Book Club Review: Blacksad (+ July Book!)

After having spent a month and a half reading House of Leaves for May (and half of June), the random number generator miraculously gave us a shorter read to tackle for the remainder of June. Blacksad WOO!

It was a very short read so I won't post any spoilerriffic details, otherwise there'd be no point if you did choose to read it.

Blacksad is a graphic novel that consists of three short stories, in chronological order, about a private investigator. It's classic film noir, except in the form of comics and all the characters are anthropomorphic animals. The characters are essentially humans, except that their species reflects their personality types. I think that's what gives Blacksad the edge that makes it so popular... it's very popular.

At some point the plot did feel like it was overflowing with information, so much trying to be squeezed into little stories. Still, it was cohesive most of the time and interesting enough to make it a light and enjoyable read. Personally, I hate "animals are the main characters," but in this case not only did it work to have anthropomorphic animals for characters, it felt essential. So yay!

Blacksad is only the first volume of an ongoing series, so the lovers of Blacksad can rejoice and soak in the well written narrative and beautiful art at least until 2016.

TL;DR Our Review

While two of us didn't find enough satisfaction in Blacksad in terms of depth and character analysis, we all agreed that Blacksad was an enjoyable, light read filled with robust storytelling and gorgeous art.

Bader: 4 Stars

Noor: 3 Stars

Reem: 3 Stars

Ali Haji: 5 Stars

3.75/5 Stars

JULY BOOK CLUB PICK:

As Nature Made Him by John Colapinto (2006)

- Biography, Transgender, Psychology