Comic Shots #34 with Ryan Haupt: Old Tom Ale and ‘Blacksad’

Each week the iFanStaff passes along a tasty drink recipe and an even tastier comic book recommendation. The cocktail (or beer, or wine, or booze) and the comic can both be enjoyed independently, but they have a common theme and when served together they can make for the perfect reading experience.

This week marks the release of a new Enlgish translation of Blacksad. Thus, it seemed like as good a time as any to go back and read my original Blacksad hardcover from Dark Horse comics. For the uninitiated, Blacksad is a European comic series by the Spanish duo Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. Until this most recent Wednesday there were three volumes of the series. The first two were translated to English years ago but went quickly out of print, and the third volume didn’t get translated since the publisher went bankrupt. I heard about the series from iFanboy favorite Skottie Young during his time on the Around Comics podcast, but wasn’t able to get my hands on the book until… Dark Horse.

Dark Horse had the third volume translated and collected all three stories in a hardocver collected simply called Blacksad. The most recent volume, A Silent Hell, is set in New Orleans so is automatically worth your time, but today I will be talking about the Dark Horse collection, and, as this is Comic Shots, I’ll be talking about what to pair it with as well.

I’ll come out swinging and say that Blacksad is simply one of the best comics I’ve ever read. I’m a fan of noir in general, I’ve read a number of Chandler novels, tried my own hand at writing in that style as well, and just generally get a kick out of the look, feel, and tone the genre brings. I also really like animals, they’re way better than plants; there, I said it. So a noir book with animals is already getting dangerously close to my sweet spot. Couple the elevator pitch with excellent characters working through a compelling narrative illustrated with some of the finest pages I’ve ever seen? I’d say you have a winner on your hands.

I usually try not to gush in these pieces, but reading Blacksad honestly gives me chills, it’s just that good. And unlike some more advanced offerings of the finest our medium has to offer (e.g. Watchmen, DC: The New Frontier, etc.) Blacksad requires no context. It can be picked up by anyone and enjoyed for what it is. There are plenty of good books, but so much of the comic world’s “essential canon” is at the very least improved by having a working knowledge of what superhero comics have been about since the 1940’s. No such requirement here.

And I have to now go back and reiterate just how good Guarnido’s art is. He worked as animator for Disney, and it shows in all the right ways. The story telling is without err, the characters are impeccably designed and they really act, a feat some artists struggle to accomplish. The coloring is done in a waterbrush style and lends a lot of depth and richness to an already well-constructed world.

So what to drink to go with all this ecstasy? Well it would need to be something with pedigree, maybe even something that had been voted “World’s best ale”? A worthy pairing to possibly the world’s best comic. And it should obviously be European. And then it needs to be thematic, so maybe something to do with cats? Well how about Robinson’s Old Tom Original Strong Ale? I’d say that fits the bill quite nicely.

I’ve talked about strong ales in a previous Comic Shots. Old Tom is decidedly darker than many other strong ales I’ve had, I’ve even seen it described as a dark ale or an old ale. Yup, these are all styles, however fake sounding they may seem. The beer pours beautifully with deep copper and amber hues and a rich creamy head. The aroma is of molasses, and while the taste is also sweet it reminds me more of figs or other dark fruits more so than just straight sugar. Very drinkable, you might not even know you were kicking back an 8.5%, which is much like Blacksad since they’re both so easy to consume you have to stop and remember the intensity of what you’re actually experiencing.

I don’t know if I’d put this in my best ales ever list, I tend to like some hop character, and this beer lacked the bitterness hops can bring. Fortunately, as with most noir tales, Blacksad brings the bitter finish that more than makes up for the lack of it in the beer.

Ryan Haupt does not own a cat, because can a cat ever be truly owned by another? Hear him pontificate other big thoughts on the podcast Science… sort of.

Please obey the law and only drink if you are of age. Drink responsibly and never drink and drive. Buy only the amount of comics that you can until your wife or significant other threatens to throw things away.