‘Blacksad: They All Fall Down – Part One’ Review (Dark Horse)
Written by Juan Diaz Canales | Art by Juanjo Guarnido | Published by Dark Horse Comics | Format: Hardcover, 64pp
Review by Matthew De Monti
Detective John Blacksad deals with the mob, the unions, and mid-century ‘master builder’ Lewis Solomon, who plans to pave over New York City’s green spaces, come hell or high water. While Blacksad must navigate from the lofty world of 1950s theater all the way to the city’s seedy depths, Solomon looms above it all in pursuit of his own dreams-but at what cost? Meanwhile, Weekly finds himself in the hot seat just as an old flame comes back to burn his pal Blacksad!
In the latest instalment of Diaz Canales & Guarnido’s Blacksad, our hero P.I John Blacksad has his work cut out for him as he manoeuvres the seedy world of blackmail, corruption and murder.
Construction magnate Lewis Soloman intends to pave over the green spaces of New York building a city for the future whilst making huge profits. In his sights is a group of Shakespearian actors using one of the parks to bring the bard’s tales to the masses. Blacksad’s reporter friend Weekly decides he wants to try his hand at acting to impress his new girlfriend and this sets in motion a chain of events that will see Blacksad clash with mob enforcers, Weekly framed for murder and a sensational ending combing Macbeth and the return of someone from Blacksad’s past.
This is epic storytelling from the dramatic scenes with Weekly and Soloman at his construction site, to the laugh-out-loud moments of theatre trials. Blacksad is at times a peripheral figure letting the spotlight on the supporting cast and allowing Guarnido’s exquisite art to focus on bringing different species into play. Did I not mention that all the characters in this are animals?
Fantastic. A must for everyone’s collection
