“That Old Black Magic”: Noir and Music in Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s Blacksad

Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s Blacksad is a comic series that evokes the noir tradition through thematic and visual callbacks to noir films and comics. As they use noir tropes, the comics illuminate the tensions in both noir and comics. Yet, Blacksad stands out as a liminal text that simul...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hailey J. Austin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Open Library of Humanities 2019-07-01
Series:The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.comicsgrid.com/article/id/3590/
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author Hailey J. Austin
author_facet Hailey J. Austin
author_sort Hailey J. Austin
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description Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s Blacksad is a comic series that evokes the noir tradition through thematic and visual callbacks to noir films and comics. As they use noir tropes, the comics illuminate the tensions in both noir and comics. Yet, Blacksad stands out as a liminal text that simultaneously references and reverses traditional noir themes. One often-overlooked noir trope is the inclusion of music in each comic album. Blacksad has often been analysed as a purely visual text. However, the inclusion of music enhances the text as the songs themselves create a layered meaning in the work that is relevant to the styles present in both comics and film noir. The music enhances the intertextual and noir references embedded in Blacksad, both building the world around the story and enhancing the storytelling of an inherently ‘silent’ medium.
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spelling doaj.art-5e381cd6925441f982acbf684f92d7ca2023-08-01T14:29:20ZengOpen Library of HumanitiesThe Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship2048-07922019-07-019110.16995/cg.156“That Old Black Magic”: Noir and Music in Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s BlacksadHailey J. Austin0 Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s Blacksad is a comic series that evokes the noir tradition through thematic and visual callbacks to noir films and comics. As they use noir tropes, the comics illuminate the tensions in both noir and comics. Yet, Blacksad stands out as a liminal text that simultaneously references and reverses traditional noir themes. One often-overlooked noir trope is the inclusion of music in each comic album. Blacksad has often been analysed as a purely visual text. However, the inclusion of music enhances the text as the songs themselves create a layered meaning in the work that is relevant to the styles present in both comics and film noir. The music enhances the intertextual and noir references embedded in Blacksad, both building the world around the story and enhancing the storytelling of an inherently ‘silent’ medium.https://www.comicsgrid.com/article/id/3590/AnthropomorphismBlacksadEuropean comicsdiegeticintertextuality
spellingShingle Hailey J. Austin
“That Old Black Magic”: Noir and Music in Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s Blacksad
The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship
Anthropomorphism
Blacksad
European comics
diegetic
intertextuality
title “That Old Black Magic”: Noir and Music in Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s Blacksad
title_full “That Old Black Magic”: Noir and Music in Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s Blacksad
title_fullStr “That Old Black Magic”: Noir and Music in Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s Blacksad
title_full_unstemmed “That Old Black Magic”: Noir and Music in Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s Blacksad
title_short “That Old Black Magic”: Noir and Music in Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido’s Blacksad
title_sort that old black magic noir and music in juan diaz canales and juanjo guarnido s blacksad
topic Anthropomorphism
Blacksad
European comics
diegetic
intertextuality
url https://www.comicsgrid.com/article/id/3590/
work_keys_str_mv AT haileyjaustin thatoldblackmagicnoirandmusicinjuandiazcanalesandjuanjoguarnidosblacksad