Where Animal Farm (George Orwell, 1945) ends, Animal Castle begins. This is a comic filled with well-known political tropes about oppression, abuse of power, democracy, dictatorship, and the struggle for freedom.

Written by Xavier Dorison and illustrated by Félix Delep, the graphic novel Animal Castle has become a phenomenon in France in recent years, receiving numerous accolades and awards, including two Eisner nominations for Best Limited Series and Best Artist, the Ivory Tower prize from “A Tours debulles”, Best Comics Series and Best Cover at BDGest’ Arts 2020, and Best Adult Comics on the New York Public Library’s annual list 2020.

The story begins with the government of animals already dominating the citizens. Ruled by a bull named President Silvio and his dog militia, the castle offers no mercy to the other hungry and exhausted animals. All this changes with the arrival of a wandering rat. But change is not necessarily a good thing, and not all changes lead to improvements.

How do you overthrow a dictatorship? How do you lead a rebellion against oppression? Xavier Dorison explores the boundaries of political fairy tales and the animal world, in a story brought to life by Félix Delep, with his surreal artwork that reveals treasures of dynamism and expressiveness.

This series, consisting of four volumes, revisits George Orwell's Animal Farm and invites us to a multitude of sometimes very timely reflections and issues.

In the first volume of the series, we see the first two albums of the comic series gathered together, along with an introduction by Xavier Dorison, as well as a gallery of covers and bonus material, including behind-the-scenes information and other illustrations.