Series
Description
"Private investigator John Blacksad is up to his feline ears in mystery and intrigue, digging up the backstories behind murders, child abductions, and nuclear secrets during the 1950s Red Scare in the United States."--P. [4] of cover.
Collections
Subjects
Language
Original language
French
Original publication date
2010-06-22 [US]
2014-11
2000-2013
Physical description
176 p.; 29 cm
Publication
Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Books, c2010.
Pages
176
ISBN
9781595823939
Local notes
Collects the first three volumes of "Blacksad" in English translation:
Somewhere Within the Shadows [Quelque part entre les ombres], wherein Blacksad investigates the death of an old girlfriend.
Arctic Nation [Arctic-Nation], wherein Blacksad gets embroiled in a murderous race conflict in the North.
Red Soul [Âme Rouge], wherein Blacksad reunites with an old mentor only to find he's up to his neck in Cold War intrigue.
Somewhere Within the Shadows [Quelque part entre les ombres], wherein Blacksad investigates the death of an old girlfriend.
Arctic Nation [Arctic-Nation], wherein Blacksad gets embroiled in a murderous race conflict in the North.
Red Soul [Âme Rouge], wherein Blacksad reunites with an old mentor only to find he's up to his neck in Cold War intrigue.
Library's review
A terrific read. I'd procrastinated on checking out "Blacksad" for nearly a decade -- really, there are so many highly recommended comics out there, you can't get to it all -- but man, was it worth the wait. The first story in this three-story colelction is at the face of it very basic noir fare --
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an old girlfriend turns up dead and the sullen private investigator can't help but get to the bottom of it -- but it still gripped me due to the fantastic artwork and great execution. The other two stories -- a child kidnapping in the middle of a small town race conflict, and a conspiracy amid Cold War paranoia and prosecution -- are much more inventive and complex, and in particular the middle story makes use of the anthropomorphic animal world in surprising ways. I've been trained to expect fiction that uses animal people like this to rarely if ever really reference that the characters are all (different) animals, but "Blacksad" does so frequently and with impressive effect. I will definitely be buying the fourth and fifth volume as well, and no doubt join the eager wait for the long-delayed sixth and seventh, the first of which is currently rumoured to finally be due in October 2021. Fingers crossed. This is great stuff. Show Less
Similar in this library
Pulp by Ed Brubaker
Awards
Harvey Award (Winner — 2011)
User reviews
LibraryThing member mikewick
When purchasing for our library's GN collection a few months ago, I passed on "Blacksad" largely because of the cost--I could buy two TPB's that produce twice the circulation statistics of one artsy GN. Blacksad put that kind of thinking to shame and I promise I'll never fall prey to any kind of
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jackass cost-benefit analysis ever again. Juan Diaz Canales' story of a hard-boiled cat detective named Blacksad is some of the finest crime noir out there, and Juanjo Guarnido's art is absolutely jaw-dropping (is it wrong to get turned on by a nude, buxom anthropomorphic cat?). To make the review short, don't be a jackass like me and pass by this the first time, because you might not get a second chance. Show Less
LibraryThing member clfisha
I have to say the main draw of this is the artwork. Blacksad anthropomorphises its characters, in fact the animal is a clue to character and it's this depiction that makes Blacksad so delightful. The art is lovely but the expressions and movement are in a class of its own, Blacksad goes from rueful
The stories? Well it’s a collection of 3 noirish tales. The first a pretty standard crime tale of murdered femme fatale, revenge and obsession. The other two branch out.. a tale of McCarthyism and one of a child kidnapping caught between race wars of the Whites and the Blacks. All good fun, and nailing the 50s era even though this slims down the choice of female characters and doesn't seem to suffer from translation (originally written in French.. although it’s a Spanish comic!)
Recommend to comic fans and crime lovers. This is the 1st collection, another Blacksad: Silent Hell has just been released.
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handsomeness to angry, fangs and teeth and it seems so natural. The stories? Well it’s a collection of 3 noirish tales. The first a pretty standard crime tale of murdered femme fatale, revenge and obsession. The other two branch out.. a tale of McCarthyism and one of a child kidnapping caught between race wars of the Whites and the Blacks. All good fun, and nailing the 50s era even though this slims down the choice of female characters and doesn't seem to suffer from translation (originally written in French.. although it’s a Spanish comic!)
Recommend to comic fans and crime lovers. This is the 1st collection, another Blacksad: Silent Hell has just been released.
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LibraryThing member cindysprocket
I am so glad that my library purchased this book. Did not see it at the brick and mortar book stores. At times I forgot that the characters were portrayed as animals. The stories all had a message.
LibraryThing member GingerbreadMan
Anthropomorphic noir that, to my somewhat untrained eye, seems to contain exactly what the genre requires. A ruggedly handsome tomcat of a detective, cynical and marked by life. Bad-ass, drop dead goregeous women in difficult circumstances, harboring dark secrets. Corny side-kicks. Corrupt
Really, the storytelling runs smooth as clockwork here, and the artwork is so fabulous I can’t even describe it. Animals full of expression, cool classic fashion, a pale, exact color palette and angles like a well-edited film. To me, the last story of the three presented here is limping a little bit though, and this isn’t really my genre. Still a truly great read, and if you are a noir lover this has to be a necessity.
I would stay clear of the stupid, condescending foreword though – if you don’t feel you need the help of statements like “Hey, you know what? They’re not really animals! They’re people, and the kind of animal they are portrayed as SAYS something about their character!!”
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officials. Hard-working folks being destroyed by a heartless system. Racism and white power haters. Unnecessary deaths. Sad deaths. Deserved deaths. Really, the storytelling runs smooth as clockwork here, and the artwork is so fabulous I can’t even describe it. Animals full of expression, cool classic fashion, a pale, exact color palette and angles like a well-edited film. To me, the last story of the three presented here is limping a little bit though, and this isn’t really my genre. Still a truly great read, and if you are a noir lover this has to be a necessity.
I would stay clear of the stupid, condescending foreword though – if you don’t feel you need the help of statements like “Hey, you know what? They’re not really animals! They’re people, and the kind of animal they are portrayed as SAYS something about their character!!”
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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
I adored this. I always love a good noir story. The author and illustrator are from Spain which makes me feel warm and fuzzy. The artwork is just gorgeous. I can't wait to read more.
LibraryThing member yeremenko
Simply incredible art. Stories are familiar though.
LibraryThing member callmecayce
I'd never heard of this until I saw a panel from the book on tumblr. It was so beautiful and intriguing that I had to find a copy and read it (luckily my library owns one). Canales' book is truly fantastic. Both the art and the stories are wonderful. But it's really the characters who make the
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stories believable. I was a big fan of the Maus books and wasn't sure how I was going to take these animals as humans in a different context. The content is very adult in some cases, but it worked so well that I almost forgot I was reading about animals and not humans (again, very much like Maus). I loved this book and wish they'd translate more of these into English. Show Less
LibraryThing member kirstiecat
This is a really interesting graphic novel series because, though it has a 50s detective feel, all of the characters are different animals that carefully match their personalities. In fact, the moral but gruff protagonist Blacksad is a cat detective and his adventures in solving crimes is the main
Could be kind of a niche sort of novel because of the animal characters but I guess that's what I love about graphic novels in general..their ability to have these kinds of protagonists and succeed at it. The facial expressions and drawings overall here are also quite captivating.
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force driving the story. At the same time, there is a great deal about race here than simply crimes. Of course, when they talk about "white" or "black" they are actually referring to fur color, which is odd. There's also quite a bit about communists and nazis in the last part of three included here. I enjoyed alot of the wiley characters and the hunt for answers. There's a keen sense of intrigue in solving mysteries here but with that underlying layer of depth when dealing with, in the first story, economics/class, and in the other two of three race and politics.Could be kind of a niche sort of novel because of the animal characters but I guess that's what I love about graphic novels in general..their ability to have these kinds of protagonists and succeed at it. The facial expressions and drawings overall here are also quite captivating.
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LibraryThing member riida
very good read! terrific artwork! blacksad's world is how i imagine philip marlowe's and sam spade's to be...i hope the next book in the series will leave up to this one.
LibraryThing member -Eva-
PI John Blacksad deals with murders, abductions, racism, scary Communists, and nuclear secrets in 1950s America. This is absolutely one of the best noir series I've ever read, with fantastic characters, who, especially in their animal form, as completely true to the genre as well as themselves.
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This is anthropomorphism done right. And then there's the art, which is nothing less than amazing. Juanjo Guarnido has a perfect eye for the watercolor form and gives noir film a run for its money. The omnibus edition contains the stories "Somewhere Within the Shadows," "Arctic Nation," and "Red Soul." Show Less
LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: John Blacksad is your typical hard-boiled detective, pursuing truth and justice but not afraid to get his hands a little dirty in the process, sometimes the only honorable man left in a world of liars and thieves and double dealers… and murderers. Or perhaps it should be "the only
The first volume contains three stories, while the fourth and the fifth story are each published (in the US, at least), as independent volumes.
In "Somewhere Within the Shadows", Blacksad is called in to investigate the murder of the young starlet Natalia Wilford… who was also his former lover. What he finds is a mess of hatred, vengeance, violence, and corruption, and in a case this personal, it's difficult to investigate without also getting involved.
"Arctic Nation" brings Blacksad to a small town, where a kidnapping seems like it is linked to a string of racially-motivated crimes, but the arctic animals that hold the power are uninterested in pursuing justice for those of a different color.
"Red Soul" finds Blacksad employed as a bodyguard to a wealthy intellectual, but following the disappearance and murder of one of his literati friends, Blacksad begins to suspect that there may be something political - and very dangerous - going on under the surface.
Review: Noir-ish detective stories aren't really my cup of tea, but this series was recommended to me by a friend with reliable tastes in graphic novels, so I figured I've give them a shot. And while they weren't my favorite, they were certainly an interesting departure from my normal fare. As mysteries, they're kind of hit-or-miss; the one I thought was most effective was "Arctic Nation", which had a good balance of clues being slowly doled out, and the right amount of twistiness and double-crossing to make it interesting without being overly convoluted. It's also the most personal, the one that I thought had the most-developed characters (also, probably not coincidentally, the one that featured the most non-corpse, non-lounge-singer women characters). The other stories, particularly "Somewhere Within the Shadows" and "A Silent Hell", seemed like they either relied too heavily on one-dimensional thugs and corrupt businessmen, or else didn't really provide enough clues to allow readers to piece together what's going on by themselves. "Amarillo" is less of a mystery, so that wasn't really an issue, but even as more of a character piece it still didn't entirely draw me in.
The artwork is also really interesting. The drawings themselves are lovely and very detailed, but often a little busy for my tastes. The use of color, though, is really gorgeous, mostly a very muted palette that heightens - if not creates entire - the film-noir feel that permeates Blacksad's world, highlighted with more vibrant colors in occasional individual panels that draw they eye and grab the attention. I'm still not sure I'm entirely sold on the use of animals as characters, though. Their animal nature is almost never commented on (a line referencing "cold blood" is the only one I remember), and the different species are used as a shorthand for their characteristics - a lizard is a slimy informant, or a rhinocerous the brute enforcer. I suppose it does add something to the overall story, and feeling, and originality of the work, but I found it more distracting than anything else - wondering how animals of different species could produce kids, for example. It also bothered me that the male characters seemed to be more animalistic in form than the women; everyone was walking upright, and had human-ish (if hairy/scaly) hands, but the men's faces and bodies were clearly still animals, while the women's were much more human, with hourglass figures and perfect hairstyles and humanoid faces, just with pointed ears and maybe a slightly upturned nose or a slight indication of some whiskers, but certainly not a snout or fur or anything else you might expect on a dog or cat. Maybe that's not that big of a deal in the big scheme of things, but I noticed it every time a female character was on screen, and it bugged. 3 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: If mysteries and noir are your cup of tea, Blacksad is lovely and definitely worth checking out. If not, then it still might be worth checking out - it's very well done, even if it didn't entirely click for me.
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honorable cat", since all of the characters in the world of Blacksad are anthropomorphized animals.The first volume contains three stories, while the fourth and the fifth story are each published (in the US, at least), as independent volumes.
In "Somewhere Within the Shadows", Blacksad is called in to investigate the murder of the young starlet Natalia Wilford… who was also his former lover. What he finds is a mess of hatred, vengeance, violence, and corruption, and in a case this personal, it's difficult to investigate without also getting involved.
"Arctic Nation" brings Blacksad to a small town, where a kidnapping seems like it is linked to a string of racially-motivated crimes, but the arctic animals that hold the power are uninterested in pursuing justice for those of a different color.
"Red Soul" finds Blacksad employed as a bodyguard to a wealthy intellectual, but following the disappearance and murder of one of his literati friends, Blacksad begins to suspect that there may be something political - and very dangerous - going on under the surface.
Review: Noir-ish detective stories aren't really my cup of tea, but this series was recommended to me by a friend with reliable tastes in graphic novels, so I figured I've give them a shot. And while they weren't my favorite, they were certainly an interesting departure from my normal fare. As mysteries, they're kind of hit-or-miss; the one I thought was most effective was "Arctic Nation", which had a good balance of clues being slowly doled out, and the right amount of twistiness and double-crossing to make it interesting without being overly convoluted. It's also the most personal, the one that I thought had the most-developed characters (also, probably not coincidentally, the one that featured the most non-corpse, non-lounge-singer women characters). The other stories, particularly "Somewhere Within the Shadows" and "A Silent Hell", seemed like they either relied too heavily on one-dimensional thugs and corrupt businessmen, or else didn't really provide enough clues to allow readers to piece together what's going on by themselves. "Amarillo" is less of a mystery, so that wasn't really an issue, but even as more of a character piece it still didn't entirely draw me in.
The artwork is also really interesting. The drawings themselves are lovely and very detailed, but often a little busy for my tastes. The use of color, though, is really gorgeous, mostly a very muted palette that heightens - if not creates entire - the film-noir feel that permeates Blacksad's world, highlighted with more vibrant colors in occasional individual panels that draw they eye and grab the attention. I'm still not sure I'm entirely sold on the use of animals as characters, though. Their animal nature is almost never commented on (a line referencing "cold blood" is the only one I remember), and the different species are used as a shorthand for their characteristics - a lizard is a slimy informant, or a rhinocerous the brute enforcer. I suppose it does add something to the overall story, and feeling, and originality of the work, but I found it more distracting than anything else - wondering how animals of different species could produce kids, for example. It also bothered me that the male characters seemed to be more animalistic in form than the women; everyone was walking upright, and had human-ish (if hairy/scaly) hands, but the men's faces and bodies were clearly still animals, while the women's were much more human, with hourglass figures and perfect hairstyles and humanoid faces, just with pointed ears and maybe a slightly upturned nose or a slight indication of some whiskers, but certainly not a snout or fur or anything else you might expect on a dog or cat. Maybe that's not that big of a deal in the big scheme of things, but I noticed it every time a female character was on screen, and it bugged. 3 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: If mysteries and noir are your cup of tea, Blacksad is lovely and definitely worth checking out. If not, then it still might be worth checking out - it's very well done, even if it didn't entirely click for me.
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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
I adored this. I always love a good noir story. The author and illustrator are from Spain which makes me feel warm and fuzzy. The artwork is just gorgeous. I can't wait to read more.
LibraryThing member kristenn
I'd been hearing good things about this series for a few years and the raves for the new Dark Horse edition were loud enough to get me off the fence.
This is well-done classic noir. Convoluted without being unrealistic. A charismatic hero who doesn't win every fight and is consistently unlucky in
The art is wonderfully atmospheric and does avoid the creepy 'furry' fetish angle that I was leery of. There is less sex/nudity than in your average human-based noir comic. The artist's Disney background is clear in his overall style and he put a lot of research into having each character express emotion in species-specific ways. He is inconsistent with the inclusion of tails and I had a lot of difficulty identifying the breed or even species of many female characters, although the males were always quite clear.
Because the creators are European (Spanish, with a French publisher) I was disappointed that the stories are all set in a version of the United States. I was looking forward to more novelty. And the race wars story never really made sense in a world of so many different colors/species. It was the pure white animals vs only certain brown ones and the rest of the population -- green, orange, tan, blue, etc. -- was simply background. But that overall story was the strongest of the three despite that. Don't miss the monochrome splash page at the end.
This is well-done classic noir. Convoluted without being unrealistic. A charismatic hero who doesn't win every fight and is consistently unlucky in
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love. Sultry dames. Blatant villains. They do skip the corrupt police department cliche, which is nice.The art is wonderfully atmospheric and does avoid the creepy 'furry' fetish angle that I was leery of. There is less sex/nudity than in your average human-based noir comic. The artist's Disney background is clear in his overall style and he put a lot of research into having each character express emotion in species-specific ways. He is inconsistent with the inclusion of tails and I had a lot of difficulty identifying the breed or even species of many female characters, although the males were always quite clear.
Because the creators are European (Spanish, with a French publisher) I was disappointed that the stories are all set in a version of the United States. I was looking forward to more novelty. And the race wars story never really made sense in a world of so many different colors/species. It was the pure white animals vs only certain brown ones and the rest of the population -- green, orange, tan, blue, etc. -- was simply background. But that overall story was the strongest of the three despite that. Don't miss the monochrome splash page at the end.
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LibraryThing member Crazymamie
I am happy to report that this one finished stronger than it started - a huge thanks to Mark for bringing my attention to this one. Written and drawn in the noir style, John Blacksad is a private detective that is reminiscent of Sam Spade. He plays by his own rules and has his own set of standards.
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He is not afraid to get his hands dirty. The artwork and the characters in this graphic novel would get a solid five star rating from me. Where it suffers, IMO, is in the writing. The storylines were slightly lacking; they needed more depth. I felt like the plotting could have been tighter with just a little more effort. That being said, the first story is the weakest of the three, so it gets better as you continue. I am hoping that this is the first in a series because I would like to see more. Recommended if you like noir and are a fan of the detective genre. Show Less
LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
I adored this. I always love a good noir story. The author and illustrator are from Spain which makes me feel warm and fuzzy. The artwork is just gorgeous. I can't wait to read more.
LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
A very cool graphic novel! Sort of like if Philip Marlowe was snooping around the back streets of "Zootopia"! I love this kind of noir, and the three stories in here do it justice! The artwork is crisp and engaging and the characters own their roles! The white vs. black "animals" is pretty deep,
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especially when a young zebra is shown in one of the panels. And any graphic novel that includes an excerpt from "Howl" has got my vote! This is one beautiful collection! Show Less
LibraryThing member rickklaw
Perhaps the most acclaimed French comic of the new century, Canales and Guarnido cleverly combine the seemingly disparate elements of anthropomorphic animal and 1950s crime fiction into their wholly original creation, Blacksad. Private eye cat John Blacksad uncovers the often filthy depths of
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mysteries involving child abductions, nuclear secrets, racist hate groups, and of course murder. Guarnido evokes the period through his evocative and elegant art while Canales' script successfully evokes the era's moods and attitudes through a contemporary lens. One of the best books of the year, Blacksad more than deserves its abundant praise. Show Less
LibraryThing member SoubhiKiewiet
I loved these three Noir type detective stories, and the animalistic characters! Glad I accidentally wandered into the graphic novel section of my library!
LibraryThing member LibroLindsay
The story sounds great, but it turns out I cannot handle anthropomorphized cats and dogs. Just a human or just a cat and we're ok. But these illustrations are GOOD...so much so that it's too creepy for me to just kick back and read a good crime graphic novel.
LibraryThing member krau0098
Series Info/Source: This is the first of three volumes in the Blacksad series. I got a copy of this as a Christmas gift from my husband.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this quite a bit. The drawing is amazing, using mainly muted tones and is amazingly detailed. I loved the variety of facial expressions all
This volume includes three separate stories featuring Blacksad. Blacksad is a cat/man that is a private investigator in America during the 1950’s “red scare” era. All of the characters are done as animals but are very human in their actions. The type of animal chosen to represent a character is mainly based on the primary characteristic of that character. For example; bouncer is a gorilla, sneaky snitch is a rat…etc.
In general it was really well done but also very adult (there are numerous sex scenes). My one complaint is how the female characters are portrayed. While there is great variety in both animal type and visual appearance to the male characters in this book, all the females look very much the same. In fact every single female character is incredibly slender in a deer-like way, has huge prey-like eyes, a pert nose, and gigantic human breasts. The human breasts were a little weird for me since they are featured prominently in full glory but on women who are supposed to be deer, dogs, or other slender animals. This aspect left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. You don’t see any male nudity really.
Despite the above, this was incredibly well done and a fascinating look at both history and an interesting way to handle an anthropomorphic graphic novel for adults.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. I really loved the artwork color and detail. The stories are engaging and well done. The graphic novel has the perfect noir type of atmosphere and Blacksad is exactly the kickbutt PI you would expect from this era. The odd portrayal of the female characters throughout left me with a bad taste in my mouth though. I would definitely recommend checking this out but didn’t enjoy it enough to get the next couple books in the series.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this quite a bit. The drawing is amazing, using mainly muted tones and is amazingly detailed. I loved the variety of facial expressions all
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these different anthropomorphic characters have. The stories are engaging, very well done and easy to follow.This volume includes three separate stories featuring Blacksad. Blacksad is a cat/man that is a private investigator in America during the 1950’s “red scare” era. All of the characters are done as animals but are very human in their actions. The type of animal chosen to represent a character is mainly based on the primary characteristic of that character. For example; bouncer is a gorilla, sneaky snitch is a rat…etc.
In general it was really well done but also very adult (there are numerous sex scenes). My one complaint is how the female characters are portrayed. While there is great variety in both animal type and visual appearance to the male characters in this book, all the females look very much the same. In fact every single female character is incredibly slender in a deer-like way, has huge prey-like eyes, a pert nose, and gigantic human breasts. The human breasts were a little weird for me since they are featured prominently in full glory but on women who are supposed to be deer, dogs, or other slender animals. This aspect left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. You don’t see any male nudity really.
Despite the above, this was incredibly well done and a fascinating look at both history and an interesting way to handle an anthropomorphic graphic novel for adults.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. I really loved the artwork color and detail. The stories are engaging and well done. The graphic novel has the perfect noir type of atmosphere and Blacksad is exactly the kickbutt PI you would expect from this era. The odd portrayal of the female characters throughout left me with a bad taste in my mouth though. I would definitely recommend checking this out but didn’t enjoy it enough to get the next couple books in the series.
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LibraryThing member thisisstephenbetts
Looked beautiful, kinda ended up thinking "so what?" The plots (essentially noir-ish mysteries) were the weakest part - they really made no sense, and the developments seemed entirely arbitrary. The story dealing with racism was particularly heavy-handed. Would have been very disappointed if I'd
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bought this on the basis of the art, but still may get the next volume out of the library. Kinda beautiful, but so what? Show Less
LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
I adored this. I always love a good noir story. The author and illustrator are from Spain which makes me feel warm and fuzzy. The artwork is just gorgeous. I can't wait to read more.
LibraryThing member Zare
This is wonderful graphical novel. Both story and art are exquisite - panels, pacing, perspective, framing.... pure joy to read and look at.
When you look into those frames showing our protagonist in center and whole bunch of characters and situations in the background ..... it cannot but bring
Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys the comics, art and great story combined :)
When you look into those frames showing our protagonist in center and whole bunch of characters and situations in the background ..... it cannot but bring
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Alex Raymond, Hal Foster or Milton Caniff to mind. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys the comics, art and great story combined :)
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