FLIGHT

Created by Juan Diaz Canales and Juango Guarnido





I had heard Mike Wieringo talk about Blacksad a while back and today I came across the first two volumes while browsing around my ‘local’ comic shop. It was kind of an impulse buy, but I am so glad that I picked them up.

These comics are a fantastic read. They have a kind of classic noir feel to them. Once in a while I love a good detective story and Blacksad certainly delivers. The development of the characters is outstanding. All the characters are anthropomorphised and the ideal animal has been chosen to suit each character and it really helps to embellish their quirks and charms.

The facial expressions are outstanding, it all adds to making a truly believable cast of characters. I’d never read Blacksad before today, but you instantly bond with the characters for the reasons I’ve mentioned, you feel like they have a history, you feel their anguish; it's like you've always known them. I think these 2 comics have conjured up more emotional responses from me than a great many comics I’ve read.

I’ve just finished reading, but I think I’m going to have to read them again, right now. The humour, the framing, the use of colour; it’s all fantastic. I think I enjoyed the second volume "Arctic Nation" even more so than the first volume. Apparently the next is out this April…I can’t wait!

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I think the one coming out in April may be the "making of" special, where you can find the pencils and sketches of the first book. That's what the french edition of the book was.

The art in these looks amazing - something to add to my shopping list.

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Brian

i have both the french and english versions of the two released Blacksad books. (obviously i didn't expect an english translation )

they're great books, and i highly recomend them. the draughtsmanship on the book is rock solid. sometimes the anthropomorphization gets a little wiggy (with some of the women) but it's really hard to complain about such a well drawn book

very good stuff


=BoB=

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http://www.archibob.com
Le Bistro

Ah, is that what it is? Admittedly in my haste to find more Blacksad upon reading these two great novels, I saw something on amazon that said No.3, and that was enough for me! heh heh, well that's still pretty cool, I'll certainly be hunting that down. I wonder if they have anymore stories in the pipeline. I'll have to look into it more thoroughly.


Actually when I think about your style of work Brian and the settings they are often placed in, I think I can safely say you'll absolutely love this! In fact, it's probably compulsary that you have these


I'm really glad they did go to the trouble of translating. I'm ashamed to say my French is appalling and my German is only a little better. I think my girlfriend would have gotten tired of reading them to be if they'd been in French There's a little T&A in these comics, but it's quite tastefully done. I don't get the impression they did it for the sake of doing it and I think it adds to the grittiness of the world they created.

I really am In awe of the artwork, I am so glad I picked up both. If I'd only purchased one, I would definitely have had to drive back today to pick up the other.

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Yeah, these are pretty great....and by great i mean the pinnacle of the graphic novel's evolution.

dan

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Damn straight!

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I bought Blacksad at San Diego Con this past year. It was a great read. Visually, it blew my mind. This isn't the first time I've seen anthropomorhic noir (try saying that three times fast). I think there's something about the genre that lends itself to animal characters. The archetypes are so established.

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:: antihero ::

any idea where i can geth this book? is it a big ass comic format that the french do?

or is the english version the standard comic size format?

arent there a few black sad books out there already? w/c ones are already in english?

is there a collected edition? i dont like having to grab different books to complete the story...

the one coming out in april/..... is it in french??

Definitely, the roles for each animal have been extremely well chosen, when you look at the comic it's difficult to imagine them being anything else. A few years ago I would have rolled my eyes at the notion of casting a german shepherd as a policeman, a rat as a double crosser etc. I suppose I would have thought it too predictable, but the fact is, those type or archetypes are ideal and it really does bring the characters out in these stories.

Everytime I read this comic, I see something new, theres so many things going on in the backgrounds, people subtly reacting to the main characters, people having their purses snatched. I love all the little details.

T-Lapia

I know you can get these books off of Amazon UK, so I expect they can be found on the US Amazon too. The books are 9x12 inches. The first volume is 54 pages, the second 56. I haven't done a lot of research into Blacksad yet, but I believe there are only the two comic volumes. Each one is seperate self-contained story. Both of these have been translated into English.

The volume coming out in April is apparently a kind of "Art of Blacksad" rather than graphic novel. I don't think there is a definitive book containing all the stories. Someone correct me If I'm wrong on any of these points.

Sorry for the quick reply, I've just been told I'm cooking a curry, right now.

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Just bought a copy of blacksad #1 at amazon.com, cant wait for it to ship!

amazon has both the 2 books. no need to go to amazon.uk thanks for the tip tho!

No probs

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i think the first volume is fantastic.
the 2nd book lacks a bit of the qualit of story telling. after the first blacksad i had higher expectations for the 2nd book.

kaos

I love Blacksad. I'd give my two front teeth to be able to paint like that.

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http://reaganlodge.blogspot.com

Ah, interesting. Personally I preferred the slightly grittier storyline in the second and I kind of liked the chemistry between blacksad and his associate . The first one was totally awesome and I can't fault it. Blacksad was one of my better impulse purchases, so I read one straight after the other; didn't really have time to build up greater expectations.



I'm totally with you on that one...though I've had enough teeth extracted, maybe I could part with something else...

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