I’ve just wolfed down in one sitting the wonderful, recently published ‘The Wolf of Baghdad’ by PCO’s Carol Isaacs, AKA The Surreal McCoy, published by Myriad Edition. It follows the story of Carol’s family roots and the everyday life of the Jewish community in Baghdad, where a quarter of the city’s population were Jewish up until the little-known vicious pogram of 1941. Within a decade nearly all 150,000 had been murdered or exiled.
All illustrations © The Surreal MCoy
The wolf in the title originates from the Baghdadi Jews belief that the wolf protects them from harmful demons.
I love the illustrations of the ghostly characters and buildings and the limited, muted colour palette that evolves to segment different parts of the story. The wonderful, clean line drawing reminded me of Marjane Satrapi’s ‘Persepolis’.
Although the novel is wordless it is punctuated by really insightful testimonies.
There is also a superb, evocative soundtrack which Carol performs on along with the band ‘3yin’ which is great to listen to while reading the book for the complete Surround-O-Vison experience!
Some quotes about the book:
The book has some great reviews including this from UK comic shop Page 45. This from The Jewish Cronicle and one from The Morning Star.
Carol and 3yin playing live with visuals from the motion comic at The Phoenix cinema in East Finchley last November.
The Surreal McCoy has recently been talking about the book at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters in Kerala, India and has visited New York for a premier screening of the DVD at The New York Sephardic Film Festival 2020. There are also some shows coming up including Carol and 3yin playing live with moving visuals from the book at JW3 in London on 5th March. Recommended for a unique experience.
The book can be purchased direct from Myriad Edition
For updates on the project follow The Wolf of Baghdad blog.