Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio. This week, Bennett looks at Dylan Dog, Super Dinosaur, and Image Comics.When you adapt a comic into a movie it seems the most obvious thing to do would be to produce a special movie tie-in edition of the source material, but it’s an opportunity that’s often missed. We’re still waiting to hear if there will be any new American editions of Herge’s Tintin in stories when Spielberg’s Tintin arrives at the multiplex.
I have to admit I had pretty much assumed there wouldn’t be a new edition of the Dylan Dog comics to coincide with the release of the Dylan Dog: Dead of Night movie. But a quick Internet search proved me wrong; just in time for its release we have The Dylan Dog Case Files, a 680 page black and white omnibus for $24.99. “More than 56 million copies sold worldwide!” screams the cover copy, but sadly precious few of those were sold in the United States.
In case anyone forgot back in the 90’s Dark Horse made an ill-timed attempt to bring to America several of the popular characters published by Sergio Bonelli Editore in Italy in a series of 96 page, black & white 5-1/4” x 8-3/4”, $4.95 graphic novelettes. They included the science fiction Nathan Never, paranormal investigator Martin Mystery and the horror themed Dylan Dog. I say “ill-timed” because if Dark Horse had tried it a decade later they might have found a more receptive readership in book stores as well as digital downloads. But unfortunately the direct sales market proved to be completely resistant to both the characters and the format.
Which is a shame, especially about Dylan Dog, because while there’s a flotilla of psychic investigators, ghost breakers and monster hunters plying their trade in American comics, none are anything like him. And while an all too human occult detective might sound a bit like John Constantine,* he’d have nothing but contempt for the multi-phobic vegetarian romantic. Plus while Dylan Dog does deal with creatures on the usual supernatural suspect list (vampires, zombies, etc.) a lot of his stories have more of an unsettling, nightmarish quality emphasized by the moody black and white artwork.
The movie Dylan Dog: Dead of Night made its debut in Italy on March 26 and while the reaction was mixed, all the critics were pretty much in agreement on one point; the Dylan Dog from the movie has little in common with the one from the comics. Not that this will have much if anything to do with how it performs at the box office in the States where the property is almost completely unknown. I’m guessing how it does will have more to do with horror fans having to decide between seeing it or Priest, which, confidentially, is also based on a comic.
While on the subject of Image I have to confess that sometimes my impression of the company remains stuck in the 90’s, back when they were purveyors of such fine titles as Bloodstrike and Boof and the Bruise Crew. I often complain about there being a paucity of independently owned and operated comics today, the way I complain about the general lack of diversity. Then I did an inventory and realized just how many of my favorite, independent, diverse comics come from Image these days, a list that includes King City, Phonogram, Marineman, Nonplayer, Morning Glories, Carbon Grey, Firebreather, Orc Stain, The Intrepids and of course Invincible and Savage Dragon.
* Point of fact, while Constantine predates Dylan Dog as a supporting player (his first appearance being in 1985’s Saga of the Swamp Thing #37), Dylan Dog’s series began in 1986 while Hellblazer didn’t begin until 1988.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
