This is a little off-topic, but...

[ziritrion]

Some days ago, after an algebra exam that didn't go very well, I decided to go to to the book store that imports Usagi Yojimbo every month, to check if they had already brought issue 66. Unluckily, they still hadn't received it, and the guy in the store told me to go back next week. So there I was, with no UY for more than two months, and nothing interesting to read. Then, for some reason, I thought of a new album that had been released just a month ago (I knew of it because I read it on a magazine), and decided to look for it to check it out. The comic is called "Blacksad" and both the writer and the artist are Spanish, although the book is published originally in France (the artist works as an animator for Disney in Paris). So far, two books have been released (they are in "cartoné" format, like most French and Belgian BD; 50-or-so pages in full color with hard covers, like Tin Tin or Astérix; each book has a self-contained story).

The main story is about John Blacksad, a private investigator living in a New York-like city in the early fifties. Each book has a different case he has to take care of. The books are similar to any black novels you might have read or seen as movies, but the interesting fact is that all the characters are anthropomorphic (and this is the reason I'm telling you about it). The first book, "Quelque part entre les ombres" (a place among the shadows), is about the murder of a famous actress (and Blacksad's ex-lover). Upon further investigation, the clues lead to someone in the jet-set, and the police is forced to lay down. The story is not original at all, the book is pretty lineal and it doesn't have any interesting innovation, but the art is AMAZING, the story is completely solid (although if you are used to read this kind of books, you won't think the story is any special) and the whole book is a complete delight to read. Overall, it is a really well done book. As a matter of fact, I liked it so much that once I had finished reading it (48 pages don't take a lot of time to read), I went to the store again and bought the second book, "Arctic-Nation". And that's when I completely fell in love with the book. The art looks even better, the story is MUCH more well written that the first one, and it's a little longer (56 pages). The story is about the kidnapping of a black girl on a marginal suburb ("The Line") on the outskirts of the city, which leads to a war between two racist gangs (a WASP Ku-Klux-Klan-like organization and a Black Panthers-like gang). If the first book was good, this one was completely awesome and one of the best reads I've had in a long time.

The original publisher is a French company called Dargaud. So far I think it's only been published on a handful of European countries and it has not been translated to English yet, although the first book will be published in December. If you want the original version, Amazon France or Dargaud's webpage sell the books. If you want to take a look first, there's a Spanish fan made site (not very updated) with some pictures of the first book(just click on "Entrar" and then on "Galeria"). Or you can search for it on the internet. As I already said, both books have been some of the best reads I've had in a very long time. Really recommended.

[takematsu]

I haven't seen the item in question, but I'd strongly encourage everyone to try to get ahold of some of the European "not for kiddies" comics-- while they're not miles ahead of what's going on here in North America any more, a lot of the really amazing stuff is as much as 40 years old.

Mijn haar zijn wit, maar mijn geest zijn jonge.
(The former part of the statement is only partially corect)

[Stan Sakai]

I agree. Blacksad is a beautiful series. I got the Dutch edition of the first book when I was in Amsterdam last year. The artwork, particularly the coloring is wonderful.