“There were many men. There were more animals.”
- From Animal Pound No. 1
What if George Orwell’s novella, Animal Farm, was written today? That’s what award-winning writer Tom King and equally acclaimed artist Peter Gross hope to answer with their limited series, Animal Pound, which debuted in December 2023. Talking pigs and horses are replaced with talking dogs and cats, with the setting being a kill shelter. While a more emotional story for animal lovers, the first of five issues effectively gets to the heart of the complexity of the start of reflecting democracy in our society today. This post will contain spoilers for Animal Pound.
The story begins with a cat named Fifi talking to her caged companion, a dog named Lucky. Lucky is an experienced dog, having a self-aware knowledge of the dominating nature of man. “We are pets. Bred, born, raised, and murdered at the whim of man,” Lucky expresses. He continues by symbolizing an object like a door to the animal’s real cage, which contains, separates, and controls every animal handled by their owner. Once Lucky gets his emotional and unfair goodbye by being taken to “Animal Disposal” by Mr. Jones of the Manfield Pound, Fifi ensures herself to “Remember Lucky,” a phrase repeated throughout the rest of the issue.
Years later, Fifi decides to finally revolt against the men at the pound, along with a Doberman named Titan. What should be a simple plan of working with each species’ strengths is made more complicated with those opposed to the plan, including Piggy, a bulldog, and Raven, a black cat. Will the animals escape their layered prison at the pound? If they do escape, what will their lives look like after without any owners? And what do rabbits have to do with this story? I made this a spoiler-free review for a reason (except for Lucky – Remember Lucky!).
Having been a massive fan of Tom King’s work ever since his limited series at DC Comics, I knew that I was in for something special with Animal Pound. Although being an English major, I admit that I have not read the story this is based on, Animal Farm, but I’ve been aware of the themes and general plot of that story for quite some time now. That being said, no reader of Farm needs to know anything before going into Pound. Each are separate stories that deal with similar topics. While, at times, this was a tough read like I hinted at earlier, there’s plenty of discussions about democracy to be had about this issue alone with the various groups that each animal represents. What makes the groups unique is that dogs aren’t just labeled together in one box and cats are labeled in another, which would’ve made this story somewhat predictable, or at least expected. Instead, the initial conflict is if animals should remain loyal to their owners (a conservative side) or be free amongst themselves (a liberal side). A third-party could be represented through the rabbits, but that aspect is not explored in the first issue. Other questions being asked are if we allow enough freedom for our pets, or if they’re beholden to their home, as well as the ethics of a kill shelter itself. Do these places maintain the pet population or act as a cruel form of playing God?
Going into this issue, I was wondering if each character wouldn’t have their own identity, but I was soon proven wrong with the first two animals shown, Lucky and Fifi. As anyone who’s been around older dogs knows, their loyalty shows without them having to “speak” or act it out. While I’ve never owned a cat myself, I’ve been around my family members’ who’ve let them plan their lazy day accordingly.
The artist of this book, Peter Gross, was born to draw it. He gives a lot less emphasis on the soulless human characters (mostly giving them a black shade on their body) and instead focusing in on the real-to-life panels of cats and dogs lounging around as they love to do.
Tired of the political discourse through people today? Read about today’s politics through animals! This book even got Stephen King’s approval, calling it “heartbreaking and immersive reading.” The collected edition will be out on April 1, 2025, but if I successfully intrigued you to start reading this comic earlier, visit your local comic shop (LCS) and ask the staff if they still have any copies of the five issues left that comprise this story.
Liam Jarot – Asst. Prose Editor & Blogger: Liam is a Senior at Lewis University, majoring in English with a concentration in writing. His hobbies include watching movies, reading comic books, and listening to music. Some of his favorite authors include Charles Soule, Stephen King, and Brian K. Vaughan. After graduating, he plans on working with organizations through technical writing while pursuing creative writing on the side.