Blacksad

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Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido
Blacksad
( Please note copyrights )

The comic series Blacksad about the private detective John Blacksad comes from the scenographer Juan Díaz Canales and the illustrator Juanjo Guarnido . The two Spaniards have created a modern fable in the style of film noir , in which all characters have human-like bodies, but also - especially in the face - have clear characteristics of animals. For example, Blacksad is a humanized black cat. As a result, surprising combinations of actually individual character traits with characteristics given or commonly associated with the nature of the animal concerned are possible. Police officers are mostly dogs and foxes, while gangsters are often from the class of reptiles .

The five albums available so far have been published by Dargaud . The very first volume was a huge success, selling 20,000 copies in France. Translations have appeared in Danish, German, English, Japanese, Catalan, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish and Serbian, among others.

Both the draftsman, the scriptwriter and the albums have received several awards, including three nominations for the Eisner Award in the USA. In 2004 Volume 2 received the Audience Award at the annual comic festival in Angoulême , France.

action

Scenario and style

The Blacksad stories are set in the USA and are set around the 1940s and 1950s. An exact time is not given in any of the comics. Indications of the time period are that the still quite young Blacksad is a veteran of the Second World War , parallels with writers of the Beat generation (Volume 5), as well as the car models depicted and the manner in which the billboards on houses are shown in the series.

Typically, detective Blacksad solves difficult or mysterious cases that he comes into contact with more or less by chance. In the course of the plot, which is not presented continuously but in parallel strands, insights into the nature of the different protagonists emerge .

The use of color plays an important role in the series. The individual volumes have a basic color on the book cover and spine, which is also related to the title and / or the topic of the individual volume: Volume 1 is black ( Quelque part entre les ombres , introduction of Blacksad and allusion to the dark shadows, plot at night); Volume 2 is white ( Arctic-Nation , the white fur or feather color of the racist group); Volume 3 is red ( Âme rouge , stimulus color of hatred and destruction); Volume 4 is blue ( L'Enfer, le silence , blues in both respects) and Volume 5 is yellow ( Amarillo , Spanish for yellow, name of a city, English for coward and action under the southern sun).

In the context of the individual stories, color shades of panels and entire pages are used as a means of narrative technique: For example, the last memories of a dying person are shown completely as if through a red filter, a bar scene with Weekly is dominated by green, or the background disappears completely In a light gray it is indicated that in these moments of tension only the people shown matter.

Background information is provided in the album Blacksad - Behind the Scenes (2002) through interviews with the artists, sketches and finished drawings. The artists show which different perspectives, colors and figures were tried. Two sides of an original version of Blacksad are shown. The reader learns, for example, that Marilyn Monroe was the inspiration for Natalia and that the name of the club "Cypher" pays homage to Angel Heart .

characters

  • John Blacksad is an empathic and hard-boiled private detective who also accepts other jobs due to a lack of assignments. He grew up in a tough area and speaks the language of the street. He served in World War II, is a sure shot and can get his way in brawls. John has had failed relationships with women and occasionally uses false identities to get there. Even if he occasionally appears disaffected, he always acts morally. He is a tall, muscular, black tomcat who is always dressed correctly and fashionably in a suit. Blacksad smokes and his face always clearly shows the emotions he is experiencing.
  • Weekly , a weasel - small with a leather jacket and flat cap - is Blacksad's friend and the occasional sidekick . He doesn't like water or soap and is said to only change his underwear once a week (hence his nickname). He works for a gossip magazine called What's News .
  • Smirnov is a senior police officer with the head of a German Shepherd and a friend of Blacksad. He sometimes uses blacksad to bring justice in cases where the police are having their hands tied.

Single albums

  • Somewhere Between the Shadows (2000): Blacksad is looking for the murderer of his ex-lover Natalia, a cat who worked as an actress in the film business. He quickly realizes that the killer has excellent political connections and influences the law enforcement authorities. Help comes from friendly police chief Smirnov, who gives Blacksad his backing. He takes the law into his own hands and judges the crime boss, a toad that Natalia murdered out of jealousy.
  • Arctic Nation (2003): Blacksad investigates a shabby district where poverty and despair reign. His job is to look for a missing child. He quickly meets a nationalist-racist organization of white-skinned animals, a kind of Ku Klux Klan , which does not shrink from murder. Weekly, a weasel who works for a gossip magazine, helps him with this. Finally, Blacksad saves Weekly from a lynching, finds the girl and reveals the dark secret of some of the slum residents .
  • Rote Seele (2005): Blacksad meets a group of critical scientists in the climate of the McCarthy era . These are politically persecuted by the right-wing Senator Gallo, a rooster. Professor Liebber, who is a friend of Blacksad, is also the target of assassinations because he used to work for the NSDAP . Blacksad falls in love with the writer Alma, a cat who, in the broadest sense, belongs to the group of scientists. Blacksad manages to thwart the betrayal of military secrets to the Soviets at the last second and to save himself from the electric chair through a deal with Gallo, but he loses a great love again.
  • The Silence of Hell (2010): Blacksad and Weekly are active in New Orleans . Originally they should find a submerged, drug addict, disabled blues musician in the form of a dog. They meet all sorts of dubious people, one of whom does not shrink from murder. Blacksad reveals the secret of a veiled pharmaceutical scandal, jealousy, and unrequited love. In the end, Blacksad, along with all his cynicism, shows his chivalry and compassion.
  • Amarillo (2014) Blacksad is recovering from his last assignment in New Orleans and takes on a supposedly simple job: he is supposed to transport a wealthy Texan's luxury car (a yellow Cadillac Eldorado ) from New Orleans to Tulsa . This is stolen from him by two writers. When one, Chad a skinny lion, later shoots the other in Amarillo , he dumps the body in the trunk of the Cadillac, where Blacksad's identification papers are also located. Two police officers demoted because of Blacksad (from Rote Seele ) take up his lead. Blacksad meets a greasy lawyer and sets out with him to find the writer who has found accommodation in a circus. More people die before the writer finally turns himself in to the police. The reader gets to know Blacksad's sister Donna.

Publications

  • Quelque part entre les ombres . Dargaud 2000 ( Somewhere between the shadows . Carlsen Verlag 2001).
  • Blacksad - Les dessous de l'enquête . ( Blacksad - Behind the Scenes . Carlsen Verlag 2002)
  • Arctic Nation . Dargaud 2003 ( Arctic Nation . Carlsen Verlag 2003).
  • Âme rouge . Dargaud 2005 ( Rote Seele . Carlsen Verlag 2005).
  • L'Enfer, le silence . Dargaud 2010 ( The Silence of Hell . Carlsen Verlag 2010).
  • Amarillo . Dargaud 2013 ( Amarillo . Carlsen Verlag 2014).

Reviews

Christian Endres praised the series in the Tagesspiegel, but took the view that the authors would never have reached the class of the first volume. Ralph Trommer expressed himself very positively about the series on the occasion of the publication of the first German complete edition in the taz . For him it is the proof that comics can also be told in a sophisticated way without compromising their entertainment value. He also praised the meticulous craftsmanship and the wealth of detail in Guarnido's drawings, which would capture the post-war period in the USA very well.

Prices

  • 2000:
  • 2001:
    • Nominated for the l'Alph-Art Cup of the Festival of Angoulême , France, for Somewhere Between the Shadows
    • Best Comic Award at the Festival of Chambéry , France
  • 2002:
    • Prix ​​Albert-Uderzo best comic artist
  • 2003:
    • Special Prize of the Jury Festival of Sierre, (Switzerland)
  • 2004:
    • Audience Award and Best Comic at the Angoulême Festival , France, for Arctic Nation
    • Prize Prix ​​Virgin du meilleur album for Arctic Nation
  • 2005:
    • Harvey Award in the Best Graphic Album of Original Work category for Arctic Nation
  • 2006:
    • Nomination for the Audience Award at the Angoulême Festival, France, for Red Soul
    • Award for the best series at the Angoulême Festival, France, for Blacksad (complete works)
  • 2011:
    • Eisner Award Best Draftsman / Multimedia Artist for Juanjo Guarnido for Blacksad
    • Harvey Award in the Best American Edition of Foreign Material category for Blacksad's complete works

Web links

References and comments

  1. ^ Volume 1, The Death of the Gangster in Blacksad's Apartment
  2. ↑ Volume 4
  3. ^ Volume 1, The Knife Attack on Blacksad; Blacksad's conversation with Ivo Statoc
  4. ↑ Criticism in the Tagesspiegel
  5. ↑ Ralph Trommer: “Blacksad” comics as a complete edition: The Abysses of the Post-War Era , the daily newspaper, December 5, 2017