Blacksad

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cover of the first book

Cover of L'Enfer, le silence

Blacksad is a French comic book series created by writer Juan Diaz Canales and artist Juanjo Guarnido, former Spanish animators at the now defunct French branch of Walt Disney Feature Animation. The first volume, titled Quelque part entre les ombres in France and simply Blacksad in the United States, was published in November 2000 by Dargaud, the largest French comic book publisher.

Though it was the creators' first attempt at a comic book, the first volume saw immense success, selling more than 200,000 copies in France. The book was quickly translated to German, English, and Spanish as well. Juanjo Guarnido received a large number of prizes for his impressive, lavish visualisation of the story. Juan Diaz Canales received several prizes as well, among these three nominations for the Eisner Awards in 2004.

In the wake of success, the two creators published a book about the creation of the first volume, entitled Les dessous de l'enquête. In March 2003 the second volume of the series, Arctic Nation, was published.

[edit] Setting and characters

The story is set in a film noir environment, in something that looks like the USA of the 1940s. All of the characters are anthropomorphic animals, their specific species reflecting their personality and their part in the story. The hero is a private investigator black cat by the name of Blacksad.

[edit] Plot

[edit] Volume 1 - Somewhere Within the Shadows

In the first volume of the series he is confronted with the murder of an ex-lover, a famous actress. In his pursuit of justice he is forced to confront a powerful businessman who thinks himself above the law.

[edit] Volume 2 - Arctic Nation

The series' hero, Blacksad, gets involved with a extremist organization of arctic animals. The story in this volume is an allegory dealing with racism.

[edit] Volume 3 - Red Soul

In the third volume, Blacksad gets involved with a former Nazi scientist, Communist Sympathizers, and the FBI. This mirrors the 1950's elements of McCarthyism, fear of nuclear warfare, and the Red Scare.

[edit] Volume 4 - Hell, Silence

In 1950's New Orleans, John Blacksad gets hired by Jazz producer Faust to find the missing pianist Sebastian, suspected of having gotten mixed up with the drugs trade.

[edit] External links

• Blacksadmania.com(French only)
• Tome 3 - Âme Rouge (French only)
• Blacksad: Un lugar entre las sombras - fansite (Spanish only)