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There is a lot of anthropomorphism in the world of cartoons and comics, and it's a style we are familiar with now from Disney and Pixar movies. That's not surprising, as Jim Steranko notes in the introduction, since long before Disney there has been a tendency to associate humans with animals behaviours and characteristics. It seems less of a cliché or shortcut then than natural for a comic like Blacksad to lean on those stereotypical characteristics, a silverback gorilla as a bodyguard, a lithe lizard as a silent cold blooded assassin. You're going to find weasels and rats in the expected places too. In Blacksad it seems natural also that a private Investigator who snoops around and has lightning reflexes is portrayed as a cat. A pretty tough cat in a trenchcoat. That's because Blacksad - initially at least  - is set in the 1950s period also draws heavily in its style from classic detective cinematic noir. Not so much in the artwork of Juanjo Guarnido, which is less ...

It seems an obvious remark to make but it’s the visual aspect of comics and graphic novels that give them a unique individual characteristic and an advantage to be able do things that you can’t do with a words alone. Or, to be more precise, it’s when it’s used well and you have the benefit of a good artist who is not only able to illustrate but use techniques to bring out the distinct character of a story that the visuals can make all the difference. That is done on several levels in Gentlemind , a new European graphic novel scripted by Juan Díaz Canales and Teresa Valero, with artwork by Antonio Lapone. What Lapone brings to Gentlemind in his attractive artwork is an immediacy that within a couple of panels or pages helps define the period of the 1940s in New York in an approximation or evocation of the classic art style of the New Yorker magazine cartoonists. It’s a style that is adaptable to all sides of this world, whether it’s the glamour of the Broadway shows, the elegance of ex...