Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Blacksad (Blacksad, #1)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Blacksad

(Blacksad #1)

Juan Díaz Canales,

Juanjo Guarnido

4.22 · Rating details · 3,477 ratings · 207 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

...more

Get A Copy

Or buy for

Paperback, 56 pages

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

More Details... edit details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Blacksad, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about Blacksad

Lists with This Book

Anthropomorphic Animal Comic Books

208 books — 41 voters

Greatest Graphic Novels

269 books — 131 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

4.22 ·

Rating details

· 3,477 ratings · 207 reviews

Filter

Sort order

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

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

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.

flag 64 likes · Like · see review

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

flag 32 likes · Like · see review

Oct 19, 2017 George K. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: comics

Βαθμολογία: 9/10

Το Μπλάκσαντ ήταν ένα κόμικ που ήθελα πολύ να διαβάσω, αλλά πάντα κάτι άλλο μου τράβαγε την προσοχή και έτσι η ανάγνωση του πήγαινε συνεχώς από αναβολή σε αναβολή. Μέχρι που σήμερα το πήρα απόφαση, έστρωσα τον πισινό μου κάτω, και διάβασα τον πρώτο τόμο. Ήμουν σίγουρος ότι θα μου αρέσει, μιας και είμαι φανατικός των αστυνομικών νουάρ ιστοριών (βλέπε Τσάντλερ, Χάμετ, Μακντόναλντ, Τόμσον, Ελρόι κ.α.), και οι αγαπητοί δημιουργοί του δεν με άφησαν παραπονεμένο. Τουναντίον, το "Κάπου Βαθμολογία: 9/10

Το Μπλάκσαντ ήταν ένα κόμικ που ήθελα πολύ να διαβάσω, αλλά πάντα κάτι άλλο μου τράβαγε την προσοχή και έτσι η ανάγνωση του πήγαινε συνεχώς από αναβολή σε αναβολή. Μέχρι που σήμερα το πήρα απόφαση, έστρωσα τον πισινό μου κάτω, και διάβασα τον πρώτο τόμο. Ήμουν σίγουρος ότι θα μου αρέσει, μιας και είμαι φανατικός των αστυνομικών νουάρ ιστοριών (βλέπε Τσάντλερ, Χάμετ, Μακντόναλντ, Τόμσον, Ελρόι κ.α.), και οι αγαπητοί δημιουργοί του δεν με άφησαν παραπονεμένο. Τουναντίον, το "Κάπου ανάμεσα στις σκιές" μου άρεσε πολύ. Εντάξει, η ιστορία δεν λέει και πολλά πράγματα από άποψη μυστηρίου και ανατροπών (τουλάχιστον στους έμπειρους αναγνώστες παρόμοιων βιβλίων/κόμικς), θα έλεγα ότι είναι αρχετυπική για το είδος, με τα κλασικά και αναμενόμενα κλισέ. Σίγουρα, πάντως, κρατάει το ενδιαφέρον από την αρχή μέχρι το τέλος, προσφέρει δράση, σασπένς και μια κάποια αγωνία. Το βασικότερο προσόν του πρώτου αυτού τόμου, όμως, είναι το σχέδιο: Απλά φανταστικό. Από τα διάφορα σκηνικά και τις σκηνές δράσης, μέχρι τους χαρακτήρες, το σχέδιο είναι άπαικτο. Και ο χρωματισμός είναι ο πλέον κατάλληλος και ταιριαστός, δίνει μια φοβερή νουάρ ατμόσφαιρα στην όλη ιστορία. Επίσης δεν μπορεί να παραβλέψει κανείς το γεγονός ότι οι διάφοροι πρωταγωνιστές είναι ανθρωπόμορφα ζώα, με την επιλογή να είναι η πλέον κατάλληλη με βάση τον χαρακτήρα και την θέση τους στην κοινωνία. Και, τέλος, όπως συνήθως γίνεται με τους πρωταγωνιστές ιδιωτικούς ντετέκτιβ στα βιβλία που έχω διαβάσει, δέθηκα ιδιαίτερα με τον Μπλάκσαντ - ταίριαξαν τα χνώτα μας, που λένε. Τον δεύτερο τόμο, με τον τίτλο "Αρκτικό έθνος", θα τον διαβάσω σε λίγες μέρες. ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Jul 13, 2016 Artemy rated it it was ok

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

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.

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2017 Aleshanee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Ich bin ja noch etwas unerfahren, was Comics betrifft, aber schön langsam finde ich Gefallen daran :)

Dieses Mal ist es ein Krimi im New York der 50er Jahre und erinnert wohl an "film noir". Ich musste erstmal googeln, denn ich konnte mit dem Begriff im ersten Moment nicht viel anfangen. Aber die ganze Aufmachung spiegelt düstere Schauplätze wieder, raue Umgangsformen und eine Jagd nach einem Mörder. Passt für mich also auf jeden Fall in die alten Krimis und Detektivgeschichten, denn John Blacks Ich bin ja noch etwas unerfahren, was Comics betrifft, aber schön langsam finde ich Gefallen daran :)

Dieses Mal ist es ein Krimi im New York der 50er Jahre und erinnert wohl an "film noir". Ich musste erstmal googeln, denn ich konnte mit dem Begriff im ersten Moment nicht viel anfangen. Aber die ganze Aufmachung spiegelt düstere Schauplätze wieder, raue Umgangsformen und eine Jagd nach einem Mörder. Passt für mich also auf jeden Fall in die alten Krimis und Detektivgeschichten, denn John Blacksad ist hier der einsame Ermittler, der vor allem aus persönlichen Gründen den Täter überführen möchte.

Wie schon im Klappentext geschrieben sind die Figuren alle Tiere, die menschenähnliches Aussehen haben - von der Figur und vom Ausdruck her; und das ist dem Zeichner wirklich perfekt gelungen! Vor allem passen auch die jeweiligen Tierarten genau und spiegeln absolut passend die Charaktere, die sie darstellen sollen.

Für die Atmosphäre ist alles eher in dunklen Farben gehalten mit vielen Details, die die Handlung unterstützen. Z. B. steht am Rand eine Statue mit einem weinenden Engel, als jemand brutal verprügelt wird, man sollte sich also die Bilder wirklich genau anschauen! Man merkt, mit wie viel Liebe alles zusammengestellt wurde, denn auch die Texte und Dialoge sind klasse und passen zu dem Jargon aus der damaligen Zeit.

Vor allem auch die inneren Monologe von Blacksad erinnern an die alten Filmstreifen und ich hab mich komplett zurückversetzt gefühlt!

Was Comics so an sich haben: es ist halt schon sehr kurz. Es ist zwar ein großformatiger Comic, was die Einzelheiten sehr gut wirken lässt, aber man ist doch recht schnell durch. Dabei geht die Handlung natürlich sehr zügig voran und hat jetzt keine bemerkenswerten Momente und ist recht einfach gehalten, aber die Szenen sind alle so toll eingefangen, dass es mir auf jeden Fall sehr viel Spaß gemacht hat!

© Aleshanee
Weltenwanderer

Blacksad

1 - Irgendwo zwischen den Schatten
2 - Arctic Nation
3 - Rote Seele
4 - Die Stille der Hölle
5 - Amarillo ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jan 04, 2017 Sofia rated it really liked it

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

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.

/>

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

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

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

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Sep 05, 2018 Pauline rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bd

Superbes dessins !

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 06, 2018 Димитър Цолов rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

На този комикс албум няма какво да не му харесаш, а гледам, че е оценен по достойнство и от критиката - спечелил е наградите за Нов талант и Най-добра творба в "Салон на комикса" в Барселона през 2001 г. Мрачна детективска история, с ретро привкус, сякаш излязла изпод перото на Чандлър, само че героите са животни, на които сценаристът Диас Карналес и художникът Гуарнидо са придали човешки черти. Хипер яко, ще знаете! Джон Блексед е корав котарак, разследващ убийството на мацурана, с която е имал ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 16, 2016 Javier Muñoz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel, comic-europeo

Blacksad es un cómic que utiliza animales antropomórficos como personajes en una historia de serie negra, esto sirve para que asociemos características de los animales en los personajes con lo cual podemos adivinar bastantes de sus rasgos de personalidad en la primera viñeta que aparecen. Es un recurso que ya nos suena de otras obras pero que aquí está muy bien conseguido por el soberbio dibujo de Guarnido, que consigue capturar expresiones y sentimientos en las caras de distintos animales a la ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

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

Shelves: bande-dessinee, books-i-own-physical, 2017

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

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

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

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 18, 2016 Книжни Криле rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Преди камара години от Студио Арт Лайн издадоха „Блексед 1: Някъде сред сенките”, който определено е един от най-красивите, най-стойностните и най-непреходни комикси, които някога са виждали печат у нас. Нещо повече, Блексед е един от най-добрите и епични комикси изобщо, в световната комикс история. Не преувеличавам ни най-малко. Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле:

https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 07, 2017 Entre letras y cámaras rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-tinteros, alejandro, novelas-graficas, read-on-2017

"Blacksad nos traslada a la época de los años 50, en plena Nueva York. Allí está el detective que protagoniza esta historia, al cual le han quitado a quien él amaba. Es un detective duro, afligido, el arquetipo de personaje que caracteriza a la novela negra. Además, para darle más énfasis a su personaje, Blacksad es un gato negro".

Para leer la reseña completa haz clic aquí --> http://entreletrasycamaras.blogspot.c...

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 23, 2018 Galy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Galy by: Laire

Shelves: read-in-2018

Menos mal que hay más después de este porque es muy interesante y tengo curiosidad de ver dónde lleva la historia.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

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.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

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

Shelves: comics, in-dutch, 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

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 15, 2011 Philippe Lhoste rated it really liked it · 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

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

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.)

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 28, 2016 reea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Az érzelmeim mindezek dacára egyértelműek, szerelem volt első látásra, s míg a többiek társasoztak - nagyjából az első tíz percben kiestem -, én átszellemülten olvastam, és csodáltam a kötetet. Képtelen voltam betelni vele, és még most is hasonlóan érzek.

http://napifalat.blogspot.hu/2016/12/...

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

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

Shelves: mystery, graphic-novels, other-publishers

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.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 08, 2016 Pablo Bueno rated it it was amazing

Impresionante. La historia está genial, pero no puedo por menos que destacar la expresividad del dibujo.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 26, 2016 Héloïse rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

J'adore ! Le style, l'univers, l'ambiance, ont est complètement dedans ! Vite la suite !

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 03, 2017 Lucas Mota rated it really liked it · review of another edition

O personagem e o universo noir de investigação, com animais, é muito instigante. Dá pra imaginar mil coisas só pelos animais escolhidos pra compor cada cena.
O roteiro possui algumas falhas sérias. Em momentos importantes para a trama, as soluções se mostram mais como um recurso conveniente para o roteirista do que algo que realmente sirva bem à trama.
O grande show aqui está na arte irretocável. Cada quadro é uma atração à parte. As diagramações de página funcionam como uma excelente embrulho par ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2018 Abián Torres rated it really liked it

Dibujo exquisito, embobado con algunas viñetas y composiciones. Historia entretenida, pero tampoco nada del otro mundo: típica historia de detective atormentado de los 80 (si no fuera porque todos los personajes son animales, me hubiese aburrido bastante). De todas formas, la narrativa hace que gane mucho. Habrá que ver cómo sigue.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 10, 2018 ♡Susanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel, comics, mystery, cultural-spain, read-2018, crime, noir

3 1/2

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2018 Nina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Este cómic llegó a mi como una recomendación y vaya que la agradezco.

Género negro bellamente escrito y concebido, con ilustraciones verdaderamente hermosas. Los personajes son animales antropomórficos pero no es algo que distraiga de la historia, al contrario, pareciese natural.

Es una joya por donde se mire.
Háganse un favor y léanlo.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 14, 2018 Alvaro Jack rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: comic-books

Maravilloso arte y maravillosa escritura. Enganchadísimo. ★★★★★

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Sep 24, 2018 Luis rated it liked it

La premisa es muy interesante, los personajes a cada cual más pintoresco. En general, es un inicio más que atractivo.
Continuaré la serie para saber más sobre esta obra de Juan Canales.

flag 1 like · Like · see review