Review: Blacksad

I’m feeling pretty shallow these days. Blacksad is the second consecutive work I’ve picked up based on appearance. And for the second time, my superficial interests have been rewarded with depth. I hope I’m not learning any lessons.

Somewhere in the Shadows (the first volume of the 2010 collection) is pretty standard hard-boiled crime fiction. I’ll read a good detective story any day, but I wouldn’t necessary call it “deep.” The subject matter in the other two volumes, Arctic Nation and Red Soul, caught me off guard. I guess the book’s fantastical character design led me to assume the story would take place in a completely made-up world–a world idealized for crime fiction. In fact, these stories are firmly rooted in a specific period in American history. Their themes include racism, fascism, nuclear proliferation, and McCarthyism. (Come to think of it, I had it exactly backwards: crime fiction was idealized for 1950’s America.) Blacksad doesn’t try to make any particular statements about those times–its storytelling isn’t that ambitious. But just by layering them in, it develops a richness that you might not expect from cartoon animal fights.

Not that there’s anything wrong with cartoon animals. Especially not in artist Juanjo Guarnido’s hands. The range of emotion he can convey from these heavily stylized creatures is incredible, not unlike Lackadaisy. But just like the writing, the art has more to offer than you might expect from a quick glance. From the mess of John Blacksad’s office to the architecture in the city streets, the environments are packed full of detail. And the colors, Duke, the colors! Every frame boasts texture and gravitas thanks to an expert application of watercolor. Cover to cover, the book’s a pleasure to look at.

Blacksad isn’t breaking any new ground. If you’re looking for a challenge, it might let you down. But it’s also a great example of why art doesn’t need to be innovative to be satisfying. With the right execution, even small embellishments on established conventions can feel refreshing.