A comic review of Blacksad

By: Jacob Dudek

For this week’s comic review ill be talking about the graphic novel series Blacksad, specifically book one. The series was done by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido with the launch of the first book Blacksad: Somewhere from within the Shadows. The series follows detective John Blacksad in a world riddled with crime and mystery. But this world is different from your classic noir comic because picture Zootopia but foxes aren’t starting a popsicle stick racquet but rather committing murder or arson maybe. Blacksad solves several mysteries and cold cases struggling with his own inner personal affairs along the way. Whether it is the weight of the job, day to day life, or his love interest John Blacksad has something on his mind.

The main story set in an anthropomorphic 1950s United States where the species of their character strongly represents their personality. Where policemen are often some species of Canine and the underground criminals are the reptiles of the world. John Blacksad is your casual noir P.I. raised poor and brought up to see the true evils of the world he’s hellbent on the greater good. If that hasn’t caught your ear so far try this, the detective is one of the narrators of his own stories like other uncanny noir stories from the fifties. His occasional sidekick Weekly( a weasel) makes several appearances to help Blacksad out. If the story doesn’t catch your eye just yet just wait until you flip through some of the beautifully rendered pages from the great Guarnido and paired with the writing of Diaz Canales it is a must-read for anyone interested in the field of sequential art or just plain out everyone. If you have not gotten a chance to feast your eyes on this series then do so as soon as you can and let us know what you think!