For a cat, private investigator John Blacksad seems to like hot water. How else do you explain his latest predicament? 
Blacksad’s best friend, the muckraking reporter called Weekly, has been fingered for the murder of theatre director Iris Allen. The cops are also eying Weekly for the disappearance of the actress he’d been seeing. The only defense Weekly has is that he overheard the real killer being ordered to kill Iris Allen by real estate magnate Lewis Solomon.
Somehow, this all ties into the murder of Blacksad’s latest client, a union president who thought someone was out to get him. (It turned out he was right.) It also ties into the sudden reappearance of Alma, the woman who, once upon a time, almost became Mrs. John Blacksad. The trail connecting them all leads to Lewis Solomon and his latest construction project, but the lead detective with the NYPD is more determined to keep Blacksad off the case than he is to learn the truth. This leaves Blacksad with limited time and few resources to track down the real killer and clear Weekly’s name, as he also agonizes over the revelation that Alma got married and didn’t tell him.
I was enraptured when I was introduced to the Blacksad series with Blacksad: They All Fall Down, Part One. I sought out the rest of the series’ English translations, which took some doing as I discovered it in a lull between reprintings. It is ironic then that the publishing of this volume, the second half of the story that started it all for me, almost passed me by. I stumbled across it at my local comic shop during an end-of-the-year sale, trying to find a second book for a “buy 1, get 1 free deal.”
Like Blacksad himself, sometimes I just get lucky.
The only real flaw to Blacksad: They All Fall Down, Part Two is that you need to have read Part One to appreciate it. With that caveat, I went into this volume blind without having reread Part One, just to see how accessible it was to newcomers. To my surprise, the opening pages let you know all you need to know. It’s a small touch, but it is a pleasant one that speaks well of writer Juan Diaz Canales. However, I’m astonished this storyline wasn’t published in a single volume even if it did mean a delay in publishing a full Blacksad adventure in the United States. As in Part One, there is an excellent afterword by translators Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander regarding what few changes were made from the original text due to the ideas not translating literally into English.
The artwork of Juanjo Guarnido is as impressive as ever. Everything looks amazing, from the designs of the various animal people populating this alternate New York City to the beautiful backgrounds. The final sequence is particularly notable, with a sense of motion that is projected so well you would almost swear the drawings are moving on the page.
Dark Horse Comics rates this volume as appropriate for readers 16 and up. I believe that to be a fair assessment. There is less sexual content than in Part One, though there is a bit more casual profanity and violence, particularly as the climax builds and Blacksad closes in on the real killer. I also think the general tone will go over better with older teens and adults, who can appreciate the slow pacing of the mystery. Fans of Film Noir will love it, however, and I think the whole Blacksad series should be a staple of any adult graphic novel collection.
Blacksad: They All Fall Down, Part Two
By Juan Díaz Canales
Art by Juanjo Guarnido
Dark Horse, 2024
ISBN: 9781506743981
Company Age Rating: 16+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
Creator Representation: Spanish,
Character Representation: African-American,
