Blacksad, vol. 1 [Paperback]

Juan Diaz Canales (Author), Juanjo Guarnido (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2004

Meet John Blacksad, a cat in the shadows. Imagine New York as a city of criminal rats, jazz-playing gorillas and rhino thugs. Enter a mystery where the suspects have tails. Enter the world of Blacksad. Natalia Wilford is a famous actress. To the world, she had everything anybody could want—beauty, fame, glamour, and lovers who would do anything for her. When she is found murdered in her home, it touches the man who had not seen her since their bitter breakup many years ago. private eye John Blacksad. He vows to find Natalia's murderer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The second volume of Canales and Guarnido's hybrid of hard-boiled detective and anthropomorphic-animal comics is a visual masterpiece. The entire work is constructed around a single joke, but a brilliant one. PI John Blacksad gets involved with an investigation having to do with a white power group, the Arctics, that's been murdering blacks; a kidnapping; and a dark secret of illegitimate birth. It's a standard-issue detective-novel plot, if nicely handled—but the twist is that all the characters are animal-headed humanoids, and the tension revolves around not the color of their skin, but the color of their fur. Blacksad is a black cat; a racist politician is a polar bear; there's a black power gang led by a black horse; etc. (The climactic plot twist involves a white character turning out to have a small patch of black fur.) Like any good gumshoe tale, the story's crammed with sex and violent gunplay, and Guarnido manages to set even his wackiest-looking characters within gritty, realistic backgrounds and lighting. His art is exquisitely sensitive to the nuances of facial expression and body language—not an easy feat with characters who are drawn as weasels, crows or mice. The story's point, though, is the vicious absurdity of racism, and Canales and Guarnido express it by making their tone absolutely straight.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 56 pages
• Publisher: Byron Preiss Multimedia Books (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596878177
• ISBN-13: 978-1596878174
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,046,613 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll be glad this black cat crossed your path!, July 1, 2004

By 

STEVEN F. SCHARFF "Cultural shoplifter" (Henderson, NV United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blacksad 1 (No. 1) (Paperback)

Believe it or not, there has been a thriving grey market for this book in the USA. Foreign language copies with home-translated scripts in English have been circulating wildly. And now, Blacksad is in English!
It was worth the wait! The artwork is magnificent, and the storyline is worthy of any of the Film Noir classics of the late 1940's and early 1950's.
In an alternative world, where people have animal features, John Blacksad, a black cat detective, investigates the murder of a film starlet...his ex-girlfriend. Along the way, he uncovers the usual trademarks of Film Noir...corruption, betrayal, intrigue, sex, violence...and redemption.
The artwork...well, the book has won major awards in Europe (where books like this sell in the hundreds of thousands, even millions), and the detail is staggering. One can get lost in each and every panel in this book. One panel features Blacksad walking down a tree-shaded street, and the shadows of the leaves are on all of the figures in frame.
There already is a second book in this series (Arctic Nation), and I hope there will be more. This is a classic work of graphic storytelling.
If you're a Film Noir buff, a detective novel junkie, or an anthropomorphics fan, let this black cat cross your path. You won't be sorry!
(Is it just me, or does John Blacksad look a lot like Stacy Keach?)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most refreshing comic series in years!!!, February 22, 2006

By 

Phantom Man "Gaby" (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blacksad, vol. 1 (Paperback)

I found this book at my library. I thought it was Batman on the cover at first, but a closer inspection revealed it to be a cat. I checked it out that very day, and spent all night reading it again...and again...and again.
All I can say is "WOW!" Mr. Canales's story is so engrossing, and Mr. Guarinido's pictures are wonderfully done. I feel a personal connection to Blacksad and his search for Natalia Wilford's killer, but mostly to Blacksad himself. When I showed it to my aunt, she said he looked like Stacy Keach. Thing is, I don't know who that is.
That aside, this is a wonderful book, and I heartily recommend it!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal work of art and story, July 14, 2005

By 

SigmaEcho "sigmaecho" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blacksad 1 (No. 1) (Paperback)

When readers mention the greatest graphic novels ever made, they often think of "Watchmen" or "Dark Knight Returns" or "Kingdom Come". All three of these are not only superhero tales, but also long, multipart epics. So it's even more amazing how good this book is, as it is neither of those things. This is one of the absolute best books I've ever read period. And I put it up there with the rest of the hallowed graphic novel epics.