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Blacksad

(Blacksad #1)

Juan Díaz Canales,

Juanjo Guarnido

4.23 · Rating details · 4,454 ratings · 277 reviews

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

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Paperback, 56 pages

Published September 1st 2005 by ibooks graphic novels (first published November 10th 2000)

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Community Reviews

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Average rating 4.23 ·

Rating details

· 4,454 ratings · 277 reviews

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May 19, 2017 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: french-21st-c, crime-lit, graphic-novels

Fantastic graphics, original ideas - I loved this beginning of the Blacksad series. I loved all the humanized animals and the dark, romain noir atmosphere. A pure joy to read.

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Mar 24, 2018 Jokoloyo rated it really liked it

WARNING: in my opinion this comic book is not for children. The genre is noir, regardless the gorgeous arts of animals. The arts absorb some of the violence content of the story and I think that is the great quality of this comic.

One peek and I like it already. The art is really super. I love the puns here and there regarding the animals traits.

I can not say much more regarding the story without spoiler. The plot is a simple noir, and this is the first book from a series, so I think you could gu ...more

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Feb 01, 2020 Sad Sunday (If I say it's bad, it's bad) rated it really liked it

Cats.
Cats.
Cats.

I really wanted to love it (it has cats, it's sad, one cat is black, I love crimes) but I wish the story had more strength. The whole crime was solved quite easily, without much of a mystery and I wish the struggle or the "labyrinth" of solving a crime was a bit harder or unexpected. Now it was too quick and not revealing much about anything else. The drawing style is very nice and the characters are drawn perfectly. Loved that the various animals, not only cats, also appear in t ...more

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Jul 13, 2016 Artemy rated it it was ok

Shelves: singles-oneshots-ogns, comics, dark-horse

Blacksad is a very well-drawn book with a very boring, predictable and by-the-numbers story, with the only twist being those awful, AWFUL anthropomorphic talking animals as characters. This is something I hate in almost any story, and here I just couldn't get over it as well. I thought I'd read the whole hardcover collection, but after finishing this first chapter I just couldn't force myself to continue reading. So, not my cuppa.

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Jan 04, 2017 Sofia rated it really liked it

Shelves: crime-mystery-thriller, 2017, comics-wip

My first Blacksad on the recommendation of Ije, whom I thank.

I loved the sketches which eliminate the need for words being so full of detail.

Blacksad version of hardboiled noir went down a treat. Going on more more.

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Fitting into slot 10 of Lena's reading challenge. A book with a cat on the cover. ...more

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May 26, 2020 Daniel rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Gorgeous artwork, lame plot.
Don't get why people are praising it..

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Nov 13, 2010 Ryan Mishap rated it it was ok

Shelves: graphic-novel, mystery-crime

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

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Mar 22, 2020 Dávid Novotný rated it it was amazing

Not everybody can use about 50 which offers eropean comics album format well, but authors used limited space pretty well. Story is swift, there are no needless passages, and there is also place to build up some tension and mystery. Very well written, refreshing short noir story with great ending.

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Feb 22, 2009 Paul rated it really liked it

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

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Apr 10, 2017 Marion rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017, bande-dessinee

The first time I heard about this was almost 10 years ago when my best friend came back from Spain with the first volume and was head-over-heels for it. We even bought her a framed print of the character (which was really pretty). But back then she was reading them in Spanish, and I don't speak Spanish, so I couldn't borrow her copies to read them.
Time went on, I still heard about the series on a pretty regular basis, but never took the jump to actually go out and buy it.
And then at work, one of ...more

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Mar 15, 2019 Esther rated it really liked it

The art is simply gorgeous. And the 1940s aesthetic is definitely my style. I'll grab the second volume as soon as I can.

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Oct 08, 2011 Willem van den Oever rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: in-dutch, comics, thriller-mystery, trenchcoats-and-dames

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 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 snappy enough to be compared to Hammett or Chandler; yet the private eye is a black cat, the chief of police a German shepard and this isn’t an American pulp classic, but a French comic book first published in 2000. The tale is set in an anthropomorphic world, where gorillas are prizefighters, a camouflage bearing chameleon is an invisible assassin and a foulmouthed walrus a sleazy movie producer.

Writer Juan Diaz Canales and artist Juanjo Guarnido walk on a very thin line producing this book, where the smallest misstep will lead to a disaster of a novel. It is almost impossible for them to not end up with a book that can be labeled as a cheap rip-off; a half-assed copy of the ‘Big Sleep, set in ‘Chinatown’ animated by Dreamworks.

So what a huge relief it is for any reader to discover that not a single element of ‘Blacksad’ comes across as gimmicky. Diaz Canales happily leans on some of the more familiar elements from the hardboiled genre, yet is able to twist them around for his own purpose to have everything feel fresh and new. He dares into dark, pessimistic territory without so much a bit of doubt and pushes the reader about without any remorse.
Just as much credit is due for Guarnido, a former Disney animator. His water colored artwork, grey and muddy as should be, is flawless, his frames filled with dynamics and color pallets one only knows from fully animated film stills and best of all – his choice in character design is spot on. Each character is brought to life not only though pose and dialogue, but through which animal he or she is represented. Real thought has been put into the design of each character, each environment and every spot of color.

This is so much more than a Disney owned-comic . Canales material is dark and most definitely not suited for all ages. ‘Blacksad’, with its strong narrative and clearly thought out decisions, is a masterful piece of noir and rightfully deserves its own spot amongst the classics. ...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Alan rated it it was amazing

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.)

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Jul 30, 2017 Tiago rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, european-comics

I never really cared for anthropomorphic characters, but I enjoyed this more that I was expecting to. I always had a thing for the noir style, no matter how cliché the stories usually are, I always end up enjoying the atmopshere, Blacksad is no different, fun enjoyable read.

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Feb 10, 2020 steph rated it did not like it · review of another edition

50‘s american private eye trope, fantastically unimaginative. only twist are the animal characters, which in turn also enforce the thinking along stereotypes.

the illustrations are gorgeous, but true to the pubescent tone, women are pure ornament.

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Apr 23, 2019 Luana rated it really liked it

Gorgeous artwork in service of a bit of a baby's first noir plot, but I can't stress enough how gorgeous that artwork is.

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Oct 01, 2020 Amber Lea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel, fiction

I often like noir more in theory than I do in practice, but this one manages to not fuck it up.

1940's aesthetic? check
brooding protagonist? check
an unsettling amount of crime and corruption? check
sexism that isn't too in your face so that it feels intentional and not like it's there for shock value? check
a general sense of misery? check
a sleezebag that gets what he has coming to him? check

There really isn't anything new or original here, at least not in the first issue, except for the fact that ...more

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Sep 16, 2020 Nial rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, graphic-novels

A really fun read and the only problem is that its too short!

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Dec 22, 2017 Justė V. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: comics

Great characters, beautiful illustrations and witty dialogues and monologues. The plot itself did not leave me speachless but it is definitely an enjoyable book for 2 hour read.

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Aug 25, 2018 Clara rated it liked it

Shelves: graphic-novel, mystery

The art is five-star worthy, but I give the overall work only three stars for the one dimensional female characters.

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Jul 02, 2018 Kafka rated it really liked it

Stunning art. I don't think I've seen animals drawn this way in a comic book ever. Read it just for the art, if you can. The story is okay. Really nothing to write home about. Perfectly average detective plot. Fun, if you like your murder mysteries and private eyes. But the art is to die for.

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Aug 26, 2018 Bojan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Awesome story! It's the first book on French that I red! :)

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Jun 20, 2013 João Jorge rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone! Really, everyone!

Shelves: hard-boiled, private-investigator, european-comic-album, favorites, noir, crime

Words fail me to express just how sublime “Blacksad” is. The art is simply magnificent, every page a masterpiece, with amazing detail and fantastic use of color. The drawings are beautiful, stylish and a perfect fit with the genre. “Blacksad” is all about noir. The title character is a hard boiled private detective wearing a trench-coat and taking on an investigation involving powerful people who want it buried even if they have to bury him along with it. Did I mention Blacksad is a cat? Every c Words fail me to express just how sublime “Blacksad” is. The art is simply magnificent, every page a masterpiece, with amazing detail and fantastic use of color. The drawings are beautiful, stylish and a perfect fit with the genre. “Blacksad” is all about noir. The title character is a hard boiled private detective wearing a trench-coat and taking on an investigation involving powerful people who want it buried even if they have to bury him along with it. Did I mention Blacksad is a cat? Every character is an animal. So cool! The seedy hit-man is a lizard, another villain is a rat, the boxer is a gorilla and it goes on and on. Every animal was perfectly cast in its character role and this stylistic choice just works perfectly and sets “Blacksad” apart from the rest. It gives the album and its characters its own personality. To see New York in the 50´s come to life in these pages, populated by typical noir characters portrayed by this fauna is just something you wont forget soon.
The plot is also classic noir, with Blacksad having a personal stake in the investigation of the murder of a beautiful actress who was once his lover. He´s the tough and honorable detective, fighting against corruption and filth in a town where the rich and powerful call the shots. The story might have benefited from a bit more development and plot-wise there isn't as much originality as you might expect but the art more than makes up for it. Blacksad is a very likable character and the ending presents us with a sort of a moral dilemma which was a nice touch and made the story a bit more meaningful and Blacksad much more complex, rising above the private eye trope and gaining some individuality.
I also thought that the album could have used a few more pages but mainly because I wanted more spectacular art and a few more Blacksad monologues.
I can not get enough of this fantastic work and I have read it multiple times over the years and advice every comic fan everywhere to get a hold of a copy and enjoy such a great album. Just play some Thelonious Monk in the background and take a trip in the incredible world of “Blacksad”. ...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Pranay rated it really liked it

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

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Oct 12, 2012 Tamahome added 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/...
...more

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Jun 10, 2013 Suvi rated it liked it

Shelves: comics, 2000s, crime-mystery, _europe-southern

Even though this is gorgeously drawn (making it flow like a movie) and I love the whole 1950s detective world, the actual content and plot aren't very challenging. I also can't really see the point of the characters being animals, since they do everything what humans do. I'm still going to read the others too, but they're mostly going to be little snacks whenever I don't feel like reading a book.

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Aug 05, 2015 Silvia Pastorelli rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Beautiful classic noir story, the characters are great, but the real star here are the drawings: the figures are amazing, I love the coloring and the composition! I can't wait to read the next chapters, Blacksad is a beautiful discovery!

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Oct 01, 2014 Oliver Bateman rated it really liked it

As far as this Blacksad, and all of the others go: triumphant art, crummy translation, mediocre stories (at least until you get to Amarillo, which is actually pretty freaking great).

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Apr 24, 2015 Sara rated it liked it

Basic noir plot with clunky dialog.

Beautiful art that elevates the story.

Fun to see how this first attempt is succeeded by increasingly masterful art and writing!

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