Review: Blacksad Vol. 1

I'm just going to start out by making a simple statement: this book was awesome.  Super awesome.  

Glad I got that off my chest.

Ok, now for specifics.  

Blacksad is a pulp/noir/detective book set in a world inhabited with anthropomorphic animals.  It is definitely an adult book, filled with murder, sex, and dirty dealings.  Our hero is John Blacksad, a detective for hire constantly battling both thugs and lowlifes as well as his own conscience and past.  

Volume 1 contains three different stories, with subjects ranging from murder, to racism, to cold war witch hunts.  Juan Díaz Canales is clearly in love with this genre, and has mastered it.  He uses the animal nature of his characters to enhance the stories without relying too heavily on it.  They may be fuzzy on the outside, but inside they are all human, in both their virtues and their vices.  

Juanjo Guarnido's super expressive and utterly charming artwork is a huge part of what makes this series so great.  There are no weak points.  His backgrounds are detailed and realistic.  His faces are amazingly constructed, emoting flawlessly without losing their animal features.  His anatomy is gorgeous, whether the body be a voluptuous femme fatale or a stooped over old man.  He draws clothing in a way that will make you stop mid-sentence and gape at how well they move, how perfect the texture and patterning are thought out.  And that doesn't even begin to touch how amazing the coloring is.  Everything is cast in a sepia light that leaves no question to the era.  He is, without a doubt, one of the most masterful comic artists I have ever seen.  

Finally, I would like to say at thing or two about anthropomorphic art.  Outside of children's entertainment, anthro characters quickly become taboo.  Throw adult themes and sex into the mix, and it gets that much worse.  The fetishism associated with anthro art and comics is a hard thing to pin down.  Where is the line between a story where the animal nature of the characters is secondary to the plot, and a story where their animal natures is the point?  This series can be pretty self referential in that regard.  Blacksad remarks at one point that he would rather not find out whether or not cats really have nine lives.  Little mentions such as this don't take me out of the story.  Within the setting, it is all quite believable.  There is a sex scene in the book, it is brief, limited to one panel, and it is subtle.  There are other scenes of couples cuddling in bed, but no full scenss of "the act".  All in all, I suppose it is up to the reader's discretion.  I do not view this book as a "furry" story, but others may disagree.  All I can really say is that I do not think that was the author's intent.

Again, this book is excellent.  I give it an A-.