Blacksad Volume 1: Somewhere within the Shadows (The Blacksad) by Juan Diaz Canales and Janjo Guarnido (Europe Comics. Version reviewed: Kindle)

 

I've always been a huge fan of film noir, and also an incurable fan of darker detective fiction that comes at you reeking of cigarettes, cheap perfume and booze, revealing the true extent of the human condition and its deterioration. 

Of course "human" is a loose term to describe John Blacksad, the feline hero of "Blacksad". He's a gumshoe with more skeletons in his closet than coathangers, and in the first volume of the Blacksad chronicles, he's propelled into a mystery involving the movie industry, the death of an old flame, and some truly seedy (and quite violent) characters who want to cut Blacksad's inquisitive cat-like curiosity out of the picture. Permanently. 

As you'd expect from Europe Comics, this is a sumptuous graphic novel, the first volume teasingly leads you into the mystery stopping short of tipping its hand meaning that you've got the eye-watering prospect of shelling out for the other four volumes (and believe me, they're not cheap). 

The kindle version of Blacksad is sadly not the version I should've settled for. The kindle version doesn't even do 'frame by frame' meaning that you're forced to view each gorgeous spread on your kindle's native screen resolution / size. When you consider the Bandes Desinees versions of these (again something you'd need to learn French for to truly appreciate) and their size, you'll understand why choking that down to a tiny screen really isn't going to fly. Besides, paper versions of graphic novels really are better for certain titles so bear that in mind. 

Blacksad as a character is fantastic though, encapsulating all the things that you want from a detective hero. Not superhuman superpowered sixth sense type of stuff, but enough vulnerability and weakness to ensure that even though his insights are good, he's crap in a fistfight and often ends up the worse for wear. 

I loved this but it's now set me the unenviable task of re-purchasing on paper, and of course purchasing the others in the series (as I said, eye-wateringly expensive comic loveliness!) If you love detective noir stuff, you will really enjoy this.