With a new movie on the way, Dark Horse has republished this classic Italian comic in a monster volume. There are seven stories featuring the PI Dylan Dog, who specializes in the more unusual cases to come along in rainy London. Though set in England, the series has a VERY Italian vibe, especially in his comic sidekick Felix (originally called Groucho), who pretty much embodies all the reasons I don’t normally watch Italian comedies. But many of the stories also have a deep, uneasy darkness.
The first story, Dawn of the Living Dead is a fairly standard zombie story, and serves as an introduction to Dylan and the strangeness of his world. A few clever gags help offset the extremely annoying prattle of Felix. The art by Angelo Stano is generally OK, if not especially inspired. But occasional panels are quite striking, especially one near the end where a bunch of zombies are ambling forward with light streaming in from behind them.
Johnny Freak, has a great, Tales from the Crypt/Eerie kind of Bernie Wrightson sort of vibe that I enjoyed quite a bit. There are some really nice, interesting twists and some generally good storytelling. When all is said and done, this is probably my single favorite story in the book.
In the third story, Memories from the Invisible World, Sclavi experiments a lot, giving us an odd perspective character, some not especially good plot twists, and the craziest of plot structures. The placement of the climax is curious and awkward, for example.
The Return of the Monster feels like a classic Tales from the Crypt in almost every way. I could easily see this made into a feature film by someone wanting to do an homage to early 80s slasher films. Though I found the ending to be pretty ho-hum, the opening is very moody and creepy.
OK, so I fully admit, I just didn’t get the fifth story, Morgana. The first half built an extremely stressful and ominous sense of dread that was quite impressive. But as it continued, the whole thing seemed to unravel past the point that I knew what was happening, why, to whom, etc. And I kind of stopped caring. Maybe I’ll give this one a second try sometime and try to pay more attention. Not sure if that’ll help.
Not as disjointed as Morgana, the next story, After Midnight, is still rather dreamlike in its narrative, folding back upon itself, playing with expectations and reality, and generally being strange. Yet, it manages to have one of the most mundane of endings. Weird.
The seventh and final story is Zed, which strays somewhat away from the horror of the previous stories into more of a fantasy story. The mystery of Zed and of Scout is slowly revealed. I found the art in this, by Bruno Brindisi to be especially enjoyable, reminding me a bit of Milo Manara (though, perhaps a bit more tasteful).
Overall, this is a solid collection of Euro-horror, and well worth seeking out. At about twenty five dollars for almost 700 pages, it’s also a pretty good value. There’s also the added bonus of the Mike Mignola covers, not just on the front, but at the beginning of each story (though in black & white). I must admit, based on the previews for the new film, I was expecting something else. This is much less Buffy, and much more John Constantine.
The Dylan Dog Cast Files
Author: Tiziano Sclavi
Art: Various
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
ISBN: 978-1-59582-206-2
Pages: 680
-Matt
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