Dylan Dog Oldboy 6 | Review
Dylan Dog is still the dear old boy ever
How does a Dylan story come about? What do its authors think while they draw it? These are pertinent questions to which it is really interesting for the reader to be answered. We have seen an approach of this type in the special hardcover volume Dylan Dog Diary and on Dylan Dog Talks and we challenge the readers not to have appreciated.The Old Boy turns out to be enriched precisely by these editorial inserts that are real question-and-answer between the editor and the authors of the two stories. In this register we see the participation of Corrado Roi and Giancarlo Marzano authors of the first story, while Nicola Mari and Giovanni Di Gregorio intervene as authors of the second. A truly remarkable added value.
In the first story entitled “The Exorcists” we witness a trial where a powerful London organized crime boss is exonerated. But mysteriously, this huge subject (a thug who has earned the nickname of "The Bear" in fact) is possessed by a whole host of angels ... indeed by a choir! With incentives that have to do with the not too veiled death threats from the gangster's family, our Dylan and an old acquaintance of him are called to improvise "exorcists". Does Liam the Liar tell you anything? In addition, another well-known character will join the cheerful gang ...
Giancarlo Marzano played a lot with the irony of the recreated circumstance, even tearing us several laughs, and the even more funny thing is that in this story there is really everything about Dylan: horror, nightmares, possessions, irony , self-irony and black humor. And speaking of black, for the occasion, we have on stage - indeed on the tables - the master of shadows Corrado Roi, who delights us as always.
Moving on to "Il mondo capovolto" written by Giovanni Di Gregorio and designed by Nicola Mari we have on our hands a truly “horrophilic” and much more “dylandogophile” story. A Groucho who does not shoot punishments (already seen at other times, such as the unforgettable Lungo Addio), a Dylan praised by newspapers and televisions, a violent Bloch who wants to delay the arrival of retirement as much as possible and, finally, an old boy (really) charlatan, lover of alcohol and meat ... doesn't it seem enough to be a real nightmare?
The horrible circumstances we have anticipated are part of the "upside down world" where our Dylan wakes up , who lives a real nightmare. A story that is very reminiscent of "After Midnight", a nightmare with open eyes that makes Dylan himself doubt his identity. Who is really Dylan? What if the "real" Dylan was the exact opposite of what he has always been in his reality? And what is the real reality? A world turned upside down like a mirror, with a reflection that can contain infinite declinations.
A story that amused us a lot and that, like the previous one, offers several references to Dylan's historical narratives (Through the Looking Glass and After Mezzanotte ed) also aiming at the Dylanian multiverse protagonist especially in the regular series. The tables by Nicola Mari are perfectly combined with the atmospheres imagined by Di Gregorio.
A last note of merit is all for the cover of the Cestaro brothers who clearly pay homage to the canvas I Nottambuli (Nighthawks) by the great artist American Edward Hopper, they deliver yet another masterpiece. But a poster / blow-up as an insert? They did it with the first issue of the Old Boy and, in light of the incredible works hosted by the covers, we wouldn't mind being able to hang them on our walls!
Conclusions
The sixth issue of the series Old Boy is a true model of Dylandoghian culture, which is able to offer, thanks to some of its greatest performers, two stories full of everything that has made us fall in love with Dylan all these years. Nightmare, irony, impossible situations, paradoxes and cliffangers are the absolute protagonists and are distributed with originality and fidelity to the character.Yet, we are in 2021, the editorial history of this very lucky character has long since passed thirty ' years, questioning his editor and his readers several times on the need to "rejuvenate" the character. Well, stories like those given in the pages of this issue clearly demonstrate that Dylan still has everything that all readers can enjoy… just give vent to the right creative vein.
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