When I was introduced to Blacksad comics, some 15 years ago, a friend of mine described them as “adult Disney.” The anthropomorphic style of talking animals drawn in a Walt Disney-esque way by Juanjo Guarnido is the biggest selling point of the Blacksad novels. The art is simply breathtaking. Guarnido’s ability to humanize many different styles of animals from our titular black cat, to seagulls, to even a turkey, each character feels real and is loaded with personality and expression. Dark Horse Comics has released the next installment of Blacksad with Blacksad: They All Fall down – Part One, written by Juan Díaz Canales with art by Guarnido.
Blacksad lives within one of the iconic Noir worlds of comics. Ranking up there alongside the likes of Parker and Criminal, Canales’ storytelling is gripping and always has you feeling for the characters. This is an environment where a character can die at any moment.
The story starts in Central Park with a performance of Tempest. An overarching plot line is the founding of Shakespeare in the Park, and the politicians who want it disbanded. Blacksad meets the head of the acting company after diffusing a brawl between police and the audience. Iris is the company owner who refers a new client to Blacksad for investigation and protection. This leads our hero to discovering political undermining of unions, disbandment of neighborhoods, and of course murder.
Courtesy Dark Horse
Throughout, Canales laces in scenes from famous plays by Shakespeare, but the highlight of the novel comes from the performance of Macbeth intercut with a gruesome murder scene where the Shakespearean language pairs perfectly with Guarnido’s skillful pages.
Another favorite moment of mine is the play on Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks, giving us readers an almost animated feature film joke within the storyline.
The bottom line is that if you are a fan of noir and true crime storytelling and ever wondered what it’d be like paired with Disney magic, Blacksad: They All Fall down – Part One is a must for your collection.
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