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phileasfogg's review against another edition
5.0
A collection of seven graphic novels, originally published in Italy, mostly in the mid-to-late 1980s.
Dylan Dog is a 'nightmare investigator', a London private detective specialising in the supernatural. He looks like Rupert Everett, c1985. He's assisted by Groucho, who looks (and talks) a lot like Groucho Marx c1940. Groucho is a key part of the all-pervading weirdness of the comic; initially he seems like an annoying gimmick, but the real weirdness comes when the writer and artists breathe warm likeable life into the character. Groucho's probably the reason DD hasn't been seen much in the English-speaking world. Apart from having to translate the words into English, American publishers have to shave off Groucho's moustache (and change his name to Felix) to appease the real Groucho Marx's current owners.
I liked this collection a lot, and would read more DD if I could. Several of the stories have a quality of genuine weirdness, seamlessly blending the everyday dreamlike reality of Dylan Dog's world with slightly more dreamlike realities. The best stories read like sexy nightmares, following the narrative illogic of dreams. From time to time they evoked half-buried memories of the old EC horror comics I read (as reprints) when I was a kid.
I've been vaguely aware of DD for a while. In the 1990s I saw Dellamorte Dellamore, a great Italian film adapted from a novel written by the creator of DD. It stars Rupert Everett as someone who looks like Dylan Dog and lives in a very DD world of sex, surrealism and zombies, but who isn't Dylan Dog. (In America this film is usually called Cemetery Man, but don't hold that against it.) At the time, I AltaVista-ed it and found out as much about DD as you could on the mid-1990s web.
I saw this in a bookshop a few years ago. It caught my eye, due to my vague recollection of that internet search in c1996. A quick flick through it - monsters! naked ladies! Rupert Everett! Groucho Marx? - got me interested. Also Umberto Eco was on the cover saying it was awesome, like the Bible and Homer. It was $50 so I put it down and ordered it from Book Depository. Since I always have at least 600 books on my reading pile I only just got around to it. It was great for bedtime reading, because it's a lot like being asleep and dreaming already.
Dylan Dog is a 'nightmare investigator', a London private detective specialising in the supernatural. He looks like Rupert Everett, c1985. He's assisted by Groucho, who looks (and talks) a lot like Groucho Marx c1940. Groucho is a key part of the all-pervading weirdness of the comic; initially he seems like an annoying gimmick, but the real weirdness comes when the writer and artists breathe warm likeable life into the character. Groucho's probably the reason DD hasn't been seen much in the English-speaking world. Apart from having to translate the words into English, American publishers have to shave off Groucho's moustache (and change his name to Felix) to appease the real Groucho Marx's current owners.
I liked this collection a lot, and would read more DD if I could. Several of the stories have a quality of genuine weirdness, seamlessly blending the everyday dreamlike reality of Dylan Dog's world with slightly more dreamlike realities. The best stories read like sexy nightmares, following the narrative illogic of dreams. From time to time they evoked half-buried memories of the old EC horror comics I read (as reprints) when I was a kid.
I've been vaguely aware of DD for a while. In the 1990s I saw Dellamorte Dellamore, a great Italian film adapted from a novel written by the creator of DD. It stars Rupert Everett as someone who looks like Dylan Dog and lives in a very DD world of sex, surrealism and zombies, but who isn't Dylan Dog. (In America this film is usually called Cemetery Man, but don't hold that against it.) At the time, I AltaVista-ed it and found out as much about DD as you could on the mid-1990s web.
I saw this in a bookshop a few years ago. It caught my eye, due to my vague recollection of that internet search in c1996. A quick flick through it - monsters! naked ladies! Rupert Everett! Groucho Marx? - got me interested. Also Umberto Eco was on the cover saying it was awesome, like the Bible and Homer. It was $50 so I put it down and ordered it from Book Depository. Since I always have at least 600 books on my reading pile I only just got around to it. It was great for bedtime reading, because it's a lot like being asleep and dreaming already.
pmileham's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
librarycobwebs's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
courtney_mcallister's review against another edition
3.0
So, Dylan Dog is just your average comic book hero - a British gumshoe specializing in monsters and paranormal activity. And he plays the clarinet, was named after Dylan Thomas, and has Groucho Marx for a sidekick. Typical comic book stuff, right?! These comics are so crazy and surreal I couldn't help but enjoy myself. There are some really cheesy plot lines, and Dylan's random romances can get annoying, but overall, Dylan Dog is like a witty b-movie that quotes Camus.
The issues included in the "case files" have all been translated from Italian, so you have to give the language a little wiggle room. I was much more disoriented by the different drawing styles, actually. Then, I realized that each story featured in this volume was drawn by a different person. No wonder they were inconsistent! Dylan Dog first started running in the mid-80s, so there's also a large period of time being compressed in the case files. Also, the Groucho character is called Felix in the English translation, due to some legal disputes.
One suggestion for other readers: don't read this all at once. I went through the whole thing in about two days, and I think that made the inconsistencies more irritating. Also, since the selections are not meant to directly feed into one another, you're not going to miss out on references that are designed to tie issues together. Read one story at a time and let the sheer gusto of this distinctive series get under your skin. I hope they translate more of these comics into English!
Most of this was 3.5 stars, actually. My profound hatred of the second story is so powerful that I can't give the volume a higher rating.
The issues included in the "case files" have all been translated from Italian, so you have to give the language a little wiggle room. I was much more disoriented by the different drawing styles, actually. Then, I realized that each story featured in this volume was drawn by a different person. No wonder they were inconsistent! Dylan Dog first started running in the mid-80s, so there's also a large period of time being compressed in the case files. Also, the Groucho character is called Felix in the English translation, due to some legal disputes.
One suggestion for other readers: don't read this all at once. I went through the whole thing in about two days, and I think that made the inconsistencies more irritating. Also, since the selections are not meant to directly feed into one another, you're not going to miss out on references that are designed to tie issues together. Read one story at a time and let the sheer gusto of this distinctive series get under your skin. I hope they translate more of these comics into English!
Most of this was 3.5 stars, actually. My profound hatred of the second story is so powerful that I can't give the volume a higher rating.
noysh's review
3.0
There are seven stories in this collection. The first four and the seventh are mildly interesting and amusing tales. But the 5th and 6th stories, Morgana and After Midnight are fantastic examples of comic storytelling. I would have to say that the Morgana storyline is perhaps the most cleverly self-aware comic stories I've read in a long while.
akodoken's review
4.0
The Dylan Dog Case Files consists of the six issue mini-series printed in the U.S. by Dark Horse as well as the one-shot "Dylan Dog: Zed". I presume this collection to be some of the best selections from the decades long run of the popular Italian horror comic. I found the writing quirky, intriguing, evocative and quite often touching. Dylan is a nightmare investigator and a very complicated character in every sense. All in all this book is a compelling series of stories and a quick page turner. Even at close to 700 pages I flew through this title flying from one page to the next. I strongly recommend Dylan Dog for fans of horror and the dark side of comics.
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