The Dylan Dog Case Files by Tiziano Sclavi

On this side of the Pacific, fans of Hellboy may not know as much about Dylan Dog, who is a phenomenon in his home country of Italy. Hellboy gained a wide audience thanks in large part to Guillermo del Toro’s two films. “My stories try to display the light touch of an Ernst Lubitsch film, the brilliant dialogue of a Neil Simon comedy and the visionary hallucinatory force of films by George Romero,” says Dylan Dog creator Tiziano Sclavi. With Dylan Dog, the references lean heavily on filmmakers.

In Hellboy’s case, the ties are predominantly to pulp fiction of the 1920s and 1930s, folklore and mythology, and classic ‘weird fiction’, along with comic book icons (notably Jack Kirby), and fantasy art legends (Frank Franzetta being a key early influence). Despite their fantastic and often horrific circumstances, at heart each character is a working-class hero, just trying to get the job done.ĭylan Dog and Hellboy wear their inspirations proudly, making references that range from subtle to blatant, and creating an entertaining, often brilliant farrago of horror, fantasy, comedy, philosophy and other traditions: pulp fiction of the 1920s and 1930s, horror comics of the 1950s and 1960s, horror films of the 1970s and 1980s, mythology and folklore from around the world, historical events and figures, and countless pop cultural touchstones. They mine similar territory for their strange and macabre tales, but twist and develop their inspirations in different directions: where Hellboy hearkens to the pulp magazines and ‘weird fiction’ of the 1920s and 1930s, Dylan Dog is practically obsessive in its allusions to films.Īs characters, they could be satanic siblings, or infernal in-laws: Hellboy, the Hades-born offspring of a witch and a demon and Dylan Dog, in love with an undead woman who was likely his mother, and battling his nemesis, the devil, who could be his father. Dylan Dog and Hellboy offer fascinating examples of pastiche in storytelling.

The Dylan Dog Case Files by Tiziano Sclavi