Reviews
  
  



WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT DYLAN DOG































































SMALL ANALYSIS OF A PAPER PHENOMENON. An unsigned article appearing in “La Cronaca di Cremona”, 7 December 2003: “Ever since it first came out at news-stands (that was back in 1986 - oh boy, the number of years that have gone by since then…), Dylan Dog has achieved fully deserved success, to the point that he has become much more than simply a hero - albeit extremely well known - in the world of comics. He’s become a veritable trend-setter…”

REAL HORROR IS WORSE THAN FANTASY An article by Andrea Cavalcanti, appearing in “Il Giornale di Vicenza”, 17 August 2003: “ Yeh’, man, that’s the one: Dylan Dog, the only series of comic strip albums in Italy that succeeded, for quite a long time, in exceeding the sales achieved by the Via Buonarroti publisher’s flagship series, ‘Tex’. As Sclavi puts it: ‘Dylan Dog was supposed to be an almost Chandlerian character, operating all on his own in New York. Then he was transferred to Britain, London, and supplied with a humorous sidekick, Groucho, whose gags even received flattering compliments from Umberto Eco…”.





















DYLAN DOG ON THE RADIO Article by Paolo Valerano, appearing in Il Secolo d’Italia, 17 May 2002. “After the noir, or more precisely, Diabolik’s science of theft and the epic of the West with the great Tex Willer, here is another comic strip character on Radiodue: Dylan Dog…”

DYLAN DOG HERO FOR RADIO Editorial article appearing in Il Quotidiano di Foggia, 16 May 2002. “In the Dylan Dog story there are many different genres that put in an appearance: from the surreal to horror, to genuine splatter right up to sophisticated comedy. Thus there is good reason to have a shot at a radio effort, in which once again the aim ‘will be that of reproducing a sound rendering faithful to the character, to the Dylan Dog legend and his world…’”

NIGHTMARES INVADE RADIO FREQUENCIES Article by Alessia Mattioli, appearing in Il Quotidiano della Calabria, 10 May 2002. “This Dylan Dog is designed to satisfy a need felt by Radio Two: namely, that of working on popular imagination, underlines the newly appointed director Sergio Valzania.(…) And the Investigator of Nightmares has a radio dad - Armando Traverso…”

HOW YOUNG IS MY RADIO, FROM FIORELLO TO DYLAN DOG by Simonetta Robiony. Interview with the director of Radio Two, Sergio Valzania, appearing in La Stampa of 29 April 2002: “... There was also a need to launch new or revolutionary projects. ‘One is the concept of comics on the radio, which, after starting off with Diabolik, and later followed by Tex Willer – explains Valzania – will continue in May with Dylan Dog’…”.

DYLAN DOG ON THE RADIO AND MICKEY MOUSE AT THE WORLD CUP by Claudio Paglieri. News flash appearing in the column ““Segnali di Fumetto” [Signs of comics], Il Secolo XIX, 25 April 2002: “In the wake of the triumphs of Tex, Lupo Alberto, Diabolik & C., the comic will once more stage a performance on the radio; this time its standard-bearer will be Dylan Dog…”

DYLAN DOG “FLIES” OVER VENICE by Piero Zanotto. An article appearing in Il Gazzettino, 29 January 2002: “An obligatorily fantastic mesh of interlocking strands enlivened by a dialectical play of themes from which there emerge various literary references (from Poe to Mann, to cite just two) and cinematographic allusions, where certain quips of Dylan Dog’s seem to hark back to the memory of the Corto Maltese of `Corte sconta´...”.

DYLAN DOG AND THE NIGHTMARES OF VENICE by Gianni Brunoro. An article appearing in Il Gazzettino, 12 January 2002: “A Comic strip story with an intense literary flavor, evoking Shiel and Baron Corvo. And Venice becomes the essence itself of the story, with its well-established magic that goes far beyond the mannerist pastiche”.

THE FANTASTIC DYLAN OF CORRADO ROI by Filippo Mazzarella. Review of the Dylan Dog Gigante nr. 10, “I peccatori di Hellborn” [The sinners of Hellborn], appearing in Corriere della Sera, 7 December 2001: “Working on a very grim subject that speaks out against the harsh rigors of prison life, by Tito Faraci, Roi displays all the hallmarks of his magnificent strokes, from inks with a watercolored effect or ‘smudged’ with the touch of a sponge to the virtuosities of his clear-cut pen-nib lines. And the mix is truly unsettling”.

THE WHITE WHALE SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF TODAY by Stefano Gorla. Review of the Dylan Dog Special nr. 15 “Sulla rotta di Moby Dick [On the route of Moby Dick]”, appearing in Letture, December 2001: “In this Special we are offered a revisitation, through the world of comics, of one of the most frequently cited classics of literature: Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Most frequently cited, but this doesn’t necessarily mean read. As one of his characters perceptively says…”

THE RETURN OF MOBY DICK, A MONSTER OF GENETICS PROJECTED INTO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY by Giulio Giorello. An article appearing in Corriere della Sera, 2 October 2001: “As often happens in the saga conceived by Tiziano Sclavi, the literary allusion is a pretext for staging scenes of present-day dramas and fears, from the apparent uncontrollability of technology to the insane arms race”.

DYLAN DOG, THE DOUBTS OF A HERO OF OUR TIME Editorial appearing in Secolo d’Italia, 19 September 2001: “Melancholy, a tinge of envy, great feeling of satisfaction. This is the state of mind in which Tiziano Sclavi ‘blows out’ the 15 candles on ‘his’ Dylan Dog’s birthday cake. The celebrated comic published by the Sergio Bonelli Editore press, the most famous and, together with Tex Willer, the most successful in Italy, has reached the age of 15”.

THAT COMIC STRIP HERO WHO INVESTIGATES NIGHTMARES IS ONE OF ECO’S FAVORITES, by Alberto Mattioli. An article that appeared in Il Giorno, 12 July 2001: "The rubber stamp of approval has been given, as usual, by Umberto Eco, who has stated that he `would spend days and days reading the Bible, Homer and Dylan Dog´, and to demonstrate that he wasn’t kidding, he’s dedicated a heavyweight essay to this paper hero (in the collective book: `Dylan Dog, indocili sentimenti, arcane paure´) in the form of an interview with Dylan’s dad, Tiziano Sclavi".





THE OTHER FACE OF INCREDIBLE HULK by Federico Cevoli. An article that appeared in Avvenire, 7 July 2001: "The element of otherness has been the pivotal element of the cult world of Italian comics over the last few years. Dylan Dog has a liking for monsters. Ghor, Stephen, Damien, Johnny Freak: deformed beings, retarded and alone. Nothing short of genuine ‘human beings’".

COMICS ARE NOT SATANIC INSTRUMENTS. Comment by Corrado Augias which appeared in the "Letters" column of La Repubblica, 23 February 2001: "Dylan Dog has a complex personality which reflects that of his inspired author Tiziano Sclavi. Neurotically restless as he is, he’s a likeable guy, who has a strong instinct for mysterious adventures that are going to lead heaven knows where, just as happens to so many young people. It would be great to spend an evening with him".

DYLAN DOG STIRS UP EMOTION WITH A YOUNG WOMAN. Interview with Paola Barbato by Claudio Paglieri, which appeared in Il Secolo XIX, 8 February 2001: "If it is rare to find a woman script-writer, it is quite logical for this to happen to none other than Dylan, whose readership has always included large numbers of women and who has never concealed his passion for the fair sex...".

THE BIG SLEEP. IF THE WRITER HAS NO WORDS LEFT. An article by Enzo Verrengia, which appeared in La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, 31 December 2000: "The monthly Dylan Dog series is a wonderful example of the way comics have survived the crisis simply by offering a quality product free from the conceits and snobbish traits that have caused the euthanasis of certain tabloid journals...".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DYLAN. Review of the Special album “Il Padrone della Luce” by Oscar Cosulich, which appeared in L’Espresso, 2 November 2000: “Dylan Dog, the popular Investigator of Nightmares created in October 1986, celebrates his own birthday with this long Special, where he has to grapple with the monstrosities of a science that has by now gotten completely out of control”.

SEA FORCE 10, HERE’S DYLAN DOG AND THE PHOTOS OF UNDERWATER LIGURIA. An article by P.P., which appeared in La Stampa, 18 October 2000: "Sea force 10 is a project launched by the Province of Savona, which this year has once again mobilized the population, especially schoolchildren – over 300 at schools throughout Italy – by inviting them to write scripts and then to try their own hand at drawing the plates of Dylan Dog’s adventures in Liguria, or alternatively of stories set near the sea...”

FEAR FROM POE TO SNOW-WHITE AND DIABOLIK. An article by Franco Giubilei devoted to our "Effetto Noir", which appeared in La Gazzetta di Modena, 9 September 2000: "What is it that Dylan can see which is so horrifying as to warrant a howl? From the cover illustration of the handsome Effetto Noir catalogue, the Detective of the supernatural casts a terrifying look into a world populated with nightmares, our nightmares...”

BLOOD RED STORY OF THE “DIDDYLANNED“ ARTIST. Interview with Tiziano Sclavi by Filippo Poletti, which appeared in Il Giorno, 20 July 2000: "I was born" – announces the writer with the quiet retiring tone of one who is shy and modest – “at the movies. I wanted to be not just a singer but a movie director as well: then I met some movie directors in flesh and blood and I changed my mind: because working in movies is a collective job and I like being on my own...”.

FROM HUGO TO DYLAN DOG TERROR IS A MANY-TENTACLED OCTOPUS. An article by Antonio Faeti that appeared in La Repubblica, 11 March 2000: "The story of number 162 of Dylan Dog, ‘Il dio prigioniero’, bristling with ecological themes that are unfortunately true and of intense topical relevance, is worthy of being used as a set text at school: perhaps if we save the planet some of the credit will go to whoever manages to enshrine these real anguishing concerns in popular imagination while maintaining these rhythms...”

DYLAN DOG, DR. FREUD’S GRANDSON. An article by Claudio Risé that appeared in Il Giornale, 27 October 1999: "The investigator of nightmares conducts his inquiries in a setting of everyday horror which is actually the other face of our own selves, the dark side of the society of today...”.

AND NOW I’LL PLAY AT DYLAN DOG. An article by Claudio Carabba, which appeared in Sette, the supplement to Corriere della Sera, 21 October 1999: "Even if he’s a comic strip character, Dylan Dog, the investigator of nightmares, present-day nightmares, is also a thing of cinema, fiction, of various figurative arts...”.

DYLAN DOG BECOMES A BALLET. An article by E.Q., which appeared in Il Corriere Mercantile, 10 September 1999: "Giorgio Gallione is to direct a ballet opera on Dylan Dog. The story from which I drew the greatest inspiration is l’incubo dell’Indagatore, which gives me the opportunity to stage Dylan Dog waking up from a nightmare. And as he awakens he rediscovers the normalcy of a life that turns out to be far more gruesome than his worst dreams...”.

ME THE GHOSTLY "COMIC STRIPPER" INVENTOR OF DYLAN DOG, interview with Tiziano Sclavi by Francesco Cordella, appearing in Il Mattino, 3 August 1999: "Dylan Dog doesn’t exist. Or perhaps he does. Does Tiziano Sclavi exist? Well maybe he doesn’t, since he (almost) never gives interviews. Hurry up and read the questions and answers, this page could disappear very soon."

GIULIO GORELLO, PHILOSOPHER OF COMICS Interview with Giuglio Gorello by Luca Lazzari, which appeared in La Provincia, 1 February 1999: “Dylan Dog is so successful because he seems to embody the man of our time, lost in a chaotic and mysterious reality, where one can come across virtually anything just round the corner: sudden death or pleasure, possibly in the guise of a beautiful femme fatale…”

UMBERTO ECO DIXIT: DYLAN DOG? IT’S A CULT STRIP by Alessandro Mezzena Lona. An article appearing in Il Piccolo, 19 November 1998: "The semiologist immediately comes to the point: Dylan Dog is not a work of art like Petrarch’s ‘Sonnets’ or the ‘Decameron’ by Boccaccio. He adds, however, that the stories about the investigator of nightmares strike him as having acquired the character of ‘cult works’. Like Dante’s Divine Comedy, Casablanca by Michael Curtiz, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Dylan Dog is in fine company".

THE REAL NIGHTMARE IS REALITY Interview with Tiziano Sclavi by Ketty Carraffa and Marco Romani, appearing in Liberazione, 15 July 1998: "I don’t believe there exists a genre literature. All literature is of a genre. Literature is a single phenomenon, like culture. There are different tools to disseminate culture: one is comics, another is cinema. (…) The man of culture, the story-teller, is always a witness of his time and reflects the contradictions of today, consciously or otherwise. Not a flight from reality, but immersion in reality”.

DYLAN DOG DISCOVERED LOVE by Angiola Codacci-Pisanelli. An article appearing in L’Espresso, 5 March 1998: "His significance in Italian popular fantasy is comparable to that of Stephen King”, says Severino Cesari. “His writing speaks of things that belong to all of us: we ourselves may opt not to be concerned with Tiziano Sclavi, but he will certainly be concerned with us”.

SCLAVI: THE HELL I’VE BEEN THROUGH, interview with Tiziano Sclavi by Cesare Mersail, appearing in Il Corriere della Sera, February 1998: "I would like to be just anybody else: not necessarily Alain Delon, I’d be quite satisfied with Woody Allen…".

BEYOND THE THRESHOLD. DYLAN DOG by Raffaele Mantegazza and Brunetto Salvarani. An article appearing inCem/Mondialità, October 1996: "The thirty-five-year-old Londoner, half `ghostbuster´ and half Philip Marlowe, wins over his readers with his profoundly humane heroism, full of weaknesses, fragility and fears, where one can find a friend, an older brother, or maybe (judging by the statistics, which suggest that loads of girls are mad about our Hero) a gentle lover, thoughtful and honest”.

THE REBELLIOUS NIGHTMARE, interview with Sergio Bonelli, edited by Angelo Calvisi, which appeared in Il Mattino, 1 September 1996: "Dylan Dog, the paper hero who has become a cult idol among the young generations, has reached the age of ten. His success? He manages to transmit dynamic tension to his readers, he tunes in to the sense of malaise of recent years…"

BITTER ORANGE FLOWERS FOR DYLAN DOG, by Renato Gaita. Article appearing in Il Messaggero, 27 July 1996: "At the end of September, the investigator of nightmares marries Lillie, a winsome IRA militant, but things go wrong at the wedding"

DYLAN DOG, A HERO WHO NEVER GOES OUT OF FASHION by Carlo Scaringi.An article appearing in Achab - Corriere dell’Avventura, January-March 1996: "In this sense Dylan Dog is a character of our own time. He may not follow the latest trends in clothes or lifestyles (he spends his leasure time playing Trillo del Diavolo by Giuseppe Tartini on the clarinet or devotes endless hours trying his best to complete the model galleon, despite knowing perfectly well that when it’s finished his life will probably be over as well), but he does have very clear ideas, which he endeavors to defend against widespread human stupidity - though here too without ever raising his voice”.

SAFE SEX EVEN IN COMICS by Claudo Paglieri. An article appearing in Il Secolo XIX, 5 April 1995: "Fascinating Dylan Dog promoted to the ranks of a testimonial for an anti-AIDS campaign, Lupo Alberto ready to enter the fray once again in schools, the new heroine Sprayliz who flouts all taboos and is not in the slightest embarrassed at handling condoms in her latest adventure strip. Each one according to his or her courage and possibilities, comics characters seem to be starting to respond to the calls of those who are trying to halt the spread of AIDS”.

SO CLEVER HE BLOWS YOUR MIND, by Silvia Sereni. An article appearing in Epoca, 13 November 1991: "He shows up in public so seldom, does Sclavi, that there’s already a special iconography that’s sprung up to depict him, like in the case of saints who are always portrayed with the same attributes. Tall, powerfully built, black hair, pale complexion, legend has it that he always wear his white shirt hanging out of his trousers, Clark shoes with red laces…"

TIZIANO SCLAVI COMIC STRIPS FROM THE OTHER WORLD, interview with Tiziano Sclavi by Antonio Gnoli, published in La Repubblica, 30 October 1991. "The stories Sclavi tells are full of intelligence, irony, studded with citations from cultured sources (you may come across a phrase from Baudelaire or maybe from Lewis Carroll). The prevailing mood is the thrill of horror and blood. But it is a geometric horror, planned in the minimum details… ".

THE MASTER OF HORROR IS TERRIBLY TIMID AND ONLY LOVES CATS, interview with Sclavi edited by Giovanna Pajetta, appearing in L’Europeo, 23 September 1991: "Tiziano Sclavi, the creator of Dylan Dog, the most successful Italian comic strip, explains for the first time in an interview why kids absolutely adore his paper nightmares."

THE DETECTIVE OF NIGHTMARES, by Renato Gaita. An article appearing in Il Messaggero, 1 August 1990: "Horror in strips; after literature and cinema, the `noir´ is now conquering comic books. the case of "Dylan Dog", which prints two hundred thousand copies per issues. The protagonist? He resembles Rupert Everett and he deals with the paranormal…"

HORROR IN STRIPS, by Thomas Martinelli. An article appearing in Il Manifesto 26 June 1990: "’An absolutely mind-boggling circulation´; this is trumpeted triumphantly in the latest issue of Dylan Dog. For Sergio Bonelli’s monthly publication has now reached two hundred thousand, confirming the increasing popularity of the investigator of nightmares…"

ITALIAN HORROR, A REAL BOOM, by Mario Serenellini. An article appearing in La Repubblica, 11 May 1990: "No more than two steps away from the Nazionale, that very evening Dylan Dog Fest 2 burst onto the scene, and the aficionados of horror continued to crowd into the hall (1300 seats) over the following days as well, applauding and throwing roses to their favorite "creatures"…"

DEAR FRIEND, I’M WRITING TO YOU DIRECTLY FROM HELL, by Manuela Campari. An article appearing in La Repubblica, 26 January 1990: "Maybe it’s his aura of mystery, or of fascination, but the detective has broken through another barrier, the one that’s opened up young girls’ hearts to him - they’re a considerable portion of his admirers; an unforeseeable departure from the beaten track - heretofore always the preserve of males - of horror…"

CAUGHT IN THE VERY DELIGHTED ACT, interview with Tiziano Sclavi by Ivano Gladimiro Casamonti, appearing in KING, May 1989: "What pleasure is there in telling stories of horrible murders and gruesome monsters, laced with axes, blood splatter, zombies and poltergeists? And then maybe making some weird joke about it, as we see every month in Dylan Dog, the best and the most loved among Italian horror comics? King sent Ivano Gladimiro Casamenti to try and find out what lies behind this mystery. And naturally it all started on a dark stormy night…"

A COMIC STRIP WITH THE CARPENTER GRIFFE, by Ermanno Detti. An article appearing in L’Unità, 2 October 1986: "The project, which not altogether unexpectedly took a year and a half of debate within the publishing house before it could get under way, is very cleverly put together: on the one hand there is an attempt to reach out to the more sophisticated public, which may be somewhat tired of certain bold experiments in comic magazines claiming to be at the vanguard of comics, and on the other, the strip seeks to appeal to the public that has become used to stronger tones."