The New York Times bestselling, award winning creative team Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon will bring their beloved, contemporary classic, Pride of Baghdad back to shelves through Image Comics this September. This modern masterpiece celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with a new hardcover edition featuring lavishly hand-painted new cover art by Henrichon, on a gorgeous wraparound dust jacket, and will include never-before-seen extras as well as a new afterword by Vaughan.

There will also be a Direct Market Exclusive cover, available only at local comic shops, featuring the original first edition’s cover art.

Pride of Baghdad took the industry by storm when it was first published under the DC Vertigo banner in September 2006 and shortly thereafter gained spots on ALA’s “Great Graphic Novels for Teens: Top Ten” list, Booklist “Editors’ Choice: Adult Books for Young Adults” list, and was dubbed “Best Original Graphic Novel” of the year by IGN.

Inspired by true events, Pride of Baghdad is a provocative, visually spectacular graphic novel that follows four lions who escaped from the Baghdad Zoo during the American invasion of Iraq.

Pride of Baghdad is a story layered with themes that still resonate in today’s politically uncertain, war-torn reality. Loss of innocence, the value of independence and freedom over safety and control, and the globally shifting perspectives on authority sit squarely at the center of this unforgettable story of bravery and survival.

Pride of Baghdad: The 20th Anniversary Edition hardcover (ISBN: 9781534330917, Lunar Code 0426IM0483) will be available at local comic book shops on Wednesday, September 23 and independent bookstores, Bookshop, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo, and Waterstones on Tuesday, October 20.

Pride of Baghdad: The 20th Anniversary Edition Direct Market Exclusive hardcover (Lunar Code 0426IM0484) will be available only at local comic book shops on Wednesday, September 23.