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264th out of 284 books
—
446 voters
Blacksad, Vol. 1 (Blacksad #1)
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. Find out why comics' biggest names are wild about one of the freshest graphic novels in years—a 2005 Eisner and Harvey Award nominee. Enter the world of Blacksad.
Natalia Wilford is a famous actress. To
...morePaperback, 56 pages
Published
September 1st 2005
by ibooks graphic novels
(first published 2000)
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Okay, okay... I'm sold. For a couple of years I've been hearing about how good the Blacksad graphic novels are, but the world is made out of hype and I'm tired of chewing it, so I wasn't biting this time.
Recently, though, I ran across the graphic novels at Periscope Studios, where I work, and since they're hard boiled detective fiction, and that's what I was in the mood for, I brought them home and read them.
And, yeah, they're fantastic.
Juan Diaz Canales hits all the right chords for detectiv...more
Recently, though, I ran across the graphic novels at Periscope Studios, where I work, and since they're hard boiled detective fiction, and that's what I was in the mood for, I brought them home and read them.
And, yeah, they're fantastic.
Juan Diaz Canales hits all the right chords for detectiv...more
Spaniards obsessed with noir, racial oppression in the United States, and McCarthyism. Weird. Oh, and the characters are all anthropomorphic animals--Blacksad himself being a cat. The stories are okay but they are shallow raking across ground already dug deep.
Every panel, however, could be a painting hanging in a gallery. So much beautiful care wasted on human-shaped animals. Sigh.
This totally got dinged for one of my mystery-crime pet peeves: showing the dead body of a woman (a cat woman in t...more
Every panel, however, could be a painting hanging in a gallery. So much beautiful care wasted on human-shaped animals. Sigh.
This totally got dinged for one of my mystery-crime pet peeves: showing the dead body of a woman (a cat woman in t...more
Apr 15, 2013
Raquel
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Raquel by:
my brother
Nunca fui especialmente fã de Bandas Desenhadas, se bem que tenha devorado a maioria da série das Witch, cuja colecção ainda guardo religiosamente. Contudo, "Blacksad - Algures entre as sombras" surpreendeu-me e conquistou-me, tanto no que toca ao género, tendo em conta que não sou apreciadora de policiais (mesmo que em BD), e, sobretudo, no que toca à Arte.
Este volume 1 apresenta-nos John Blackmore (ou só Blacksad) e a sua busca pelo assassino da bela e deslumbrante actriz, Natalia, a sua ex-n...more
Este volume 1 apresenta-nos John Blackmore (ou só Blacksad) e a sua busca pelo assassino da bela e deslumbrante actriz, Natalia, a sua ex-n...more
One of the first thing that hits you about the graphic novel is the brilliant art (Guarnido). It is just too awesome and in my opinion one of the finest. The story revolves around Jean Blacksad who is investigating the murder of his ex-flame a famous actress. The set up is the noir style and the story moves at a good pace to keep you hooked. However the story(by Canales) is a bit predictable and what could have lifted the entire novel a notch would be to see Blacksad's detective skills. He gets...more
With police cruisers parked outside along the driveway of a colonial home, a private detective is leaning over the corpse of a young movie starlet. Next to the private eye, the chief of police keeps hammering into him when the detective last saw the young woman and later warns him to keep out of this one. It’s police work. The detective pulls up the collar of his trench coat, tells the chief to go to hell and walks out.
‘Blacksad’ starts off like any pulp novel from the 1950’s. The dialogue is sn...more
‘Blacksad’ starts off like any pulp novel from the 1950’s. The dialogue is sn...more
Dec 10, 2010
Madeleine
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Lovers of noir fiction. And animals.
Shelves:
graphic-novel
Wonderfully written with beautiful art, Blacksad is your typical noir story and tone but with cute wittle animals!! Seriously, though, although I say it's your "typical noir" that doesn't mean it's cliche or uninteresting and although I do love cute animals, they aren't a gimmick to make this stand out from other noir stories.
Blacksad is a dark story (noir! duh!) that, by using human-esque animals (don't remember what it's called when you give animals human traits. Anthropomorphizing?) the story...more
Blacksad is a dark story (noir! duh!) that, by using human-esque animals (don't remember what it's called when you give animals human traits. Anthropomorphizing?) the story...more
An odd European album that sort of posits what would have happened had Raymond Chandler written for Disney. The story is what you expect, and excellently written as such by Juan Diaz Canales. Private detective Blacksad's former lover is killed, and finding her murderer becomes his personal mission. The thing that really sells the book, however, is Guardino's beautiful drawing. The lush coloring and detail of European comics married to classical anthropomorphic cartooning, creating a sort of beig...more
This is definitely noir. Enough so that I think even Chandler would admire it and while the story is the stuff of pulp fiction, the artwork is what really creates this immersive world.
This also stars a cat as a detective and no not in the Rita Mae Brown manner. Thank God. This actually works and not only works, it excels. I could go on and on about the marriage of the art to the narrative in this graphic novel but I think it's best experienced first hand.
The first and third stories are superb....more
This also stars a cat as a detective and no not in the Rita Mae Brown manner. Thank God. This actually works and not only works, it excels. I could go on and on about the marriage of the art to the narrative in this graphic novel but I think it's best experienced first hand.
The first and third stories are superb....more
Jan 15, 2011
Philippe Lhoste
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
bd-europ-enne
Un livre déjà réputé, ce qui soulève souvent chez moi un peu de suspicion...
Une BD animalière, un genre que je prise peu, à quelques rares exceptions près (Usagi Yojimbo, les Macherot...).
Et pourtant, cela prend. L'histoire est ultra-classique, un polar dans les règles de l'art, où on n'évite pas les clichés, on les embrasse sans qu'ils soient un carcan. L'intérêt est souvent dans l'intrique et dans la narration, languissante ou palpitante selon les moments. Bien raconté.
Le dessin n'est animalie...more
Une BD animalière, un genre que je prise peu, à quelques rares exceptions près (Usagi Yojimbo, les Macherot...).
Et pourtant, cela prend. L'histoire est ultra-classique, un polar dans les règles de l'art, où on n'évite pas les clichés, on les embrasse sans qu'ils soient un carcan. L'intérêt est souvent dans l'intrique et dans la narration, languissante ou palpitante selon les moments. Bien raconté.
Le dessin n'est animalie...more
Oct 19, 2012
Tamahome
is currently reading it
Um, the one I saw has a guy drowning on the cover. Kind of like Raymond Chandler noir with animals. But damn the art is nice. Think of those detailed backgrounds in old Disney animated movies. Just read a little bit so far. Apparently it's a big hit in Europe and just got translated into English.
Ok, wrong volume. I reviewed the French version of volume 4: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Can't say I'm a big fan of the anthropomorphic genre, but I heard great things about this book and was excited to receive it as a gift.
The art is drop-dead gorgeous and the layouts are beautifully cinematic. The stories are hard-boiled crime and contain some great twists and turns that caught me by surprise - in a good way.
The use of animals here does not relate to race, rather it is used to embody and accentuate the personalities and values of the characters. Race does play a pivotal role in on...more
The art is drop-dead gorgeous and the layouts are beautifully cinematic. The stories are hard-boiled crime and contain some great twists and turns that caught me by surprise - in a good way.
The use of animals here does not relate to race, rather it is used to embody and accentuate the personalities and values of the characters. Race does play a pivotal role in on...more
Incredible...much better than I originally predicted. The anthropomorphism actually makes the book what it is. The animals are not arbitrarily picked; they actually symbolise the personality of the character so that when John Blacksad is followed down a dark alley, you're not too surprised when the dim streetlight shows that it's a lizard on his tail (no pun intended)...and Blacksad is quite the badass when needed.
Great storytelling...superb art and coloring...I hope they keep translating these...more
Great storytelling...superb art and coloring...I hope they keep translating these...more
Дава всичко, което се очаква от един добър комикс - добра илюстраторска работа, малко съспенс и без излишен текст.
Много готино илюстриран комикс, но историята не блести с особена оригиналност. Затова пък е кратък и откровено забавен.
Depuis le temps qu'on m'en parle, je suis heureux d'avoir enfin plongé dans cet univers!...more
Awesome graphics, the story is a bit predictible though, but still a goodread
Really loved this one
What an amazingly enjoyable GN. Having read great reviews of this one a few years back, I couldn't find it in English and it was relegated to the hind of my mind. So, it was a sweet surprise to find it on the shelves of my local comic shop, all translated and ready for consumption. With no recent hype to cloud my thoughts, I must say this one is not to be missed if you enjoy a good noir detective story. The anthropomorphic characters are created full and subtle. Enjoy!
Enfin, je parviens à lire cette BD si souvent recommandée et qui semble recevoir une majorité d'excellentes critiques.
Un plaisir pour les yeux, à lire et à regarder, avec une vraie qualité de dessin et de colorisation et une étude des personnages fine, qui se reflète à travers leurs expressions, des gueules dignes des films noirs des 40s et 50s. Génial.
Tout y est. Mais ce tome se termine trop vite... je vais donc m'empresser de dévorer le tome suivant!
Un plaisir pour les yeux, à lire et à regarder, avec une vraie qualité de dessin et de colorisation et une étude des personnages fine, qui se reflète à travers leurs expressions, des gueules dignes des films noirs des 40s et 50s. Génial.
Tout y est. Mais ce tome se termine trop vite... je vais donc m'empresser de dévorer le tome suivant!
Brillante en cuanto al arte, decepcionante por la trama y el guión. Acostumbrado a las complejidades de las novelas negras clásicas, a las que pretende rendir tributo, "Un lugar entre las sombras" flojea donde debería apoyarse, y sin ese referente languidece hasta el final. Los siguentes títulos de la serie mejoran mucho en este aspecto y, por lo tanto, mejora la obra. De todos modos, este primer título forma parte ya de una de las mejores sagas del género.
Una gran historia "típica" de novela policíaca con los ingredientes justos para hacerla fantástica. La historia engancha lo suficiente, aún que a mi gusto el tomo se hace excesivamente corto. Pero lo mejor es sin duda el fantástico dibujo, movimiento, color, diseño de personajes y el ambiente.
Francamente espectacular y necesario.
Francamente espectacular y necesario.
I would not have thought anyone could have told an excellent noir story using anthropomorphism, but these creators did it. While a brief tale, we get to join PI Blacksad on an emotional journey that can leave one almost as dejected as the PI himself. There are no winners, and everyone loses something (life, love, idealism, etc.)
The noir styling was note-perfect, and the artwork was great, but the story never really moved beyond the conventions to become anything deep or significant.
If you ever want to read a good comicbook for adults that has anthros in it, choose this! Especially if you like noir crime stories... Blacksad is filled with analogies about animals and humans and has this sort of sad sarcastic mood I like.
I read a compilation, actually, but what the hey, this story/ies was/ere in it.
Fantastic art. I was expecting Sin City meets R. Crumb, but alas. If the writing were on par with the illustration, this would be mind-blowing.
Fantastic art. I was expecting Sin City meets R. Crumb, but alas. If the writing were on par with the illustration, this would be mind-blowing.
The story is decent, but not amazing. However, 5 stars for amazing artwork! I read it years ago, but just picked up the compilation of the first three (that doesn't appear to be on goodreads). People as animals.
Awesome stuff, a noir story just how I like it, and with great art to match the story. Seems a bit rushed toward the end, but otherwise - very good. Easily recommended.
Fabulous story and haunting artwork. This is available in French and English. The Blacksad series is one of my two favorite graphic novels, Djinn being the other.
This graphic novel is absolutely amazing!! The amount of detail in the art is incredible and the story is loads of fun!!
Great art, but the sort of writing that comes from a couple of non-native English-speakers who are artists first.
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Juan Díaz Canales is a Spanish comics artist and an animated film director, known as the co-creator of Blacksad.
More about Juan Díaz Canales...
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Dec 31, 2010 02:38pm