A Graphic Novel by Juan Díaz Canales – Art by Juanjo Guarnido

Earlier this week, I did a review for part one of Europe Comics’ newest graphic novels, Blacksad – They All Fall Down, by Juan Díaz Canales – Art by Juanjo Guarnido. With the release of part two coming in the very near future (Nov 17), I wanted to take a look at it considering how much I enjoyed the first half. For those new to this, this is actually the sixth “series” in the overall Blacksad saga, however, I was able to read it just fine without the twenty years of backstory as it is relatively kind to new readers that may not be familiar with the franchise. The central story involves the murder of a prominent leader of The Subway Union of New York City, a convenient outcome considering prominent industrialists are pushing a plan to link various boroughs of New York together via large-scale infrastructure plans. Time is money, as they say, and they don’t need the likes of any pesky strikes or anything getting in the way of progress. Private detective John Blacksad feels personally responsible for the death, and out of sheer guilt he has vowed to get to the bottom of the whole affair.

“Everyone’s favorite cat detective is back, and yes, we mean John Blacksad. This time, he’s on a particularly thorny case, as he’s responsible for protecting the president of a mafia-infiltrated union. This new four-volume story of the bestselling series takes us from soaring heights to terrifying depths as Blacksad navigates from the lofty world of New York theatre to the seedy nether regions of the city, where the criminal classes ply their questionable trades. Towering above them all is the figure of Solomon, a construction magnate well on his way to rebuilding the five boroughs, come hell or high water. Print release by Dark Horse Comics, summer 2022.”

Honestly, I think I liked the first volume of this story better than the second, simply because this goes at such a breakneck speed, we don’t get a whole lot of the character building I enjoyed for part one here. In fact, Blacksad is not in the story very much, and I would have wanted to see him more. That said, there are another two books coming out, so I’m sure nothing has quite climaxed as of yet. We have a sense of who the main “bad guy” is, and what their real intentions are in the story – now we have to see how ingrained they are into the city itself, and whether the heroes can take the whole thing down without damaging the entire fabric of what Makes New York, New York.

This volume is very fast paced and ends on a HELL of a cliffhanger, here’s hoping the next 2 chapters come out fairly soon (it’s sometime next year for sure). Something does happen at the end that seems fairly significant that I do not understand, so I definitely need to read previous volumes now. Wikipedia showed me that a mystery character that appears is a fairly important one from the past. Don’t be surprised if you see volumes 1-5 on here fairly soon! Before buying this volume, definitely get volume one first, and gear up for next year when three and four are released by Europe Comics, then later in physical form, by Dark Horse. Highly recommended read for anyone excited about noir books, crime thrillers, or fans of fuzzy animal people!

Here is a special trailer that shows more artwork:

If you would like to purchase a copy of this digitally, click HERE for part one, The second volume (scheduled for Nov 17) is up for pre-order HERE, and if print is your thing – Dark Horse Comics will be releasing this title as a graphic novel starting in summer of 2022. With this being the sixth in the Blacksad series, and it celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this year, there is no better time to jump into the gritty underbelly of New York City than now.

NOTE: I was provided a copy of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review from Europe Comics, I would like to thank them for their consideration and this opportunity to read this comic.