is often left on the fringes of the new society, and live on the whims and goodwill of the incumbent leader. Titan and Fifi devise a political system that maintains the peace in the pound, one that serves as a placeholder for equity to be maintained. And for a while, this works well. Titan serves as the first two-term president, and ushers in new practices and customs to keep the dogs, cats and rabbits happy. Fifi follows after with her own two-terms, and is seen as a natural extension of Titan's peaceful reign. But slowly and surely, the subsequent terms bring about new turmoil and strains on the fragile system of checks and balances, all leading towards the rise of a demagogue leader.
It's a thinly veiled allegory for where American politics stands today, with the ever growing rise in populism and polarization in discourse. Lucky's legacy - which initially serves to unify the population - soon is used to misconstrue agendas and craft populist slogans. The cries for a bygone era emerge, though the meaning of which is often left ambiguous and opaque. Animal Pound reflects on how easily political conventions can be challenged by an individual, especially if there's no one willing to enforce practices. It's a not so subtle reflection on politics today, with a system of checks and balances only working as long as everyone participates in the system. A single outsider can begin to tear this all down if no one is willing to stand up to them.
The use of animals to portray sociological and political phenomena is naturally not new, with Orwell's iteration being the most well known of the sort. Xavier Dorison and Félix Delep did their own comic adaptation with Animal Castle, and similar themes emerge. The animal kingdom is subject to the natural shift into hierarchies, typically based on physical prowess. With dogs being the strongest of the three factions, Animal Pound takes its time to reflect on how easily the more powerful can inflict suffering on the less than. It's not new storytelling by any means, but King's version here really does a good job of calculating when exactly one group will decide they've had enough of another group. The "otherization" concept is handled in quite the interesting way, and it's what makes this a strong and compelling read.
Naturally, any story that handles contemporary politics is going to be branded as being "on the nose", which undoubtedly is true for Animal Pound. The allegory is very much in-line with recent election cycles, taking the discourse around economic growth, immigration and culture directly from the source. For some, this will make the satire more exhausting and hackneyed. But I would challenge that idea by saying the best political commentary occurs during and not in hindsight. Whether King's allegorical version holds up is only for us to decide in the years that follow the current political landscape, not during. For now, all we can do is try and weather the challenges of the present and hope that for once, we can learn to not repeat the mistakes of the past to preserve what we still have. Wishful thinking perhaps, and even the coda to Animal Pound is reflective of the fact that no political system will survive forever.
Peter Gross' artwork is great throughout - tons of expressive panels to reflect the multitude of animal characters throughout. It's a strong visual choice to keep all human faces obscured, but one that really adds to the heightened reality of Animal Pound whereby animals are smart enough to craft their own society. In a way, humans serve as an existential force of nature that serves to challenge the survival of the animals. Gross does a spectacular job with the tonal shifts of the story, weaving in the sudden bursts of violence and fear amidst the rather cute designs of all the animals.
July 20, 2025
High marks for this re-imagined Animal Farm, updated for the post-truth political landscape of today. As chilling as the original Orwell that it’s based on, Animal Pound leaves the reader suspended in a state of inaction. As unsettling as the trauma earned when euthanizing a beloved pet.
4.5/5
4.5/5
Read
April 2, 2025DNF - Animal farm is one of my favorite books of all time....this...yeah...Love King but this ain't it.
September 8, 2024
Tom King and Peter Gross’ Animal Pound is a visually appealing speculative work with some obvious themes set inside of an animal shelter. Given its similarities to Animal Farm and modern political context, it doesn’t feel like King’s most original or inspired work. It does, however, tell a thought-provoking story in its five issues albeit with somewhat of an anticlimax. Gross’ art is impressive and well-colored and makes this book something I’d recommend, even if it could have packed more of a punch.
Read
August 18, 2025How? Tom King.
What? A version of _Animal Farm_ but in a municipal pound. A dog scheduled to die convinces a cat they need to work together (and is then killed); that cat then convinces another dog scheduled to die, and they form a plan to open all the cages and let all the animals out (dogs, cats, rabbits). They elect a president, who steps down after two turns; they make money by being cute on the internet and buying food. Eventually, a dumb greedy dog gets elected, and makes everything worse, until the humans come in again. Our cat mastermind is being taken out and sees the dumb dog one more time, with a play on _Animal Farm_'s ending: "She looked from pet to man and man to pet -- and it was very easy to tell them apart."
Yeah, so? Over the last X years (feels like 2, probably 10), I have been very influenced by some dramaturge friends who ask questions like, "why this show now? why does this show have to be improv?"
Normally, directors don't really have good reasons: the reason for "why an improvised Firefly/Doctor Who/Harry Potter show?" is "Because I like the source material and because I can sell this show to the artistic director/audience." Essentially: "I want to do fanfiction, but I am trained in some medium, so I will do that show in this medium at this point."
So: Why re-do _Animal Farm_ as a pound story? Why update it for the internet age? This should be a question artists ask themselves, but it should also be evident from the story -- and in this case, it kind of isn't... except for one thing.
In _Animal Farm_, Napoleon is a Stalin-like figure who consolidates power and betrays the revolution to elevate himself, as oppressive as any capitalist oligarch; in _Animal Pound_, Piggy is a Trump-like figure who consolidates power through his performance as a clown, but can barely do anything with that power, and ends up right back where he started: doing tricks for human treats. The Trump signifiers for me are largely the buffoonishness -- and the concomitant refusal by anyone to take him all that seriously as a threat to the polity -- and largely the manner of speaking, which involves a lot of "many people are saying" and even, I think, a "come to me with tears in his eyes."
There is a lot to nitpick and question about the story as metaphor, but it does raise some interesting questions re: democracy in the age of Trump. (Or rather: after.) Like: why do the rabbits start to support Piggy? Is it just his control of the institution, i.e., food? (Also for a book that revolves around the central idea that humans make doors and that the animal revolution is against doors, I have to question how the animals get the food inside after the delivery man leaves it outside.)
What? A version of _Animal Farm_ but in a municipal pound. A dog scheduled to die convinces a cat they need to work together (and is then killed); that cat then convinces another dog scheduled to die, and they form a plan to open all the cages and let all the animals out (dogs, cats, rabbits). They elect a president, who steps down after two turns; they make money by being cute on the internet and buying food. Eventually, a dumb greedy dog gets elected, and makes everything worse, until the humans come in again. Our cat mastermind is being taken out and sees the dumb dog one more time, with a play on _Animal Farm_'s ending: "She looked from pet to man and man to pet -- and it was very easy to tell them apart."
Yeah, so? Over the last X years (feels like 2, probably 10), I have been very influenced by some dramaturge friends who ask questions like, "why this show now? why does this show have to be improv?"
Normally, directors don't really have good reasons: the reason for "why an improvised Firefly/Doctor Who/Harry Potter show?" is "Because I like the source material and because I can sell this show to the artistic director/audience." Essentially: "I want to do fanfiction, but I am trained in some medium, so I will do that show in this medium at this point."
So: Why re-do _Animal Farm_ as a pound story? Why update it for the internet age? This should be a question artists ask themselves, but it should also be evident from the story -- and in this case, it kind of isn't... except for one thing.
In _Animal Farm_, Napoleon is a Stalin-like figure who consolidates power and betrays the revolution to elevate himself, as oppressive as any capitalist oligarch; in _Animal Pound_, Piggy is a Trump-like figure who consolidates power through his performance as a clown, but can barely do anything with that power, and ends up right back where he started: doing tricks for human treats. The Trump signifiers for me are largely the buffoonishness -- and the concomitant refusal by anyone to take him all that seriously as a threat to the polity -- and largely the manner of speaking, which involves a lot of "many people are saying" and even, I think, a "come to me with tears in his eyes."
There is a lot to nitpick and question about the story as metaphor, but it does raise some interesting questions re: democracy in the age of Trump. (Or rather: after.) Like: why do the rabbits start to support Piggy? Is it just his control of the institution, i.e., food? (Also for a book that revolves around the central idea that humans make doors and that the animal revolution is against doors, I have to question how the animals get the food inside after the delivery man leaves it outside.)
April 28, 2025
I adore Tom King and try to read everything he writes. He is one of the very best writers in comics these days. He's in my top ten faves of currently working writers.
This one featured excellent art by Peter Gross and Tamra Bonvillain.
It's an interesting modern take on Orwell's Animal Farm, though with a bit less of the bite of the original [heh].
Still, it's excellent and a modern allegory for justice, fair politics (yeah right), and Trumpism.
Well worth the money and the read!!
This one featured excellent art by Peter Gross and Tamra Bonvillain.
It's an interesting modern take on Orwell's Animal Farm, though with a bit less of the bite of the original [heh].
Still, it's excellent and a modern allegory for justice, fair politics (yeah right), and Trumpism.
Well worth the money and the read!!
July 15, 2025
Reinterpretacja Orwella na miarę trzeciej dekady XXI wieku. Alegoria co prawda szyta dość grubymi nićmi, ale nadal potrafiąca skłonić do myślenia.
September 1, 2025
re-telling of Animal Farm
September 1, 2025
mi è piaciuto meno di quanto avrei voluto
Read
May 20, 2025I typically enjoy Tom King’s writing but he may have flown too close to the sun with Animal Pound. I admire the ambition of writing a homage to Animal Farm with commentary focused on the United States instead of the Soviet Union. This marks one of King’s first forays outside of superhero comics, and rather than settling for a thinly veiled Hollywood pitch or a vapid appeal to ’90s nostalgia – typical fare among superhero writers venturing outside of the “Big Two” – he took on a literary challenge of sorts.
King clearly recognized the stakes of butchering this premise and put in the work to craft a thoughtful commentary. He cleverly casts the “liberal elite” as cats and “working-class conservatives” as dogs with rabbits as a vulnerable minority. While criticizing dogs for their unwillingness to reign in reactionary extremism, King also condemns cats for their reluctance to take action until it’s too late.
Animal Pound asks thought-provoking questions about the compromises made to maintain a functioning democracy. I’m ultimately left wondering whether King believes the two dominant parties could have worked out their differences given greater empathy and vigilance. Or did the necessary compromises doom the animals’ experiment with democracy? Either way, King clearly views Trump – embodied by Instagram star Piggy the bulldog – as a worst-case scenario for American democracy.
Despite the fact that the story covers heavy political topics, King and artist Peter Gross offer levity and humor where appropriate. I got a laugh out of a particular chihuahua’s attempt to run for president. As with Animal Farm, using animals as protagonists softens the blow of the story’s difficult themes, making them more approachable (at least for me) than if told through human characters. Gross has a knack for depicting animals realistically while still conveying emotion. As much as I personally abhor Trump, Gross captures his mannerisms and expressions so well through Piggy that I couldn’t help but laugh.
While I can praise many of its components, I still struggle to declare Animal Pound a successful experiment. This story wrestles with the complexity and nuance of American politics in a way that undercuts the fable-like, timeless clarity that makes Animal Farm iconic. While Animal Farm’s main takeaways are accessible even to readers unfamiliar with Soviet history, Animal Pound risks losing readers who lack in-depth understanding of the past few years of American politics. This partly reflects the fact that Animal Farm is based on roughly a decade of history, and Orwell could carefully set up and pay off all of his novella’s major events with obvious real-life parallels. In contrast, Animal Pound tries to distill around 250 years of US history into a five-issue miniseries, and the plot necessarily become muddier. The “cause-and-effect” and timeline are less straightforward with a rushed ending.
King also carries the weight of paying homage to Animal Farm, resulting in awkward moments like the martyrdom of Lucky the dog, a clear parallel to Old Major, Animal Farm’s Karl Marx stand-in. But because the United States lacks a direct ideological equivalent to Marx, Lucky’s role feels thematically unanchored, leaving me unsure of how he fits into the larger allegory.
Another problem with Animal Pound is the fact that it reads like a prose novel disguised as a graphic novel. Gross’s illustrations are phenomenal, but King’s overbearing script makes this feel less like sequential storytelling as much as a picture book with captions. I assume King’s reputation as a comic writer made this story more marketable as a graphic novel, but the premise would have worked better in prose.
Animal Pound is an imperfect but interesting series. Whether you agree with King’s politics or not, you have to respect his shrewd political perspective, especially given his tenure working for the CIA. It turns out that sometimes comics benefit when writers can pull from life experience outside of comics. Animal Pound has more political heft than I’ve read in a while from a mainstream comics publisher, and I respect that Boom was willing to publish the series. Whatever its flaws, this story is an effective conversation starter, as evidenced by the lively discussion it prompted in my book club.
King clearly recognized the stakes of butchering this premise and put in the work to craft a thoughtful commentary. He cleverly casts the “liberal elite” as cats and “working-class conservatives” as dogs with rabbits as a vulnerable minority. While criticizing dogs for their unwillingness to reign in reactionary extremism, King also condemns cats for their reluctance to take action until it’s too late.
Animal Pound asks thought-provoking questions about the compromises made to maintain a functioning democracy. I’m ultimately left wondering whether King believes the two dominant parties could have worked out their differences given greater empathy and vigilance. Or did the necessary compromises doom the animals’ experiment with democracy? Either way, King clearly views Trump – embodied by Instagram star Piggy the bulldog – as a worst-case scenario for American democracy.
Despite the fact that the story covers heavy political topics, King and artist Peter Gross offer levity and humor where appropriate. I got a laugh out of a particular chihuahua’s attempt to run for president. As with Animal Farm, using animals as protagonists softens the blow of the story’s difficult themes, making them more approachable (at least for me) than if told through human characters. Gross has a knack for depicting animals realistically while still conveying emotion. As much as I personally abhor Trump, Gross captures his mannerisms and expressions so well through Piggy that I couldn’t help but laugh.
While I can praise many of its components, I still struggle to declare Animal Pound a successful experiment. This story wrestles with the complexity and nuance of American politics in a way that undercuts the fable-like, timeless clarity that makes Animal Farm iconic. While Animal Farm’s main takeaways are accessible even to readers unfamiliar with Soviet history, Animal Pound risks losing readers who lack in-depth understanding of the past few years of American politics. This partly reflects the fact that Animal Farm is based on roughly a decade of history, and Orwell could carefully set up and pay off all of his novella’s major events with obvious real-life parallels. In contrast, Animal Pound tries to distill around 250 years of US history into a five-issue miniseries, and the plot necessarily become muddier. The “cause-and-effect” and timeline are less straightforward with a rushed ending.
King also carries the weight of paying homage to Animal Farm, resulting in awkward moments like the martyrdom of Lucky the dog, a clear parallel to Old Major, Animal Farm’s Karl Marx stand-in. But because the United States lacks a direct ideological equivalent to Marx, Lucky’s role feels thematically unanchored, leaving me unsure of how he fits into the larger allegory.
Another problem with Animal Pound is the fact that it reads like a prose novel disguised as a graphic novel. Gross’s illustrations are phenomenal, but King’s overbearing script makes this feel less like sequential storytelling as much as a picture book with captions. I assume King’s reputation as a comic writer made this story more marketable as a graphic novel, but the premise would have worked better in prose.
Animal Pound is an imperfect but interesting series. Whether you agree with King’s politics or not, you have to respect his shrewd political perspective, especially given his tenure working for the CIA. It turns out that sometimes comics benefit when writers can pull from life experience outside of comics. Animal Pound has more political heft than I’ve read in a while from a mainstream comics publisher, and I respect that Boom was willing to publish the series. Whatever its flaws, this story is an effective conversation starter, as evidenced by the lively discussion it prompted in my book club.
October 29, 2024
Stellar art and colours by Gross.
The first issue was pretty good, and made me think about what humans do to animals even when well intended.
It was okay seeing the rise of the Trump based animal. The commentary of the Trump animal was more interesting than seeing the Trump animal at work.
I wish King would write something original and stop adapting films and other media (Rorscach - Parallax View, Animal Pound - Animal Farm, Supergirl - True Grit and a dozen other westerns). Vision seemed solely original and was really good. That's what put them on the map. Also to reduce the amount of text on a page and panel to let the art shine more; amajor problem with Helen of Wyndhorn and Supergirl.
The first issue was pretty good, and made me think about what humans do to animals even when well intended.
It was okay seeing the rise of the Trump based animal. The commentary of the Trump animal was more interesting than seeing the Trump animal at work.
I wish King would write something original and stop adapting films and other media (Rorscach - Parallax View, Animal Pound - Animal Farm, Supergirl - True Grit and a dozen other westerns). Vision seemed solely original and was really good. That's what put them on the map. Also to reduce the amount of text on a page and panel to let the art shine more; amajor problem with Helen of Wyndhorn and Supergirl.
February 20, 2025
Like Animal Farm before it, this graphic novel has no problem throwing subtlety out the window. Unfortunately, the logic and impact is nowhere near as strong as the source material, making Animal Pound feel both forced and disconnected.
The artwork is impressive, but it becomes repetitive. Even the story chugs on a monotonous track as something happens, then something else happens, followed by something else, and something else again.
I certainly appreciate the recontextualisation, but at the end of the day, I’d rather just read the George Orwell classic.
The artwork is impressive, but it becomes repetitive. Even the story chugs on a monotonous track as something happens, then something else happens, followed by something else, and something else again.
I certainly appreciate the recontextualisation, but at the end of the day, I’d rather just read the George Orwell classic.
February 1, 2025
Brutal.
June 9, 2025
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
April 20, 2025
Just like real life, it’s the part that comes after the revolution that’s the most difficult to get right. King kicks off his eventually tortured political allegory with an inspiring rallying cry against injustice, and an exciting revolutionary action. In figuring out what comes next, though, he defaults to a belabored reiteration of how he thinks the US’s political system developed, despite those choices often being incongruous with his chosen animal metaphor. Why do the animals always opt for versions of the exact compromises that America’s early leaders did? (King’s warped logic for why they’d create a sort of electoral college is a particularly strained bit that made me laugh).
This sort of belief in the inevitability of our exact circumstances being recreated in a new setting with largely separate constraints misses both the chance to think up novel parallels that better fit your chosen metaphor but also the chance to offer a different way of considering our contemporary issues, stripped from their exact specifics. Instead, King decides early on that the dogs are Republicans, cats are Democrats, and the rabbits are vulnerable minority voters. You can write most of the plot yourself with those labels and a passing memory of the news. Worse, it’s clear early on that a particularly awful bulldog is just Trump, which means the last half of this story is spent tritely rehashing the awfulness of the past ten years of Trump being the all-time main character of American politics. Yes, I think he’s awful and cruel; no, I don’t need another story repeating that same obvious truth without offering any new insights.
When political allegory is this transparent and everything is forced to match up 1-to-1 to the intended IRL analogue such that it strains or breaks the metaphor, you need to ask yourself what the purpose of the fictional veil is? Why not just write a serious nonfiction essay arguing your point directly if you have anything meaningful to say?
More petty issues exist that would be easy enough to ignore if this were good otherwise. Things like King confusing “getting their hackles up” with “getting their cackles up” (lol), which apparently no one involved in its production noticed. Which part of a dog is the cackles, again? He’s similarly sloppy about sticking to his chosen POV, like when he has the animals mention that an elected term is 3 months, but then has them refer to one leader’s two terms as “the (leader’s name) years.” You could pretend they meant Dog Years or whatever, but then why wouldn’t they specify term limits using the same language? It’s just sloppy work in his rush to write bad allegory.
Gross’s art colored in natural tones by Bonvillain looks great, done in a mostly realistic style that still allows a lot of expression from all the animal faces. For a while, it’s easy enough to overlook the mediocre writing and simply enjoy the wonderful animal illustrations on their own.
This sort of belief in the inevitability of our exact circumstances being recreated in a new setting with largely separate constraints misses both the chance to think up novel parallels that better fit your chosen metaphor but also the chance to offer a different way of considering our contemporary issues, stripped from their exact specifics. Instead, King decides early on that the dogs are Republicans, cats are Democrats, and the rabbits are vulnerable minority voters. You can write most of the plot yourself with those labels and a passing memory of the news. Worse, it’s clear early on that a particularly awful bulldog is just Trump, which means the last half of this story is spent tritely rehashing the awfulness of the past ten years of Trump being the all-time main character of American politics. Yes, I think he’s awful and cruel; no, I don’t need another story repeating that same obvious truth without offering any new insights.
When political allegory is this transparent and everything is forced to match up 1-to-1 to the intended IRL analogue such that it strains or breaks the metaphor, you need to ask yourself what the purpose of the fictional veil is? Why not just write a serious nonfiction essay arguing your point directly if you have anything meaningful to say?
More petty issues exist that would be easy enough to ignore if this were good otherwise. Things like King confusing “getting their hackles up” with “getting their cackles up” (lol), which apparently no one involved in its production noticed. Which part of a dog is the cackles, again? He’s similarly sloppy about sticking to his chosen POV, like when he has the animals mention that an elected term is 3 months, but then has them refer to one leader’s two terms as “the (leader’s name) years.” You could pretend they meant Dog Years or whatever, but then why wouldn’t they specify term limits using the same language? It’s just sloppy work in his rush to write bad allegory.
Gross’s art colored in natural tones by Bonvillain looks great, done in a mostly realistic style that still allows a lot of expression from all the animal faces. For a while, it’s easy enough to overlook the mediocre writing and simply enjoy the wonderful animal illustrations on their own.
June 15, 2025
Grim tale
Comics, social and political commentary
In some ways, this is very much a warning about decency and social expectations and shared history, but it's also too easy to associate dogs and cats with political parties, and that's where it quickly breaks down. Dogs and cats are carnivores; it is their nature to hunt. Rabbits are herbivores, and while can bite and kick, they often end up as meals in the wild. They can be socialized, by humans, to get along together, but those examples are not situations that occur naturally. And, yes, animal euthanasia is cruel and heartbreaking, but so is the reality of feral populations that desperately try to survive on the fringes of human society. I prefer not kill shelters, but that is currently a community choice. Pets can be amazing, and help affect positive human behavior. Too many people are irresponsible with pets, not spending time to learn how to teach dogs how to respond to human voice commands, and to spay and neuter animals. It's also expensive, and if you are having trouble feeding your family, spending money to spay or neuter is easy to put off, because hungry kids always come first. These are complicated issues with a host of circumstances, and no easy solutions, and again, animal welfare is often a community choice.
Political parties can change, even drastically so. Humans can and do invent arbitrary social rules to live by. They are capable of great kindness and generosity. They are also quite capable of inexplicable cruelty and outright evil acts. Faith can provide answers, but can also be easily abused as a means of power and wealth acquisition. As an American, the Constitution isn't perfect, but it's worked for the most part for over two hundred years, and it has depended on its citizens to abide by the rule of law as well as to treat others with common decency. This book review is not the forum for our current political crisis, but most assuredly sparks important and even fundamental questions.
Excellent editing, though Tiger is referred to as a he and a she within a few panels, which qualifies as a continuity error. Excellent attention to details. Artwork is excellent. Recommended.
Comics, social and political commentary
In some ways, this is very much a warning about decency and social expectations and shared history, but it's also too easy to associate dogs and cats with political parties, and that's where it quickly breaks down. Dogs and cats are carnivores; it is their nature to hunt. Rabbits are herbivores, and while can bite and kick, they often end up as meals in the wild. They can be socialized, by humans, to get along together, but those examples are not situations that occur naturally. And, yes, animal euthanasia is cruel and heartbreaking, but so is the reality of feral populations that desperately try to survive on the fringes of human society. I prefer not kill shelters, but that is currently a community choice. Pets can be amazing, and help affect positive human behavior. Too many people are irresponsible with pets, not spending time to learn how to teach dogs how to respond to human voice commands, and to spay and neuter animals. It's also expensive, and if you are having trouble feeding your family, spending money to spay or neuter is easy to put off, because hungry kids always come first. These are complicated issues with a host of circumstances, and no easy solutions, and again, animal welfare is often a community choice.
Political parties can change, even drastically so. Humans can and do invent arbitrary social rules to live by. They are capable of great kindness and generosity. They are also quite capable of inexplicable cruelty and outright evil acts. Faith can provide answers, but can also be easily abused as a means of power and wealth acquisition. As an American, the Constitution isn't perfect, but it's worked for the most part for over two hundred years, and it has depended on its citizens to abide by the rule of law as well as to treat others with common decency. This book review is not the forum for our current political crisis, but most assuredly sparks important and even fundamental questions.
Excellent editing, though Tiger is referred to as a he and a she within a few panels, which qualifies as a continuity error. Excellent attention to details. Artwork is excellent. Recommended.
August 17, 2025
An updated retelling of Orwell's Animal Farm that follows the birth, brief golden age, and decline and fall of a democracy. Clearly paralleling the current path of the USA.
The animals of the Manfield Pound rise up to overthrow their human oppressors, then experiment and debate until they come up with a system that affords roughly equal power to the dog, cat, and rabbit factions. First president Doberman Titan stands in for George Washington; he is ultra respected, conscientious and competent, and wins the first two elections in a landslide before stepping down voluntarily to set an important precedent. The animals earn money to buy food by being cute and funny on webcams. Titan is followed by Madame Fifi, who leans harder into cat needs but is similarly effective and benevolent.
The animals gradually forget what it was like in the lean times and grow short sighted, entitled, and petty. That's when Piggy gets elected.
Piggy is a fat bulldog who accrues power by wearing a red baseball cap and licking his anus on the webcam--which viewers love--then lying to younger animals about his history. Despite his absurdity, untrustworthiness, and obvious incompetence, he's elected by a razor thin margin.
Piggy is the first leader that refuses to operate transparently. He casually and publicly kills one of his rabbit constituents. He gives meandering speeches in which he makes grandly idiotic claims and validates the animals'--particularly dogs'--most selfish instincts. (The dogs take up the cry 'Remember the storm!' Just in case the Qanon connections weren't apparent enough.) The other animal leaders are astounded at his success and keep waiting for the spell to break, but Piggy manipulates the elections and keeps winning another term. Eventually, he begins rescinding the animals' rights in the name of security and law'n'order. ( <=You Are Here, America.)
The first issue reads a little awkwardly but King finds his footing quickly. The book ultimately hits like a sledgehammer. And it's just as pessimistically pointed as its source of inspiration. We're running out of time to listen.
The animals of the Manfield Pound rise up to overthrow their human oppressors, then experiment and debate until they come up with a system that affords roughly equal power to the dog, cat, and rabbit factions. First president Doberman Titan stands in for George Washington; he is ultra respected, conscientious and competent, and wins the first two elections in a landslide before stepping down voluntarily to set an important precedent. The animals earn money to buy food by being cute and funny on webcams. Titan is followed by Madame Fifi, who leans harder into cat needs but is similarly effective and benevolent.
The animals gradually forget what it was like in the lean times and grow short sighted, entitled, and petty. That's when Piggy gets elected.
Piggy is a fat bulldog who accrues power by wearing a red baseball cap and licking his anus on the webcam--which viewers love--then lying to younger animals about his history. Despite his absurdity, untrustworthiness, and obvious incompetence, he's elected by a razor thin margin.
Piggy is the first leader that refuses to operate transparently. He casually and publicly kills one of his rabbit constituents. He gives meandering speeches in which he makes grandly idiotic claims and validates the animals'--particularly dogs'--most selfish instincts. (The dogs take up the cry 'Remember the storm!' Just in case the Qanon connections weren't apparent enough.) The other animal leaders are astounded at his success and keep waiting for the spell to break, but Piggy manipulates the elections and keeps winning another term. Eventually, he begins rescinding the animals' rights in the name of security and law'n'order. ( <=You Are Here, America.)
The first issue reads a little awkwardly but King finds his footing quickly. The book ultimately hits like a sledgehammer. And it's just as pessimistically pointed as its source of inspiration. We're running out of time to listen.
April 16, 2025
4.5 Equally damning about the violent turn a nation and its ideologies can take when we forget the start of the season and it's equality (or purposefully contort it for our own gain) turning a nation to rot as the original with a bit more modern America lightly tossed in there as Piggy can easily right as MAGA-adjacent. It's also much more focused on the downfall of a nation than Animal Farm from what I remember. Animal Farm had it too but it's extremely prevalent here along with how the origin of a movement or nation is changed for gain. The preface mentions that Animal Farm was about the left twisting the future while this is about the right twisting the past both to equally horrible and jealous ends. And it works well here. The slow and gradual change of the message, and decline of leadership from bastions of the revolution that as they age out lead into simpering so-so’s still believing in the message but done less effectively or with more personal interest allowing for the slide into intense revisionist extremists.A heavy portion is focused on the power balance between the groups in hard and soft social and voting power which I enjoyed. I did expect the “twisting the past” to be that they revert into a human-animal power hierarchy with some animals having insane power as stand-ins for the humans. Instead it goes for a much different route with Piggy playing into the base desires of humans/animals by allowing them to “be animals again” which was a neat idea. Then at the end it literally reverts to the pound again first with them as a hired police force until it's been clear they've placated the leader to take over once again.
Piggy was a neat showcase of the power of revision and media both economically and politically in the many fibs he tells to reassure just how great his terms are. Fifi and Titan take the absolute cake though as their dialogues are really interesting and how their relationship changes as they confide in each other and struggle as the revert to “animal” ways leads to increased polarization and identity politics marring the equality they both fought for even with any personal disagreements they had. His own selfishness is the undoing of the nation as well creating a strong face for the story's message about the need for collectivism for a nation to be truly free and equal.
The writing is a bit long-winded though it fits for a literary work trying to use both its pictures and its words, so many words, to effectively tell that message as well as set a great atmosphere.
Piggy was a neat showcase of the power of revision and media both economically and politically in the many fibs he tells to reassure just how great his terms are. Fifi and Titan take the absolute cake though as their dialogues are really interesting and how their relationship changes as they confide in each other and struggle as the revert to “animal” ways leads to increased polarization and identity politics marring the equality they both fought for even with any personal disagreements they had. His own selfishness is the undoing of the nation as well creating a strong face for the story's message about the need for collectivism for a nation to be truly free and equal.
The writing is a bit long-winded though it fits for a literary work trying to use both its pictures and its words, so many words, to effectively tell that message as well as set a great atmosphere.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2025
Tuttə conosciamo "La Fattoria degli Animali" (se non è così, rimediate subito!) di George Orwell che veniva pubblicato ormai ottant'anni fa. È cambiato qualcosa da allora? Gli autori di questo fumetto credono proprio di no, e quindi realizzano Animal Pound, un "aggiornamento" del mito di Orwell, giusto per ricordarci che dalla Storia non impariamo proprio nulla.
La considerazione di partenza è la stessa: cosa succederebbe se gli animali prendessero coscienza della loro forza e riuscissero a liberarsi del giogo dell'uomo? Mentre Orwell pensava allo stato di schiavitù degli animali della fattoria, Tom King e Peter Gross riflettono sull'assoggettamento degli animali domestici verso i loro "padroni". Ecco, allora, che la fattoria diventa un rifugio e i maiali, i cavalli e le pecore fanno spazio a cani, gatti e conigli pronti a rinunciare ai loro istinti in cambio di coccole e ciotole piene di croccantini che si ribellano tentando di costruire un piccolo mondo senza umani utilizzando come punto di partenza e di forza le differenze tra le loro specie.
Ma, se l'opera di Orwell rifletteva sul fallimento della politica socialista, Animal Pound vuole essere invece un monito e aiutarci a lottare contro il pericolo del neo-fascismo che sembra incombere nel nostro tempo. King, infatti, già nella prefazione annuncia che il suo intento non è solo quello di riadattare un vecchio capolavoro ma soprattutto quello di instaurare dialoghi, confronti e discussioni invitando ad usufruire dell'opera anche nelle scuole.
A mio avviso questa è una lettura di forte impatto emotivo e sociale, non solo per le scene e i dialoghi ma anche per i disegni che restano realistici, senza animali antropomorfi alla Disney ma che, pur parlando e agendo da uomini e donne, restano fedeli alle loro caratteristiche.
Quindi non fatevi scappare questo fumetto affinché "le porte rimangano sempre aperte".
La considerazione di partenza è la stessa: cosa succederebbe se gli animali prendessero coscienza della loro forza e riuscissero a liberarsi del giogo dell'uomo? Mentre Orwell pensava allo stato di schiavitù degli animali della fattoria, Tom King e Peter Gross riflettono sull'assoggettamento degli animali domestici verso i loro "padroni". Ecco, allora, che la fattoria diventa un rifugio e i maiali, i cavalli e le pecore fanno spazio a cani, gatti e conigli pronti a rinunciare ai loro istinti in cambio di coccole e ciotole piene di croccantini che si ribellano tentando di costruire un piccolo mondo senza umani utilizzando come punto di partenza e di forza le differenze tra le loro specie.
Ma, se l'opera di Orwell rifletteva sul fallimento della politica socialista, Animal Pound vuole essere invece un monito e aiutarci a lottare contro il pericolo del neo-fascismo che sembra incombere nel nostro tempo. King, infatti, già nella prefazione annuncia che il suo intento non è solo quello di riadattare un vecchio capolavoro ma soprattutto quello di instaurare dialoghi, confronti e discussioni invitando ad usufruire dell'opera anche nelle scuole.
A mio avviso questa è una lettura di forte impatto emotivo e sociale, non solo per le scene e i dialoghi ma anche per i disegni che restano realistici, senza animali antropomorfi alla Disney ma che, pur parlando e agendo da uomini e donne, restano fedeli alle loro caratteristiche.
Quindi non fatevi scappare questo fumetto affinché "le porte rimangano sempre aperte".
January 6, 2025
8/10
A political anthropormophized story of governing. Surely that's never been done before, right? As derivitative as this series is, and it is very - both of works like Animal Farm and modern real life politics - it's still really well written and interesting. Personally I think we can analogize a dumb orange man without being quite so overt about it but in the end that's a small nitpick. Piggy speaks like a dumbass and is clearly the placeholder for Donald Trump - to the point that the comic even issues a disclaimer that the story was written before a certain real-world event happened related to the orange man. I personally like my political satire to be subtle but I get why it's not in a day and age where people think Rage Against the Machine is pro-police and that the video game Bioshock is apolitical.
I'm not bashing the politics, rather the bluntness in which they're presented. I think Animal Pound evokes some interesting political philisophical issues and in the format of an animal pound, it's surprisingly interesting and clever. It's not revolutionary but it does a good job. The ideas of revolution, elections, equality, customs, power inequalities, dehumanization, and more are all prevalent throughout. I really like the characterization more than anything, though. I genuinely care about Titan and FiFi and Lucky and the relationships between them and the state of the pound. This is a great story on its own and while derivative, the setting of the animal pound works out really well.
A political anthropormophized story of governing. Surely that's never been done before, right? As derivitative as this series is, and it is very - both of works like Animal Farm and modern real life politics - it's still really well written and interesting. Personally I think we can analogize a dumb orange man without being quite so overt about it but in the end that's a small nitpick. Piggy speaks like a dumbass and is clearly the placeholder for Donald Trump - to the point that the comic even issues a disclaimer that the story was written before a certain real-world event happened related to the orange man. I personally like my political satire to be subtle but I get why it's not in a day and age where people think Rage Against the Machine is pro-police and that the video game Bioshock is apolitical.
I'm not bashing the politics, rather the bluntness in which they're presented. I think Animal Pound evokes some interesting political philisophical issues and in the format of an animal pound, it's surprisingly interesting and clever. It's not revolutionary but it does a good job. The ideas of revolution, elections, equality, customs, power inequalities, dehumanization, and more are all prevalent throughout. I really like the characterization more than anything, though. I genuinely care about Titan and FiFi and Lucky and the relationships between them and the state of the pound. This is a great story on its own and while derivative, the setting of the animal pound works out really well.
August 16, 2025
When I opened this book, I read the forward which stated that this work [Animal Pound] was just as prolific as Animal Farm, if not more, and should be taught in every class in America. And I thought, "Wow, this person writing this must love this book!" And then I saw who wrote it- Tom King himself. Yikes, buddy boy.
Then onto the story. Ok, we got a cat and a dog who stage chasing out the pound's human keeper and freeing all the animals. Ok, we get an election to run the now free pound (seems like George Washington/Founding Fathers?) But how to provide food to the dogs, cats, and rabbits? A kitten cam set up so cute kitties and doggies can get virtual money that the dogs know how to use to buy animal food online...ok...a stretch but I guess these are talking animals, so I'll go with it for now.
Then the allegories start going wild! It's all of them! One of the dogs is Trump (you can tell because how he annoyingly talks and how terrible he is)! Some of the dogs and cats are different classes! Some of the animals are male vs female! Dogs start eating rabbits and it's somewhat ok and somewhat not? And humans never go back to this ABANDONED POUND WHERE A HUMAN WAS DRIVEN OUT BY A RABID-SEEMING DOG...
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Until the end when BulldogPiggyTrump uses the internet to hire a bunch of humans to kill Titan (George Washington) and lock up the animals again and then I'm not even sure what happens after that?
Anyway, I would stay away from this unless you want to read an Animal Farm that tries desperately relevant to today and is inferior. :)
Then onto the story. Ok, we got a cat and a dog who stage chasing out the pound's human keeper and freeing all the animals. Ok, we get an election to run the now free pound (seems like George Washington/Founding Fathers?) But how to provide food to the dogs, cats, and rabbits? A kitten cam set up so cute kitties and doggies can get virtual money that the dogs know how to use to buy animal food online...ok...a stretch but I guess these are talking animals, so I'll go with it for now.
Then the allegories start going wild! It's all of them! One of the dogs is Trump (you can tell because how he annoyingly talks and how terrible he is)! Some of the dogs and cats are different classes! Some of the animals are male vs female! Dogs start eating rabbits and it's somewhat ok and somewhat not? And humans never go back to this ABANDONED POUND WHERE A HUMAN WAS DRIVEN OUT BY A RABID-SEEMING DOG...
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Until the end when BulldogPiggyTrump uses the internet to hire a bunch of humans to kill Titan (George Washington) and lock up the animals again and then I'm not even sure what happens after that?
Anyway, I would stay away from this unless you want to read an Animal Farm that tries desperately relevant to today and is inferior. :)
August 3, 2025
This is exactly the kind of book I wanted to find when I started to dive through books recently. A political parable that really helps solidify many modern conversations. It’s an adaptation of Animal Farm but one directly in conversation with the current political climate.
Tom King seems to increasingly utilise heavy captioning throughout his work and this put me off initially here. I was confused reading a comic with uncharacterised prose-style narration, but really came around to it later because of what it achieves in the third issue. The long historical account of a lifetime of elections was extremely compelling as I tried to constantly decode the metaphors. The cause and effect nature of this sequence and the preciousness of consequence is really sensitively depicted through use of prose that when the most consequential act is committed it feels as much a slap in the face as trump lambasting immigrants.
The art here kept me coming back and I’d particularly call out the effect of the colourist Tamra Bonvillain. I love the choice to cast a lot if it in a green fluorescent wash. My favourite panel is the splash page of the army of revolutionaries asssembling in issue#1 with Fifi standing on top of of Titan, keys in her mouth.
Tom King seems to increasingly utilise heavy captioning throughout his work and this put me off initially here. I was confused reading a comic with uncharacterised prose-style narration, but really came around to it later because of what it achieves in the third issue. The long historical account of a lifetime of elections was extremely compelling as I tried to constantly decode the metaphors. The cause and effect nature of this sequence and the preciousness of consequence is really sensitively depicted through use of prose that when the most consequential act is committed it feels as much a slap in the face as trump lambasting immigrants.
The art here kept me coming back and I’d particularly call out the effect of the colourist Tamra Bonvillain. I love the choice to cast a lot if it in a green fluorescent wash. My favourite panel is the splash page of the army of revolutionaries asssembling in issue#1 with Fifi standing on top of of Titan, keys in her mouth.
April 11, 2025
Animal Pound is a powerful, unsettling allegory that feels both familiar and freshly urgent. Through the eyes of Madame Fifi—a character whose journey from hope and excitement to action, disillusionment, and quiet defiance is beautifully rendered—we witness the rise and unraveling of a dream. Her frustration, sarcasm, and eventual stillness carry the emotional weight of someone who gave everything to build something better, only to watch it twist into something else.
The animals’ fight for liberation is compelling, but it’s what comes after that stays with you: the struggle to maintain unity and justice in a society that set out with noble ideals. One character in particular—a very Trumpian figure—rises through manipulation, spectacle, and division, slowly bending the new order to serve his own power. The parallels to our own world are hard to miss.
This is a cautionary tale about the fragility of democratic principles, and how quickly they can be undermined from within. Quiet in its delivery at times, and sharp when it needs to be, Animal Pound doesn’t shout its message, but it’s all the more haunting for it.
The animals’ fight for liberation is compelling, but it’s what comes after that stays with you: the struggle to maintain unity and justice in a society that set out with noble ideals. One character in particular—a very Trumpian figure—rises through manipulation, spectacle, and division, slowly bending the new order to serve his own power. The parallels to our own world are hard to miss.
This is a cautionary tale about the fragility of democratic principles, and how quickly they can be undermined from within. Quiet in its delivery at times, and sharp when it needs to be, Animal Pound doesn’t shout its message, but it’s all the more haunting for it.
July 6, 2025
“The doors will remain open!”
Animal Pound is an updated interpretation of George Orwell’s beloved classic, Animal Farm. This graphic novel is set in an animal shelter that is known for killing its pets for either being aggressive, or just staying at the pound too long. A revolution begins over the dog, Lucky, who was put down due to biting one of the workers. After his tragic death, a dog and cat team up to free the animals from their cages thus the doors will remain open. It was all in the name of Lucky!
Throughout this story, it is clearly obvious what was the allegory reference….modern American politics circa the Trump term. The visuals can be a bit graphic at times as animals should act like animals, which is according to the bulldog in the story. Overall, this is a fantastic and imaginative graphic novel that I highly recommend reading.
Animal Pound is an updated interpretation of George Orwell’s beloved classic, Animal Farm. This graphic novel is set in an animal shelter that is known for killing its pets for either being aggressive, or just staying at the pound too long. A revolution begins over the dog, Lucky, who was put down due to biting one of the workers. After his tragic death, a dog and cat team up to free the animals from their cages thus the doors will remain open. It was all in the name of Lucky!
Throughout this story, it is clearly obvious what was the allegory reference….modern American politics circa the Trump term. The visuals can be a bit graphic at times as animals should act like animals, which is according to the bulldog in the story. Overall, this is a fantastic and imaginative graphic novel that I highly recommend reading.
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