A book club for comics! For readers craving serious in-depth discussion and analysis. FOR MATURE READERS.
October 2016 (Classic) - BLACKSAD: SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE SHADOWS by Juan Diaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido
Come back to this thread at any time after you've finished the book and post your thoughts in the comments. I'll try to post a few questions to generate discussion.
NOTE: If you get the HC or digital editions and decide to read all three stories, feel free to comment on the others here as well.
Blacksad: Somewhere Within The Shadows by Juan Diaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido is available in the following formats:
Blacksad: Somewhere Within The Shadows (Paperback) - ~$20.00 (Out Of Print)
Blacksad (Hardcover) - $20.87 (Amazon) - Contains Somewhere Within The Shadows, Arctic Nation, and Red Soul.
Blacksad (Digital) - $10.99 (Amazon) - Contains Somewhere Within The Shadows, Arctic Nation, and Red Soul.
Or check to see if it's available at a nearby library.




2) Were you able to relate with the main character?
6) If you read the other two stories, what were your thoughts? Were they as good as the first story?
The novelty stays fresh as other animal people are introduced. The indeterminate time period of the first story is clarified as the next two seem to be set in the late 40's/early 50s.
They also establish that while the people are animals, the history of this world is not unlike our real history. The Arctic Nation is an interesting take on racism but I'd rather give that its own discussion. Red Soul takes on the Red Scare and more firmly establishes the tragic aspects of noir. I see them as fleshing this world and Blacksad out, and equally as good in what they aim to accomplish.
3) What did you think of the art style?
It's gorgeous. You can see the Disney influences but it's a style of its own. The expressions are exaggerated but not too cartoony; it somehow stays rooted in the realistic noir setting.
Very efficient use of form—on page 20 the trenchcoat trails to show motion. The way bodies curl over when punched. How Blacksad slumps when depressed and firms up when happy. Every panel is a joy to see.
Great use of color, with vibrant full-color flashbacks for the good times and a deep red for the darker flashback. Excellent technical ability with application of watercolor.
What's amazing is the noir setting and cartoon world meshing so well, the latter taking advantage at every opportunity.
1) Was the opening effective? At what point did you feel invested in the story?
It seems like a standard crime noir setup but we've got anthropomorphic cats and dogs. And the art is beautiful.
The turning point for me was on page 19, where Blacksad is questioning Jake. Jake hits a sore spot and Blacksad claws a punching bag. It left me wondering just why is everyone really an animal in this story, and not just represented as animals?
This is a hard question for me to answer, because the beauty of the art grabbed me before the story could. Even if the story was garbage, I would've spent ages looking at each page just admiring the gesture and energy and line work. Fortunately the story itself was pretty good too.
7) The other two stories highlight the main character’s chauvinism a little more. Did it strike you as a criticism of ‘40s/’50s chauvinism, a neutral depiction of chauvinism, or did it feel like the creators indulging?
Blacksad's racial chauvinism in Arctic Nation was on the playful side. Which is odd to me, as a Person of Color, who knows acting in such a manner is only going to get my ass kicked. Blacksad has fighting skills but the Polar KKK/Nazi amalgamation group dominates the area. They call it "the Line", as in Mason-Dixon, and if you didn't know your place, you'd end up dead.
Blacksad watching Dinah undress was very odd to me, but it also serves as a plot point. I also feel like that feeds into some racial tropes about black women. Same as Blacksad ripping the clothes off Jezebel, as the mystery is revealed.
Blacksad's interactions with Alma comes off as typical of the genre and era. There is some furry fanservice throughout the book, accompanied by a scene in Red Soul where Blacksad is walking through a school hallway as girls swoon. Are the nude scenes gratuitous? Not particularly, by European standards, and they establish species sexual dimorphism. Then again, they already established that in the first story in the opening panels.
I gave the first story a "loved it" but the other stories would've been down to "liked it" just because the chauvanism started to feel gratuitous to me, more and more indulgent and male gaze-y.
One specific instance that comes to mind is a scene where a woman and the detective are in a room together, the woman is topless, but the detective is fully clothed...the artist seems unaware that maybe he could've offered eye candy to fans of the male body, because his focus is so on the female figures.
Likewise when girls in the background are swooning over the detective to let us know characters find him hot, rather than making him actually hot. It's similar to when characters in stories tell us someone is smart or funny without ever displaying them actually being smart or funny. We only know because the characters inform us.
4) Were there any moments where you felt confused what was happening?
The art is very clear and the story is fairly straight-forward. This is one of the most accessible reads I've had in a while.
5) Any other thoughts?
The gharial crocodile with alligator or crocodile leather shoes was interesting. What does it mean when you're wearing shoes made from the skin of your species?
My one regret is that I didn't read this before seeing Zootopia, which had a superior story in almost every way. Zootopia really raised the bar in general, let alone just for animal detective noir stories.