Animal Pound

Animal Pound #1-5

by Tom King, Peter Gross (illustrator)

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.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Animals, Fiction, Politics, Graphic Novels Comics, Retellings

176 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2025

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Piggy's the worst! 3.8 🌟

[Raif · Rating 4 out of 5]

An uncomfortably modern allegory-- the final act plays out with harrowing, Orwellian aplomb.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 illustrations elevate the story, as his art showcases the pound as a microcosm of America.

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.

This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2025/10/1...

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Kevin MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[James DeSantis]

DNF - Animal farm is one of my favorite books of all time....this...yeah...Love King but this ain't it.

[Cody Wilson]

I 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.

[Benjamin]

How? 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.)

[Zedsdead · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Nick Guadagnino · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Chris Tower · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutal.

[Cooper Denny · Rating 2 out of 5]

This graphic novel piqued my interest in the format, however it was very on the nose with our current political climate. The first half was a solid build up but once the piggy showed up I found myself rushing through. It was basically its own story and then it said “trump is here now”. The illustrations were great but seriously comparing it to animal farm is pretty ridiculous. In short it ended up feeling like a cheap capitalization on obvious political themes and animal farm in what could have been a good stand alone story.

[Lila Danisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have yet read George Orwell's Animal Farm but I mostly know what's going on in that book, hence I understood this book quite well since the author said that the idea of this book is the continuity of Animal Farm.

This graphic novel, for me, was disturbing. So political but easily understand because of the format which is graphic novel. The heavy subject discussed within the book is relatable with the bad sides of politic in real world. The antagonists perfectly portrayed the real life politicians, it was ironically funny.

Thank you to Tom King, BOOM! Studios, and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Selling Pitch:
An Animal Farm update that says FUCK DONALD TRUMP. A surprisingly nuanced banger.

Pre-reading:
I love graphic novels. I love animals.

(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
Oh no, I don’t know if I should read this if it’s just gonna be dead animals. His collar reading Lucky is so sad.

The prose in this is wild.

Very Animal Farm. (Samantha, duh.)

Not Mitten the kitten’s only fans lmao.

Is that a MAGA hat or- (YUP.)

I knew that bulldog was shit.

Haha, the Trump shit. Love that they said Trump is a bulldog licking his own ass.

And his supporters are dogs and the right is cat ladies. Grab her by the pussy. What a smart little book.

This is fabulous.

This is such nuanced commentary for how poisonous loyalty to your fellow in-group allows people to go against their own morals.

Wasn’t there some election scandal where they printed Trump‘s name bigger because I think they just did that in the book.

Damn, even the ear shooting.

Bomb.

Post-reading:
I love an updated classic that builds on the original’s theme. I think this graphic novel is really smart in that it initially pitches itself as just an Animal Farm retelling and then gradually gets more and more specific in its details until it's undeniably a criticism of today’s political situation. It’s a perfect frog boil that I think will catch out some of his supporters. I think it's a really strong, nuanced take on how some of the right ends up supporting a politician or policies they're morally against. The art has some great emotion and humor to it. It’s nothing particularly stunning, but it's well done and immersive. The pacing is excellent. I really don't have anything negative to say about it. I think it’s a must read for fans of Animal Farm.

Who should read this:
Classic retelling fans
Dystopian fans
Political commentary fans
High Schoolers

Ideal reading time:
Anytime

Do I want to reread this:
Yup.

Would I buy this:
Absolutely.

Similar books:
* George Orwell’s Animal Farm by Christina Dumalasova-duh. Graphic novel, classic dystopian satire retelling
* Portalmania by Debbie Urbanski-short story collection, dystopian, political satire, family drama, social commentary
* American Werewolves by Emily Jane-magical realism, horror, social commentary, queer
* American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis-dystopian satire horror, queer, social commentary
* Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica-dystopian horror, social commentary
* I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman-dystopian, queer, social commentary

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Curious Madra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks Netgalley and Boom Studios for giving me this graphic novel for free.

Ngl I was a bit nervous about this since I’m an animal lover but since I watched Animal Farm many years ago, it really gave the vibe of what we are going through “politically” right now in the world. Even if there were confusing bits, I still wanted to find what happened to the animals next. I defo think the pit bull Piggy represents the orange Jesus man (we all know who he is) in America, he’s an attention seeker, he’s dangerous and he made bad decisions (can’t spoil). I do wish tho that the bunnies had more screen time like I know the doggos and cattos have screen time but the bunnies deserved to shine! Anyway I was surprised that I enjoyed it even if it was very extreme at times and I do agree with Stephen King, it is rather a sad read. Animals are precious ❤️

[Dannan Tavona · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Caterina Licata · Rating 5 out of 5]

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".

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[M.i. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Animal pound is a very fine book and one that does a great job of summarizing the current zeitgeist in American politics. But I did end up leaving the book miffed if not disappointed, because, and despite understanding why the author took the path be did, it still feels like a pessimistic take on how he sees our current political reality playing out.

There’s no pathway beyond the familiar and in doing so, it feels almost nihilistic in not believing there’s a future where we can still right our wrongs.

[Franek Grudnik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reinterpretacja Orwella na miarę trzeciej dekady XXI wieku. Alegoria co prawda szyta dość grubymi nićmi, ale nadal potrafiąca skłonić do myślenia.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

re-telling of Animal Farm

[Kiros Lambert · Rating 2 out of 5]

mi è piaciuto meno di quanto avrei voluto

[Katra · Rating 5 out of 5]

An horrific retelling of animal farm. And no, not at all political, not pertinent to our current crisis at all . . .

p-n, s-n, v-h