Blacksad Hardcover – Illustrated, June 22, 2010

The idea of anthropomorphism has been around for centuries. It has since then become among the most popular methods of storytelling. Proof of that is the wide collection of animated shorts by Disney and Warner Bros. featuring beloved funny animal characters like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny and comics like The Far Side, Garfield, The Smurfs, and, of course, Blacksad, which may be the leading example of modern mature anthropomorphism. The mix of the fine writing of Juan Díaz Canales and the beautiful watercolor art of Juanjo Guarnido is a brilliant concoction that must be read.This book contains the first 3 volumes in the series. The first one, Somewhere Within the Shadows (2000), deals with a murder case involving a former lover of the titular black cat character, John Blacksad, and he hunts down the killer. Next, Arctic Nation (2002), which is a kidnapping case that takes place in a suburb with a big racism problem. It also serves as the introduction of Blacksad's weasel sidekick, Weekly, who works for a tabloid magazine. Finally, there's Red Soul (2005), where Blacksad uncovers a nuclear conspiracy in which an old friend of his happens to be involved in during the Red Scare in late 1950's America.While the writing is top notch for a crime drama such as this, the highlight is the art style. Like I said earlier, it's absolutely gorgeous. Each panel is like a work of art. Even the dark scenes are lovely to look at. The character designs have a lot of variety and can range from being delightfully cute to tastefully sexy. However, there are some that argue that many of the female characters look too similar to humans, especially the feline ones. While I can see why it would be off putting to some, I still don't think it's such a heavy flaw the makes the whole comic fall apart. It offers enjoyable stories and characters that will satisfy not only crime drama fans but also comic fans in general.

This comic immediately shot to my top 10 of all time. Beautiful art and powerful, sometimes shocking, stories. I really felt like I was watching a movie. It’s incredible stuff and I can’t wait to dig into the next volume. This deserves a read if you like noir or quality stories.

An incredibly well made book, with thick pages and great interior art. The expressions and action are great, and the story is intriguing.

This French comic series is an American crime noir, but done entirely with anthropomorphic animals! Printed out in full-sized album books by Asterisk publisher Darguad, this was written by Juan Díaz Canales and superbly drawn by former Disney animator Juanjo Guarnido. There have been 5 albums done in Europe, but released so far as 3 in America through Dark Horse Comics, the first 3 of which were collected into a single volume.Blacksad ia a black humanoid cat living in an anthro version of our world where he's a former WWII vet now acting as a jack-of-all-trades private eye. The first case we run into has Blacksad investigating the killing of a famous actress he used to date. Next, he teams up with his on-again/off-again partner Weekly, a weasel reporter, to deal with a racial violence in a case with white supremacists, namely animals that are completely white furred/feathered/scaled. The last part of the first volume has Blacksad taking on the task of playing bodyguard to a turtle on a lucky streak in Vegas, which evolves in a Cold War plot with a corrupt senator. The second volume, A Silent Hell, sees Blacksad and Weekly in New Orleans during Mardi Gras to hunt for a missing blues musician whose wife is about to give birth to their child, but his benefactor wants him found mostly to cover up a past medical debacle. The third book titled Amarillo features Blacksad still touring America after New Orleans, and is first charged with taking a travelers convertible back home, but becomes engrossed with a roaming poet whose actions have lead to a series of violent acts after teaming up with the poet's perky publisher.This series is still going on in France, with future publications said to come in English from Dark Horse. Each story brilliantly balances the worlds of a gritty detective tale with a look at American society during the 1950s, plus the occasional delve into surrealism and how dreams can wash over into reality. You can read any of the volumes separately on their own, or get all of the visual awesomeness as the intrigue continues.