Nobody can live without a past

John Blacksad is a private eye, the real deal, straight out of a Dashiell Hammett novel or a delicious film noir. He’s got a complicated love life, an uneasy relationship with the local cops and, often, an eye for vengeance. Oh, did I mention that Blacksad is a cat?

But see, it’s not the Disney or R Crumb kind of cat. He’s not a cat doing human stuff. John and the other animal characters in this book are humans (and all their quirks and foibles) that resemble animals (and all their quirks and foibles). It’s a terrific premise that Diaz Canales and Guarnido pull off with great elan. The artwork is lush and gritty, precise and dreamlike all at once. There is great delicacy in the expressions and body language of these characters. I feel like I’ve fallen into some marvelous lost film by Truffaut or Goddard.

This first book has three stories, beginning with Somewhere in the Shadows, in which John is compelled to find who murdered Natalia, a starlet on the rise and a former love of his. He butts heads with Smirnov, the lead detective on the case who warns him off, and does what he has to do to bring down the powerful man who is responsible for her death.

Arctic Nation is a tale of life, death and racism in a depressed suburb of the big city. Essentially the KKK, all the people/animals are pure white, though some have been hiding a secret. John risks his life to avenge the death of a young black woman and rescue her daughter.

And finally in Red Soul, there is death and intrigue surrounding the men who worked on the H-bomb, a McCarthy-esque witch hunt and a gorgeous writer named Alma that catches John’s eye.

I can’t recommend this enough. Seriously, this book takes the comic form to new levels, so do your self a favor and check this out, pronto. As for me, I’ve got the next two books on the stack. The laundry is just gonna have to wait.