Blacksad

Blacksad #1-3

by Juan Díaz Canales, Juanjo Guarnido (Illustrator), Anthya Flores (Translator)

Private investigator John Blacksad is up to his feline ears in mystery, digging into the backstories behind murders, child abductions, and nuclear secrets. Guarnido's sumptuously painted pages and rich cinematic style bring the world of 1950s America to vibrant life, with Canales weaving in fascinating tales of conspiracy, racial tension, and the "red scare" Communist witch hunts of the time. Guarnido reinvents anthropomorphism in these pages, and industry colleagues no less than Will Eisner, Jim Steranko, and Tim Sale are fans!

Whether John Blacksad is falling for dangerous women or getting beaten to within an inch of his life, his stories are, simply put, unforgettable.

* Dark Horse is very proud to present the first three Blacksad stories in a beautiful hardcover collection, completely relettered to the artist's specifications and with the latest album, Red Soul , in English for the very first time.

* This internationally acclaimed series has won nearly a dozen prestigious awards — including the Angoulême Comics Festival prizes for Best Series and Best Artwork-and is a three-time Eisner Award nominee.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Noir, Graphic Novels Comics

184 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Juan Díaz Canales is a Spanish comics artist and an animated film director, known as the co-creator of Blacksad.

Reviews

[Hellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, Blacksad.

So, I recommend this book for people who love beautifully drawn graphic novels. I also recommend it for people who love andromorphism. And I recommend it to people who'd like a visual example of what's problematic about the way women and men are portrayed.

Now I'll start with what I liked about this book, just to get it out of the way. The art. The aht. It's wonderful. I think it may be my all-time favorite. The stories aren't bad either. Read this a while back, can't say anything more substantial about those.

So, now for the reason I'm writing this review in the first place. In the introduction Steranko writes the following. "In Blacksad's world, the characters are generally unconcerned about their zoological differences; they are cast for their natures and personalities. To the perceptive reader, it's almost impossible not to see a trace of slinky Lauren Bacall in Natalia Wilford or burly Ernie Borgnine in Jake Ostiombe or slippery James Woods in the lizard. It's no accident that, down to the last bit player, they've all been visually crafted to reflect their intrinsic qualities - which might just qualify as overt symbolism."

Okay Steranko.

This is the breakdown of (sub)species displayed by women and men, including back-ground figures, exluding undetailed ones

Women: Cat (14), Bear (5), Dog (17), Giraffe (1), Goat (3), Mouse (2), Ostrich (1), Pig (1), Zebra (1).

Men: Arctic fox (1), Alligator (2), Anteater (2), Antilope (1), Bear (7), Beaver, (3), Buffalo (1), Carrion (1), Cat (3), Chicken (1), Crocodile (1), Dog (38), Donkey (2), Duck (4), Eagle (1), Ferret (1), Fox (2), Goat (1), Gorilla (3), Great tit (1), Hare (1), Hippo (1), Horse (1), Hyena (1), Koala (1), Lion (1), Lizard (6), Lynx (1), Mouse (3), Orang-Utan (5), Owl (3), Parrot (1), Pig (2), Polar bear (1), Rabbit (1), Raccoon (1), Ram (4), Rat (5), Rhino (1), Ring-tailed lemur (1), Sheep (1), Seal (3), Snake (1), Swine (2), Toad (1), Tiger (white) (1), Turtle (3), Weasel (2), Wolf (2), Zebra (1)

There's several ways to interpret this. This is a noir, taking place in the 1950's, and according to that tradition, there's approximately 3 women in the world - your ma, your girlfriend, and your enemy's girlfriend. The frequency is not the point. The diversity is the point. As Steranko points out in an entirely different context in the introduction; the zoology is chosen to typecast. If we assume that every species illustrates something - a race, a power position, a personality trait - then what does this say about females? And this has been discussed before, but in this book it's just so painfully obvious; females are seen as females first, but males are seen as diverse as they are.

Even the women thatare in the book are barely animal - it's hard to tell female cats from dogs and even cats from goats when they all have human-style long head hair and no visible fur elsewhere, unlike the males of their species. All of the "main" female characters are cats, and there's one bear that doesn't look like a bear besides the cute round ears. The point is that they are female before the species they are portrayed as, and if the male species are chosen to illustrate some sort of trait, then it seems like being female is a trait, reducing an equally diverse part of the population to their gender. Please just let me be some sort of Corvidae.

In short; absolutely amazing art, okay story, but I will not be pulling this out of the closet for anyone to see for that reason. It's because it makes a wonderful example of how women are portrayed as belonging to their gender before any other, much more interesting traits.

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List





I LOVED THIS BOOK! So the first comic in the book is called:

SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE SHADOWS

One of John Blacksad's old flames was found dead, her name was Natalia. At one time they were very happy together.



But.. Chief Smirnov doesn't want John to get involved, he doesn't listen of course and sets out to find out what happened. He starts by asking some old friends etc.



When the story gets more tricky, the chief tells John to get more involved in such a good way.

I'm out of the game, but you're not. This is my proposition: Eliminate the murdering son of a bitch and I'll personally cover your back.



I love the story and I love the graphics!

The next comic in the book is called:

ARCTIC NATION

Blacksad makes a friend called Weekly, he's a reporter, and although he didn't care for him too much in the beginning, they did become friends.



One of the school teachers, Miss Grey, asks Blacksad to look into a little girl (Kaylie) that is missing, but no one, not even her mom has filed a report.



Blacksad has no idea he has fallen into a crazy race thing with a bunch of psycho's!



It's pretty bad, with people getting killed left and right, hanged in the street or where ever. It's a lot more than just a little girl going missing, but they are all entangled together.



It all works out in the end though :-) Not so good for some people though!

The last comic in the book is called:

REDSOUL

This one has to do with a scientist, but once again this goes even deeper. It goes all the way back to Hitler's day! It was a little bit confusing to me, but it was still good. Blacksad gets a little hookup with a lady, but she disappears when some stuff goes down and there seems to be a lot of different things going on...



I mean this book is just so awesome! I want to get more, I love the the characters, the graphics, all of it. I really love Blacksad and to me, the way he talks his thoughts out in the book at points make me think of Sin City for some reason :-) It's so good and I highly recommend for all Graphic Novel fantatics!! FYI: Not for younger kids with the sex and violence!



Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humans that look like animals in a hardboiled noir setting.



The first story introduces us to Blacksad. When one of John's ex-girlfriends turns up dead, he makes it his mission to find out what happened to her. I liked the resolution, especially the way he and the chief of police became friends. Very Batman.



The second story in this collection is the one I dubbed the racist polar bear story in my head the last time I read it. It also introduces the reporter, Weekly - his sometimes sidekick.
Basically, a little girl goes missing and John agrees to try and find her, but what he stumbles onto has been brewing for a whole lot longer than just a simple kidnapping plan.
It's very good, and I loved all the twists and turns I didn't see coming.



The 3rd story in this collection was one I hadn't read before and I really loved it.
It dealt with the Red Scare that swept America in the 40s & 50s. It was strange and twisty and you're not really sure how to feel about any of it by the end. Which, I think was the point.
It also introduces a big love interest that you need to know about for future stories.



I do wish these were labeled better.

The first 2 stories are included in Blacksad: The Collected Stories and I was afraid that I'd completely wasted one of my precious Hoopla borrows.
Fortunately, the last story was new (to me). And since each one is a good length, I ultimately felt happy that I got to read it.
And yes, I did re-read the 1st 2 issues. They're damn good comics.

Highly Recommended.

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a huge sucker for noir and PI stories. The grittier the better. Luckily I have the best coworkers who informed me about Blacksad, the French graphic novel series by author and illustrators Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. Translated into English, this volume collects three stories of PI John Blacksad that are a festival of hardboiled noir dialed all the way up. What’s more, everyone is an anthropomorphic animal. Set in 1950s America and quick to find the pulse on political issues such as the Red Scare or social issues like investigating a group of white supremacists, Blacksad is a gritty, violent and charmingly confident story told through gorgeous artwork that perfectly embodies the genre with a fun element of animals. I simply love everything about this.


Everything about this is so over the top and cool. There’s all the noir elements and intrigue here, a chain smoking PI with a troubled past, bleak murders, femme fatales, dirty cops, ambush set-ups, and lots of explosions punctuate the complex mysteries. It fully embodies and owns this genre, however, instead of feeling like it's just paying tribute to it or checking the boxes. What I’m getting at is this is really good and really fun. Raymond Chandler would be into it. John Blacksad has all the tough guy coolness and confidence of Phillip Meowlowe Marlowe and a super engaging wit and narrative that makes this impossible to put down. Which is what makes this work, it is confident enough to pull off what it is doing and make you just want more.


It’s told from Blacksad’s point of view and is subtly hinted that it is his memoirs that you see him considering writing in the second episode, Arctic Nation. He offhandedly mentions that he must live in the world where people ‘behave like animals,’ which grounds the animal character technique into something like his metaphor for how the world works. Each character’s personality matches the animal stereotypes, such as the wise professor being an owl and lizards and rats being the low-rent hitmen. This makes for a few good jokes, such as the rich frog with no qualms with murder talking about how cold blooded he is. This plays well in the episode where Blacksad investigates a child kidnapping that points towards the white supremacists who are infiltrating local politics and police forces. It’s pretty blunt about this with the people under the white hoods being white wolves and polar bears. What’s interesting to note is how the same problems are still present in present day.

You know you want to see a black cat mess up a KKK meeting, right?

Yea that’s right, you sure did.

This is a tough as nails story set in a grimy world and it is just delightful. The art is extraordinary with great details and color palettes that truly bring this story to life. The characters are also extremely expressive and the illustrations can portray a lot of emotion and build great tension. They also provide a lot of fun period details, such as Blacksad listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Cold War anxieties and even Allen Ginsberg showing up as a water buffalo hanging out with some communists.

But for real, this is so much my jam. I loved these. They are so engaging and just so cool, plus the animal aspect shockingly works well. It honestly makes it better than if they were just humans as its quirky enough to be amusing without being distracting. This is hardboiled noir at its best.

4.5/5

[Sean Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always had a thing for anthropomorphic animals. Not a perverted thing, mind you—though that Cheetara chick from Thundercats was pretty smoking hot…no, no; I’m not even going to pretend on that one. That’s just weird, for two reasons (well, two amongst many, really): 1) she’s a cartoon character in a show where dialogue moves about as fast as my brain when it’s trying to figure out exactly what the hell a cosine is; and 2) she’s a creepy person/cheetah hybrid who probably has strange lady parts that would totally gross me out (not to mention her vigorous and animalistic lovemaking would probably do considerable damage to my delicate giggleberries).

Wait, where was I going with this? Oh, right.

So, ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved talking animals, whether we’re talking about the slapstick of Looney Tunes, the high drama of Watership Down, or the absurdity of Aqua Teen Hunger Force (okay, so, those aren’t animals…but they sure are anthropomorphic). That fascination has carried on into adulthood, and it may explain, at least in part, why I dug Blacksad.

Still, whether you have a talking animal fetish or not, this is excellent storytelling—high-quality art that combines realism with animation techniques, a spot-on noir feel, and stories that contain a mix of big ideas, hard realities, and small moments of levity.

Recommended for those in need of some non-superhero comic fun and/or a break from contemplating Miss Piggy for purposes of self-pleasure (not that I’ve ever done that…ahem).

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful hardcover collection of the first three volumes of Blacksad, written by Juan Diaz Canales and illustrated by Juanjo Guarnido, with an introduction by comics icon Jim Steranko.

The volume collects:

* Somewhere in the Shadows (2000) which introduces the anthropomorphic black cat detective Blacksad in a kind of typical noir tale of his trying to solve the murder of his ex lover. Set in NYC.

* Arctic Nation (2003) that takes place in the US deep south and involves a KKK-type organization. Blacksad, being black, alos comes in for some discrimination here. But, it deals with race issue in a crime comic.

* Red Soul (2005) takes place in the McCarth-era fifties, where the nightmare witchhunt for Communists went on. LIves ruined. But this is a very thin version of the that story, not much here, really.

The central point of reading these is to see the illustration work of Guarnido, and maybe appreciate that at least some serious political themes are addressed, if not all that deeply.

I read/reread this for my fall 2025 detective fiction class,

Original review 4/8/15:

Noir stories that deal with contemporary issues like racism, McCarthyism, and the Holocaust along the way. The stories are thin, decently interesting, crime stories, but the twist is that these are anthropomorphic animals dressed as humans as main characters. Given THAT change, there isn't that much about the fact that they are animals that fundamentally changes the pretty standard plot structure. But the real greatness of this work is the gorgeous art, each frame a sumptuous painting. Really fine work worth seeing. Also recognized by Eisner noms regularly.

[Lono · Rating 5 out of 5]

1 part Walt Disney, 2 parts Raymond Chandler, and 3 parts Kentucky Bourbon. Blacksad is so good I’m definitely going back for a 2nd round. Almost took a pass on this one. Being a father, I’ve read my fair share of children’s books and when I saw that all the characters are animals I almost put this one back on the shelf. Stupid because this shit is GREAT and it’s NO fuckin’ kid’s book.



Blacksad smacks of old school noir at its finest. This one's neck deep in double crosses, femme fatales, shitty bars, dirty cops, rough sex, and dangerous thugs. Juan Diaz Canales provides some of the most entertaining noir I’ve read in any crime novel.



The book is a collection of 3 short stories about the private eye, John Blacksad. He’s a cat. That’s the Disney part. Every character in the book is an animal. This was the part I struggled with the most at the start. Don’t let it stop you from getting this book, it’s actually one of the parts I ended up liking the most. Jim Steranko’s introduction said it best when he wrote that while many stories have animals that “act like people, the creators approach is predicated on people who resemble animals.” This was something really unique about this book.



The artwork is unbelievable. I really can’t say enough good things about Juanjo Guarnido’s stuff. Ironically, he actually has worked for Disney animation and it shows. He was an instant favorite of mine and a ridiculously talented artist. His stuff speaks for itself.



This hardback collection is a must read for any fan of crime fiction, noir, or books like Criminal, Sin City, 100 Bullets, or Darwyn Cooke’s Parker. If you’re a fan of any of that stuff, it’s a sure bet your gonna like this book.

Get this review and more at:

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

People have been recommending Blacksad to me for years. I should have listened years ago because this was great.

John Blacksad is a detective and an anthropomorphic cat in a world of talking humanoid animals. In this volume, he tackles three mysteries and gets more than he bargained for each time.

The art by Juanjo Guarnido is exquisite. He somehow manages to make talking animal people not look out of place in three noir detective tales. Everything is lavishly detailed and looks and feels real. I have to think he's using lots of photo references. The writing by Juan Diaz Canales is straight out of detective noir. Blacksad stumbles on to stuff he shouldn't, usually takes one or more beatings, and eventually sets things right to some degree.

I feel like I'm underselling this. The three noir tales hit all the right buttons for me and the fact that they feature anthropomorphic animals and still hit the mark is a testament to the skill of the creative team. Is Blacksad the bleak fate that the world of Usagi Yojimbo, my other favorite talking animal book, is destined for?

Blacksad is easily my favorite comic about a chain smoking detective who is also a cat. Five out of five stars.

[Algernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

[9/10]

re-read to refresh my memory, in anticipation of volume 5



I am glad to report that the series has lost none of it’s initial appeal, six year after I first followed private investigator John Blacksad through the dark alleyways and rundown tenements of his antropomorphic version of “Sin City”. A black-furred brawling tomcat in a Humprey Bogart trenchcoat is pursuing the murderers of his former flame, a curvaceous feline movie star with a taste for the night life of the city. On one side of the law we have an Alsacian dog captain and a foxy faced lieutenant, on the other alligators, lizards, rats ans other cold blooded reptiles, with some support from hired muscles like rhinoceros and mountain gorillas. In the middle, the cat with the bad atitude and the hard-edged monologues.



For the plot alone, I don’t think I can justify the top rating. The series really stands out through its artwork. Guarnido knows how to work with light and shadow, and he has studied the unusual angles of the camera from the classic movies – all reflected in his detailed environments, but his true specialty is faces. There is more diversity, expressivity, emotion and body language in the anthropomorphic characters of Guarnido than in any other comic album I have read lately, even compared with the classic penmanship of John Buscema (Conan) or the pastels of Gibrat. Maybe Alex Ross is better, but I know he works from photographs.



In this omnibus edition are included:

- Somewhere Between the Shadows : Blacksad investigates the murder of a famous actress and former love interest
- Arctic Nation : the cat tries to find a missing child, getting caught in a turf war between white supremacists (arctic bear, arctic fox, white bulldog, white ox, etc) and street gangs (black dog, black horse ... you get the picture)
- Red Soul Blacksad falls in love with a beautiful writer (some sort of feline), but she is part of a leftist group that is suspected of trying to steal nuclear secrets. References to McCarthysm are very thinly disguised.

Inspired by American classic noir movies and novels, produced by a couple of young and extremely talented Spanish artists, the albums first gained fame in France, with its own long history of noir films and novels (Jean Gabin for me is a forerunner of the genre, Truffaut and Goddard revigorated it in the sixties, etc). I have bought the fourth and fifth volumes on my last vacation in Paris, and I can’t wait to get started on them.



Recommended for fans of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and for lovers of finely drawn comic books.

[PopiTonja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Očarana ovim macanom :)))

[Seth T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Blacksad is a cat. Or, at least, he is cattish. And not like kitty-cattish but big-cattish. He's dark and comely, like Bagheera. Maybe he's sort of a pantherish guy. And that's the thing. For all his cattishness or pantherishness, he's definitely a guy—a tough guy with brimfuls of moxie and the good sense to wear a hat that matches his attire.



I'm not particularly well-schooled in the history of literally anthropomorphized animals (or are they zoomorphized humans?). There may be some long and storied tradition stretching back centuries, but for the time being let's talk about cartoon animal development over the course of the last hundred years. With George Herrimann's Krazy Kat and later Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks' Steamboat Willie, talking animals (usually living the lives of normal people) became more and more popular. Then there came Donald Duck and Bugs and Daffy and a whole proliferation of non-human humans. Many of these were successful and both the newspaper strips and cartoon circuit were inundated with the enjoyable interactions and stories of innumerable Uncle Scrooges, Wile E. Coyotes, and Pogos.

By the '70s the trend, while entrenched, began to wear thin. Maybe it was Kennedy. Maybe it was Vietnam. Maybe it was Nixon. At any rate, funny animals comics began to seem juvenile and stopped capturing attention (save for twisted outliers like Fritz the Cat). And just as with every trope that begins to stale through overuse, continued success demanded either renovation or subversion. The '80s marked a revival of the anthropomorphs and gave the idea a new* twist: the animals were no longer funny. (Or if they were, then at the least that was not their primary attribute.) The independent comics scene was flooded with books like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Omaha the Cat Dancer, and Cerebus. One particular book, Usagi Yojimbo , did something kind of neat that I hadn't seen elsewhere previously: creator Stan Sakai put some effort into pairing characters' personality types with appropriate animal representation. So Gen, the grizzled and tough bounty hunter, is a rhinoceros and Hebi, the sly and duplicitous lord, is a snake. (Amusingly the worst villain of the series, Lord Hikiji, is a human.)

Check out John Blacksad in the doorway admiring the view.

Blacksad creators, Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, have taken anthropomorphized animals to the destination for which I believe they must have always been intended. Mickey Mouse (who rarely exhibited any mouselike qualities) was merely a nascent form in the evolutionary process of the anthropomorphization of animals, something like the nadir of the genre where Blacksad is the zenith. Guarnido's characters are to be loved with the heart, studied with the mind, and ravished with the eyes. The artist makes the polar-bearish character move and act like a polar-bear person might. The weasely, ferrety rag-journalist acts and moves both weasely and ferrety. Crow-people, lizard-people, tiger-people, turtles, rabbits, rhinos, a German shepherd: they all inhabit their animal skins pretty much as you expect. Which brings us to John Blacksad.

Blacksad's animal avatar is a dark panther with white muzzle. He's got plenty of feline qualities (curiosity, predatory nature, fleet violence, and a certain sleekness to his movements), all of which contribute to his occupation as a private dick. He's got luck with the ladies—though perhaps not enough that he can ever keep one for long. He's a tough-bitten customer, but leans toward acts of charity that tend to get him beaten up more than he deserves. Essentially, he's a young Philip Marlowe (maybe Big Sleep-era), only with less verbal wit and penchant for dialogical gymnastics.

This volume of the Spanish creators' noirish tales collects three separately published stories about the cattish detective. The first is a standard revenge pursuit (like the first volume of Sin City), the second twists a kidnapping in with WWII-era klansmanship, and the third deals with McCarthyism, immigrant thinkers, and the Bomb. None of the stories are particularly novel, but each is visually well-spoken enough that most readers will never mind. While the mysteries rarely keep ahead of astute readers, the real fun is in devouring this lush, over-detailed world—and the beasts that inhabit it.

The Artic Nation will rise again! You shall know them by their pelts.

Guarnido is an incredible artist. Not only are his character designs prodigy-level, but his use of these figures is completely liquid. His miniature biography reveals that he's trained in animation. It shows. Characters move in believable, extra-human mannerisms, filling the space of their panels with regality or temerity or fury or pathos or joie de vivre—with whatever aura their stories demand. Guarnido's sense of locale is likewise impeccable, and he supplies a full-fledged world for these denizens to inhabit. And all of this is painted in palettes wholly suitable to moods governed by story concerns.

Honestly, I can't say enough kind things about the art. It's simply magnificent.

Spooky.

Additionally, Dark Horse did a wonderful job in packaging here. The book is gorgeous. It's sturdy and oversized, meaning it will take many multiple readings in which the reader carefully pours over every large drawing before it finally, reluctantly falls apart (if only to prove universal laws of entropy). The only downside is that it doesn't contain four Blacksad stories. Or eight. Or thirty. I can't get enough.

No furs allowed, silly.

Notes
* Of course, doing serious zoomorphs in comics wasn't entirely new. But this was probably the first time it became wildly popular. Eventually, though, even the over-serious TMNT became a kids' show and moved back toward the silly/funny animal zone.

_____________________
[Review courtesy of Good Ok Bad]

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the English edition - which in fact contains the first three volumes in one (Blacksad, Artic nation & Red Soul)

There are many things I could say about this book but I think the number of accolades and awards this book has collected both in the English version and its original French format speak far more. The quality and attention to details I think are astonishing and I wonder how long each image let alone the story took to design and assemble.

The story is also highly engrossing - set in the typical noir style of so many gumshoe detective stories - not only do you get a sumptuous book with gorgeous artwork but you also get a trilogy of engrossing stories which really make you want to engage with the characters.

And this brings us full circle back to the praise this book and the various editions have collected - its a pleasure to see and read and a great edition to my collection. IF you are looking for something different this a great book to divert yourself too.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume collects the first three graphic novels in the award-winning Blacksad series, which follows the adventures of cool cat private detective John Blacksad as he navigates the 1950's; fighting crime, righting wrongs, and bedding down some sexy pussycats while he's at it. It reads like the classic hard-boiled tales of Chandler, Hammet, and Spillane, with many familiar genre conventions on display.

In the debut story, Somewhere Within The Shadows , John investigates the violent death of a beautiful actress, who also happens to be an old flame of his. It's a great intro to the character and the world, even if it's a little too simple and pretty derivative by design.



The next story, Arctic Nation , is an overall improvement with higher stakes and deeper themes, as Blacksad searches for a missing child in a town brimming with racial tension. It's the best story in the collection.



And the final story, Red Soul , finds our hero in the middle of a conspiracy involving Communist witch-hunts and the nuclear fear that was everywhere during that time period. I like that Canales tries to expand his stories beyond just detective tales and tackle bigger issues.



Although storywise there really isn't much that's new and original here, if you enjoy hard-boiled mystery stories, you'll love this. The real star here is the drop-dead gorgeous, Eisner-Award-winning artwork by Juanjo Guarnido, who laces every page with lovingly detailed watercolors. The whole thing is a real pleasure to look at and I can gaze at these spreads all day. A must-have on bookshelves.

[Kogiopsis · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Fables of the Flying City' is on hiatus. Objectively, I know this is for a very good reason - like, say, Jared Axelrod writing all the episodes of the next season so that there's no delay in them being released. Subjectively, I want more podcast NOW PLEASE.

So it's a good thing that while the hiatus is going on, Axelrod is doing another sort of podcast, with the assistance of a graphic novel artist. They're calling it 'Jared and Steven Like Comics', and it's released two reviews of graphic novels to date. 'Blacksad' was the second one reviewed, so naturally when it caught my eye at the library today I simply could not pass it up.

I pretty much agree with everything those two said in their review, but since not everyone is going to go out and listen to it (even though they should, and then go on to Fables of the Flying City because it's awesomes) I guess I just have to write my own review. Damn.

Anyhow, first off: an objection. This is something that was mentioned in the podcast, and I'm not sure I would have noticed it if they hadn't made note of it - but then again, it's pretty annoying, so maybe I would have.
All the characters are anthropomorphic animals. This is fine - except that the main female characters are drawn more as humans with ears and maybe a tail than they are as actual animals, whereas all the males and lesser characters of any gender are very clearly animals first, human-like second. It's clear just from the first page, the cover of the story 'Somewhere within the Shadows', where the extremely feline Blacksad, our main character, is standing with a rather human - if cat-eared - woman. The biggest difference is in the eyes, I think, because his look like animal eyes (if not necessarily cat eyes, at least in that particular image) but hers look extremely human. She even has distinct eyelashes and eyebrows! And her mouth is a human mouth, not a cat's. This is annoying.

It's part of a pattern, too. Main female characters rarely appear in poses that aren't sexually suggestive and anatomically impossible - last time I checked, spines did not bend that way - and in the sex scenes, much is made of the female body. (I was particularly annoyed with one in which the woman was completely naked and Blacksad was almost fully clothed - wtf?) It's a very European book, by the way, so if you're a sensitive American reader offended by nipples and other such things, beware.

That being said, I can understand why it's drawn this way. Blacksad is very much a child of the old-school detective story, with the hard-bitten loner sleuth who sleeps his way through a city full of beautiful women and eventually loses all of them. He's the usual 'every girl wants to be with him, every guy wants to be him' sort, too - at one point this is shown, in a scene where he walks down a hallway in a university. Only his torso is visible in the panel, so the reader's eyes are drawn to the people around him - of which all the girls are staring with wide appreciative eyes and all the guys are glaring. Since this book is... well, not quite a satire, but not entirely played straight either... I'll let it slide. However, this kind of hero does generally annoy me. Blacksad himself is a cut above the usual stock in that he is a generally likeable guy, but that doesn't give him or his creators complete free liscense.

One of the interesting things about this book is that it's sort of historically based - names are changed, but it's hard to miss the Joe McCarthy character, or the Alan Ginsburg - and in some ways (the third story) this works out beautifully. In others (the second) it's not a very good canvas. Racial tension could work in a world of anthropomorphized animals, but making it straight 'whites versus blacks' doesn't really work given the variety of colors and markings displayed by different species. Also, the fact that race doesn't play into the first story makes the second feel really jarring. Blacksad is, as his name might suggest, a black panther - if racism was a part of this world, we should have seen something of it in the first part.


On the positive side, the art in this book is really quite lovely. All the characters are interestingly drawn, other objections aside, and the colors are gorgeous. Some scenes are extremely compelling - one, in particular, of a crowd in Las Vegas watching a mushroom cloud (presumably from White Sands, though there's no evidence that such a test would actually have been visible in Vegas). All the characters are expressive and show their emotions well, which makes some scenes compelling. There's one who goes pretty much crazy and his breakdown scene is difficult to read. Talk about epitomizing the atmosphere of the Red Scare.

There's also a nice clever dig at writing tropes - in the scene where a character is explaining his actions to Blacksad, our hero is visible in the background looking more and more confused as the other continues to speak. (Seriously, why is it hereos always understand the metaphorical musings of someone else without any effort?)


All in all - a decent comic. Very well-drawn, somewhat less well-plotted. The third story is the best, I think. This is not one to pick up if you're in the mood for comedy, but it's also not an extremely challenging read. Some mature content - brains get blown out and people have sex, and both things occur on the page. Like I said... European. Blacksad is an interesting character and while I'm not sure he could carry a longer story without some genuine development, he definitely manages this relatively short trio. The mysteries aren't the focus of each part, by the way - it's really more about characters, which is fine.

One last note: the second story features some KKK-related scenes. Vivid ones. There are hanging bodies. This is a particular kind of unpleasant for some people, so I might as well mention it. You can also probably skip the second story without missing anything relevant to the third, so don't let it stop you from reading the others.

[William Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A recommendation from Stan Lee on the cover. A private-eye packing heat and nine lives. I figured I'd give it a try.

Typically, anthropomorphism in stories makes my stomach turn. I find it hard to swallow outside of Aesop's fables, Disney movies or general mythology. I thinks it's cheesy, not experimental. There is hardly ever a time when the characters in those stories are animals for any specific purpose. They mainly act like humans, talk like humans, walk like humans. Their animal traits are muted and it makes me wonder to what end? Why then make the story about anthropomorphic animals instead of humans?

I get it. Sometimes we need to see something at a distance to ge tthe point. Sometimes we need to see animals acting in a human fashion, acting out things like race-hatred and greed to see just how inane some of these things are in real life. But for the most part, I feel it is wholly uneccessary.

But here was a gorgeous graphic novel that I just couldn't put down and read straight through.

Set against a backdrop like a Hollywood pulp movie right out of the 40's or 50's, this book packs a lot of punches. The main character, Blacksad, is a private investigator who practically mimicks Chandler's Marlowe, right down to the sappings and blackouts and running into trouble with the law. But even as a near clone of Marlowe, I didn't see it as a negative. Yes, the book is derivative of almost every wise-ass PI ever came out of the 50's. But it was so solid, so very tangible, that it felt like it was written right alongside those characters and not 50 years after. It had everything that made 50's noir so fantastic- predatory bad guys, femme fatales, murder, vengeance, darkened alleys and city streets, cocked guns and cocked fists. You can call it derivative all you like, but that in and of itself isn't a criticism. This work speaks at volumes so high, it drowns out all of those voices in your head telling you that it's just a recreation of something lost and gone. Like when you watch a Tarantino film. Yes, the entire first scene of Inglorious Basterds is stolen from John Fords The Searchers. But while you're watching it, it's just so good that you don't give two shits.

As for the art, I have to give thanks to such a masterful hand. It didn't matter one single bit that these were anthropomorphic animals. Every line on the paper was fluid, creating movement in every panel that tricked your brain into thinking you were watching a live-action movie. The art was just absolutely brilliant. It was exaggerated in certain aspects, especially in the facial expressions and movements of the characters, in order to make us understand without a doubt what was happening in each and every panel. There was no ambiguity in the artwork or panelling. The color tones are purposefully washed out to remind us of what a throwback the setting is supposed to be. But when you look at the art, page after page, you see how vibrant it really is no matter the washed out color. Guarnido knows exactly what he's doing when he puts the inks on top of those colors because the contrast could knock you out of your seat. And that's really what the art in this book is all about- contrast. The contrast of the facial expressions and the action to the muted colors. The contrast of the line and action. The contrast of the colors to the stark black inks.

A highly recommended book for anyone who enjoys noir, pulp, anthropomorphism, guns, booze and broads.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very clever social commentary told through anthropomorphic animals. It is extremely on the nose about the messages that it's bringing across, yet it still manages to work effectively. The worldbuilding is well done, with small details intricately woven into the separate detective cases and helping to enrich Blacksad's environment. Going hand in hand with beautiful illustrations, this is a story that excels at what it attempts. DO NOT BUY THE GAME

TRIGGERS: graphic violence, nudity, racism and more. This is a very trigger heavy read.

[XenofoneX · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guarnido and Canales Create the Best European Comic of the 'New' Millennium


Artist Juanjo Guarnido met writer Juan Diaz Canales while both men worked as key artists and conceptual designers at Disney's now defunct Animation Studio in Spain. Canales makes the transition from artist to writer amazingly well; the sheer brilliance of Guarnido's artwork in Blacksad make it easy to miss just how damn good the plotting and dialogue are, capturing the mood and culture of cold-war America as the grip of the Red Scare tightens. The artistic education Guarnido acquired at Disney serves him well here, his anthropomorphic animal characters displaying the exaggerated facial expressions of films like 'The Jungle Book', but adapted for the detailed line-work and painted coloring of 'Bande Dessinee' masters like Milo Manara, Vittorio Giardino, and Liberatore. This exquisitely designed omnibus edition, published in English for the first time since 'I-Books' attepted it several years ago, collects the first three European albums. Printed on heavy, glossy, high-quality paper (Dark Horse, unlike DC, spares no expense producing their deluxe hardcovers; even their TPB's are higher-grade), Guarnido's art is displayed to excellent effect, capturing his subtle palette and intricate representation of light and shadow. The three stories in this 190-page collection deal with racist conspiracies and shocking secrets, drug dealers and junkie musicians, the red scare and the political witch-hunts that followed - don't let the animals fool you; this is hard boiled comics-noir in the tradition of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Jim Thompson. Despite the comic-relief characters like Blacksad's driver/sidekick, this is a serious book aimed squarely at an adult audience; using animals to tell a tale has precedents like George Orwell's 'Animal Farm', Art Spiegelman's 'Maus', and Bryan Talbot's 'Grandville'; it is a device used for pointed satire and making relentlessly dark material more palatable... it is also a very clever way of building emotional bonds between characters and readers - the instinctive affection people possess for cats, dogs, and horses make them perfect choices for protagonist roles; the qualities we naturally ascribe to these species are automatically ascribed to the character as well, an instantaneous rapport requiring no exposition, Conversely, we know the bear is a powerhouse, mostly good-hearted, but tempermental and capable of sickening violence; the crocodile, the vulture, & the wolf - all make excellent villains, known as indiscriminate predators and scavengers. Canales and Guarnido use these shortcuts to character development efficiently, unafraid to subvert our preconceptions and surprise us. As great as the stories are, the standout is Juanjo Guarnido's art. He is one of the greatest artists in the history of the medium, breathing the same rarefied air as Moebius, Giardino, Ladronn, Geof Darrow, Manara, Charles Burns, Mezzo, Killoffer, Dave Cooper, Jim Woodring, Schuiten, Thomas Ott, Paul Pope, Eduardo Risso, J.H.Williams III, Katsuhiro Otomo, Katsuya Terada, Blanquet, Blutch, Crumb, Joost Swarte, Jordi Bernet, Alex Toth, Gene Colan, John Severin, Will Elder, Al Feldstein, Alex Raymond, Hal Foster, Milt Caniff, Geo Herriman, and Winsor McCay...

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a fun collection of stories. Blacksad is an anthropomorphic feline PI with human characteristics, who takes on a different case in each story. In the first, he's investigating the murder of an old flame. In the second, he comes up against a band of racists akin to the KKK while investigating the disappearance of a young girl. In the third, Blacksad finds himself in the middle of a communist scandal.

First off, folks, let's talk about the best part of this graphic novel, the artwork. It is just phenomenal. The coloring and shading, the realness of the features and expressions. The stories each have the classic elements of pulp noir. The cadence, the crooked cops and corrupt politicians, assorted bad guys, and the femme fatale. I would recommend this to those who love noir, beautiful artwork, and anthropomorphic characters

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book collects the first of the three "episodes" of the Blacksad graphic novels/comics/whatever. It's basically a neo-noir thing taking in place in the 50s but everyone's talking animals. The first one's a pretty generic noir thing (murder, corrupt officials, gangsters, lots of smoking). The second one deals with race and the Klan and stuff and the third one deals with the Red Scare. I don't think the authors handled either topic particularly well. The plots are also pretty ridiculous with lots of buildup but immediate resolution due to dei ex machina every time. Also the art is pretty sexist in my opinion. The male animals all have heads that more or less just look like regular animal heads but the female animals are all much more anthropomorphized, to the point where a woman might just be human looking but have sort of a cat nose and cat ears. One can only imagine why given that both authors are, as far as I can tell, straight men. And some of the shots of women are very gross. For example, the drawing of one woman after she's been killed is posed in such a way that you can see her underwear. In order to do this, the artists had her body turned in such a way that I don't think is even anatomically possible. It's pretty disgusting. This is also specifically a case of racialized misogyny/misogynoir here because the character is supposed to be black. So yeah I wouldn't recommend this except to people who are really into like neo-noir movies or whatever.

[Ana Cristina Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una gran novela gráfica, homenaje al noir de los años 50.

El dibujo de Guarnido es excelente, los ambientes, los personajes, el color, todo es una maravilla. No en vano ha recibido un montón de premios, incluidos los Eisner.

Los personajes son animales humanizados, algunos son divertidísimos y es que el humor es esencial en este álbum. Esto lo hace más atractivo al combinarse de manera muy ágil los momentos jocosos con tramas de cine negro.

Recomendable cien por cien!

[Rory Wilding · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A jungle where it's survival of the fittest—where people act like animals."

In the world of Blacksad, the film noir-styled stories are set in late 1950s America, where all of the characters are anthropomorphic animals, and like all black cats, John Blacksad is one of bad luck.

Originally published by French publisher Dargaud, this comic album series by Spanish authors Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido are telling three traditional detective stories in the style of Philip Marlowe and Raymond Chandler, with an animalistic twist. The first arc is about Blacksad investigating the murder of a famous actress, who was his former flame. It is very much a classic conspiracy thriller exploring the dark side of Hollywood stardom. The second and best arc shows our eponymous hero taking on a missing person case in a town where interracial violence and racial segregation are a recurring presence. And finally, in the third arc, Blacksad tries to solve a series of murders during the Red Scare.

These stories may be overly familiar for those who have read and watch the fiction of film noir, but through the creativity of these Spanish minds, this pseudo-America where these characters whose species reflects their personality, character type and role in the stories feels very relevant to what is still going in the world. Especially in the second arc that explores economic depression, sexual repression and perversion, just turn on the news and you'll see these same subjects.

However, given the familiarity of its narratives, the characters are an absolute delight whether they're showing moments of darkness and levity. Blacksad himself is your classic flawed detective from film noir where he can both tough and vulnerable and can find humour even in the stickiest situations, especially in the company of his occasional sidekick, the brown least weasel Weekly.

With its noir settings, Juanjo Guarnido's detailed watercolour illustrations gave a dirty and realistic feel that felt distinct from the 50s America that we were familiar with. Balancing the grittiness where sex and violence is graphically depicted, due to Guarnido's expressively cartoonish character designs, there is attention to the smallest details where humour is cleverly placed.

Throughout these three stories, there is enormous fun in reading this fresh spin of anthropomorphism that is up there with Art Spigelman's Maus.

[Mohammed Abdikhader Firdhiye · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rating is mostly for the art that is stunning, original and its own storyteller. John Blacksad almost doesn't need the writing to be a compelling PI hero.

The writing is good too and the stories are among the coolest hardboiled PI comics. The world is so atmosphere rich, alive and the charcters are so humanlike.

The first story is lightwight and simple PI story but the other two are stronger, smarter and makes me want more, much more of Blacksad and his world.

[Tony Vacation · Rating 4 out of 5]

After an old flame is found murdered, private eye John Blacksad looks into the last few months of her life only to find himself stalked by a slick hitman who wants to keep our hero away from his wealthy employer.

When a little girl goes missing, the only person who seems to care is an elderly neighbor who hires Blacksad to find the girl and bring her home. The only trouble is that between him and her is a white supremacist cult, an aging millionaire and his mentally handicapped son, a corrupt police chief, his scheming wife, a nosy reporter, some militant black panthers, and at least one or two buried secrets.

Down on his luck, Blacksad takes to guarding an eccentric gambler, only to run into an old friend, an atomic scientist, who is being harassed by a red-baiting senator and a paid killer in lizard-leather boots. As Blacksad questions the professor's circle of communist friends and colleagues, he quickly realizes that his friend's past isn't as squeaky clean as it may seem, and that some bygone horrors never completely fade away.

What else is there to say about this collection of three graphic novels? These are mysteries rendered in sexy illustrations with a beautiful palette of colors. Also, they will make any fan of old-school, hard-boiled PI noir's heart soar, while still doing interesting things with the societal aspects of its post-WWII setting.

Oh, and all the characters are anthropomorphic dogs, rats, iguanas, sheep, crocodiles, rabbits, foxes, turtles, owls, roosters, rhinos, lions, bears and, of course, some cool cats like our hero, PI John Blacksad.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

High quality graphic novel with excellent illustrations. I love that the characters are all animal-people. Great expressive faces by illustrator, Juanjo Guarnido. Black tomcat John Blacksad is a detective, and the three stories bound in this volume address societal issues, such as rich vs. poor (greed), racism, and facism/communism, all couched in a crime format. Really looking forward to reading the next two stories. 4.5 stars.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comparable in terms of quality to Criminal, Goldfish and Stumptown and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too shabby detective/noir story where all the characters are animals for whatever reason. 3.5 stars.

[Noemí (Mysticnox) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me ha fascinado, sí ésa es la palabra exacta, fascinación. Que maravilla de gráficos, que expresividad en las caras, que escenas de acción tan maravillosas. Y un guión estupendo que recuerda a las películas de cine negro clásico. En cuanto pueda me hago con toda la serie, eso segurísimo.

[Althea J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Were it not for the Panels Read Harder Challenge task, "Read a comic book starring anthropomorphic animals," I would not have picked up this book and I would've missed out on the brilliance that is Blacksad.

This is one cinematic graphic novel - the pacing, the shots, the tightly woven noir crime tales.

(Link to image)

And the way Guarnido uses animals to embody the characterization is brilliant. Even with the background characters, he nails it. I get a sense of who that koala-man is without him needing to say a word. And same for that donkey-man.

(link to image)

My GR friend Lono's review pretty much says what I wanted to say and includes more art from the book, so I shall link it HERE

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad at all, but I could do without the way he draws "women"... all the same sultry things, regarless of species; boring as hell, compared to the uniqueness of the other characters. (Probably fits the genre; does not mean I have to like it.)

[Tariq Bokahri · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great example of how great art can't carry a book without good writing. I just wish the writing was better since the art is absolutely one of the best I've seen in comics.