Blacksad

The idea of anthropomorphism has been around for centuries. It has since then become among the most popular methods of storytelling. Proof of that is the wide collection of animated shorts by Disney and Warner Bros. featuring beloved funny animal characters like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny and comics like The Far Side, Garfield, The Smurfs, and, of course, Blacksad, which may be the leading example of modern mature anthropomorphism. The mix of the fine writing of Juan Díaz Canales and the beautiful watercolor art of Juanjo Guarnido is a brilliant concoction that must be read. This book contains the first 3 volumes in the series. The first one, Somewhere Within the Shadows (2000), deals with a murder case involving a former lover of the titular black cat character, John Blacksad, and he hunts down the killer. Next, Arctic Nation (2002), which is a kidnapping case that takes place in a suburb with a big racism problem. It also serves as the introduction of Blacksad's weasel sidekick, Weekly, who works for a tabloid magazine. Finally, there's Red Soul (2005), where Blacksad uncovers a nuclear conspiracy in which an old friend of his happens to be involved in during the Red Scare in late 1950's America. While the writing is top notch for a crime drama such as this, the highlight is the art style. Like I said earlier, it's absolutely gorgeous. Each panel is like a work of art. Even the dark scenes are lovely to look at. The character designs have a lot of variety and can range from being delightfully cute to tastefully sexy. However, there are some that argue that many of the female characters look too similar to humans, especially the feline ones. While I can see why it would be off putting to some, I still don't think it's such a heavy flaw the makes the whole comic fall apart. It offers enjoyable stories and characters that will satisfy not only crime drama fans but also comic fans in general.

This is a book about Blacksad, a cop. The book consists of three stories, with various plots. First, this universe is drawn as animals, not humans. As you can see on the cover here, Blacksad is a cat. There are all kinds of animals. Now, the time of era is set throughout the 50`s, so it is angled as a noir themed cartoon. No something that you see very often. The stories takes on everything from white supremacists, racists, kidnapping, drug use and murder. I found the stories really good. And the drawings was a joy for the eye to gaze upon. When I read it, I felt I was in a movie, a great movie. The stories are quite graphic, use of violence, shooting, fighting, sex, and some profanity. Its aimed at more of an adult audience then kids, so I would not buy this for kids under the age of 15. Now, when you open this book for the first time, you can read about the writers, learn about them and the stuff behind Blacksad. And the pages are great, not cheap stuff, so you get good quality here. I was mesmerized by the whole thing, and I loved it from the start to the end. So if you read normal comics, either superhero comics or others, I recommend this one. Check it out, you should give this a try. So take a break from your normal comic book readings, and enjoy this one.

Love the series! If you enjoy a good old school detective novel and comics you'll like this one!

This French comic series is an American crime noir, but done entirely with anthropomorphic animals! Printed out in full-sized album books by Asterisk publisher Darguad, this was written by Juan Díaz Canales and superbly drawn by former Disney animator Juanjo Guarnido. There have been 5 albums done in Europe, but released so far as 3 in America through Dark Horse Comics, the first 3 of which were collected into a single volume. Blacksad ia a black humanoid cat living in an anthro version of our world where he's a former WWII vet now acting as a jack-of-all-trades private eye. The first case we run into has Blacksad investigating the killing of a famous actress he used to date. Next, he teams up with his on-again/off-again partner Weekly, a weasel reporter, to deal with a racial violence in a case with white supremacists, namely animals that are completely white furred/feathered/scaled. The last part of the first volume has Blacksad taking on the task of playing bodyguard to a turtle on a lucky streak in Vegas, which evolves in a Cold War plot with a corrupt senator. The second volume, A Silent Hell, sees Blacksad and Weekly in New Orleans during Mardi Gras to hunt for a missing blues musician whose wife is about to give birth to their child, but his benefactor wants him found mostly to cover up a past medical debacle. The third book titled Amarillo features Blacksad still touring America after New Orleans, and is first charged with taking a travelers convertible back home, but becomes engrossed with a roaming poet whose actions have lead to a series of violent acts after teaming up with the poet's perky publisher. This series is still going on in France, with future publications said to come in English from Dark Horse. Each story brilliantly balances the worlds of a gritty detective tale with a look at American society during the 1950s, plus the occasional delve into surrealism and how dreams can wash over into reality. You can read any of the volumes separately on their own, or get all of the visual awesomeness as the intrigue continues.

The art is breathtaking. I love the art so much. I read comic more for the art than story most of the time so I can be bias. This book contains the first three stories of a Blacksad series. Reading the first story was shocking for me because I didn't expect the amount of violence or graphic nudity. When I saw violence I mean someone getting shot in the head and the artist doesn't shy away from it. You see the blood and the dead corpse. The first page has a sex scene. The sex scene isn't that graphic but throughout the graphic novel there is a fair amount of female exposed breasts or butt. I know some fans of the graphic novel complain about the females being depicted as sensual and more human like (I would say Cheetah from Thundercats) while the men can be half and half. Sometimes male characters can look more human like ThunderCats. BlackSad looks like A Thundercat. Other characters who look closer to animal heads on human bodies like Disney's Zootopia. Yes it's not always consistent of animal proportions to human ones but who cared the art is good. It's so freakin good. Now for the story. I don't like Arctic Nation Story. It's attempting to be commentary on the racism, segregation,KKK and Black Panther (for one page, seriously it's only one page they don't come back again) and maybe The Imitation of Life film (kinda spoils). It falls flat honestly. Not all authors are good at discussing race. To me as a Black America the storyline being told by two White men from Spain didn't work. Maybe the whole premise of a Film noir set in the 1940s America told by none Americans doesn't work all the time. That isn't their experience but I like the effort. They do seem to enjoy American pop culture.

I can't express in words how much I love this comic series. This book keeps you engaged and wanting more. I really wish there was more! I'd buy them all! This book is hardcover and a larger size than I expected (Probably the new printing, if you know typical graphic novel sizes.), this book is beautiful, full color, printed on high quality subtle gloss paper. You will feel compelled to protect this book. Amazing artwork. Juan Diaz Canales is a superb professional! You can really see the mood, emotion, and thought put into all of it. The writing is also equally superb and the Dark Horse English translation is very well done. The dialogue fits so well that it matches the characters personalities. I also love anthro characters and Canales draws them really well in a mature styled fashion but gorgeous enough to stay appealing. I will go ahead and say it, it's perfect. Brilliant and perfect. ALSO purchased the second book A Silent Hell, also equally amazing!

Because the Noir genre isn't a personal favourite, I was attracted to this graphic novel primarily by its artwork. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find the stories compelling and the characters were developed as richly as they were drawn. Please be aware that this book is NOT for kids; though not gratuitous, there are depictions of sex and violence (as you might see in a PG-13 rated film in this genre). No, it's not a pornographic comic book, it's a detective story set in an alternative world which is, at times, messy, with slippery morals and rough lives lived by sometimes shady individuals. About that alternative world? The gluttons are pigs, the schemers are weasels, the crafty are foxes; in short, the world we see here depicted is populated by various sorts of anthropomorphic animals. A strange deceit? Perhaps. But for my liking, no stranger than the fictional worlds wherein dwell Sith, muggles, or an improbably adventurou archaeologist battling Nazis over the Ark of the Covenant. With caveats as noted above, highly recommended.

I've been waiting for this for some time, since the earlier English editions of Blacksad went out of print. This is probably some of the best art you'll ever see in a graphic novel. The characters are represented by semirealistic yet Disney-styled animal-people (unsurprising given the artist's professional background), which allows for a great range of expression and dynamic poses. Each panel is beautifully rendered in watercolor. The stories are fairly standard for the noir genre, yet they are told well. All in all, worth a spot on the shelf of anyone who likes comics. Just be aware that it's not for the young 'uns, even if the characters are animals! The only thing I wish is that this edition was at the original, slightly larger dimensions the individual volumes were printed at. But since that isn't enough to take the rating all the way down to 4 for me, 5 it will remain. Fantastic book.

Llegó al día siguiente de la compra, el servicio fue muy rápido! Edición de gran calidad, incluye los primeros tres tomos de la saga. La trama de las historias es misteriosa y mantiene una atmósfera de suspenso todo el tiempo, las ilustraciones son obras de arte. ¡Gracias!

Auch mich hat Blacksad in erster Linie wegen der Zeichnungen angesprochen. Ich gebe nur wenig auf irgendwelche Preise, die nach schleierhaften Kriterien von irgendwelchen Leuten vergeben wurden. Heutzutage wirbt schließlich jeder 0815-Film vorne auf dem Cover mit seinen Awards und hinten mit nichtssagenden Zitaten wie "total spannend", "nie was besseres gelesen". Ich ging also relativ unvoreingenommen an den Comic heran. Ich wusste natürlich, dass es sich um Krimi handelt und in den 1950ern in den USA spielt. Blacksad ist, wie die Vorschau schon andeutet, sehr überzeugend gezeichnet. Es gibt so viele verschiedene Tiergesichter zu entdecken, die alle irgendwie Charakter ausdrücken. Ich finde sie alle irgendwie liebenswürdig, auch wenn es teilweise ganz schöne Fieslinge sind. Drei Geschichten sind in diesem Blacksad-Band zusammengefasst. Vom Niveau her sind sie allesamt unterhaltsam, aber trotz des üblichen Nazi-Krams nicht sonderlich "tiefgründig". Kennt man eben meistens schon. Es macht wegen der schönen und teilweise wirklich beeindruckenden Bilder aber trotzdem Spaß zu lesen. Leider erfährt man nicht allzu viel Persönliches über den charismatischen Hauptcharakter. Trotz China-(Billig?)-Produktion ist das Buch gut gebunden. Etwas weniger weißes und matteres Papier wäre schön gewesen, um die Atmospäre besser zu vermitteln. Insbesondere bei dunklen Paneln störten mich die strahlenden Zwischenräume etwas. Nervig sind auch die schwarzbedruckten Seiten, auf denen man beim Durchblättern schnell mal einen unschönen Fettfleck hinterlässt. Die Aufmachung des Comics finde ich also nicht so schön. Aber für den Preis kann ich auch nicht viel erwarten. Jetzt wüsste ich aber doch zu gern, wie die europäischen Einzelbände im optischen Vergleich zu der US-China-Druck-Ausgabe sind... Und ob dort auch der einzige deutsche Satz völlig falsch geschrieben wurde.

When you search cinematic graphic novels on the internet you will get results about the graphic novels that were turned into movies. But I actually search graphic novel which received cinematic treatment in the artwork. When you look for the same, BLACKSAD is the answer. Period.

Great art! Easy recommendation for noir fans

arrived safely, undamaged, great story/art, recommended