Issue 22 of Dylan Dog Old Boy 22 presents two very dark stories, with dramatic atmospheres and rather heavy reading them. Both didn’t excite me, lacking in pathos and labile action. The events have no bite and drag towards a forced and approximate ending.
In “Horror Education” with screenplay by Gigi Simeoni and drawings by Marco Money; the boy Danny, who turns out to be a model student, contacts Dylan Dog, because in his class, for fun, a séance was held which brought in a shady figure from the other dimension with his head locked in a bag of cellophane.
From this moment some strange murders begin to take place, the victims all died with their heads inside a bag. The boy’s mother appears to be involved in this affair: Mrs Margaret, a teacher at the Romford Institute where her son studies, who is a psychotherapist with psychic powers and the other figure who has something to say in the events is the ex husband Michael Gilla, who however appears to have been missing for about a year.
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the story is not the best, however the narrative is supported by an accurate drawing with pleasant noir notes that give that aspect of a 70s crime film.
However, the victims all have something that connects them…
In “Christmas Nightmare” with story by Stefano Fantelli and drawings by Piero Dall’Agnol and Giorgio Pontrelli, Dylan Dog is on the trail of a mysterious preacher of the outcasts, who lives among the homeless, who in the name of a god , disfigures the faces of the unfortunate, as if it were wax, for a new rebirth.
In his investigations Dylan will meet the young Andie, who had a dream of becoming a dancer but who then found herself an outcast…
Unfortunately in this second story of the book, even the drawing does not satisfy the eye. It appears too static and geometric, poorly cared for, almost as if it were wrapped in a veil that did not allow the faces and physiognomies of the protagonists to be seen clearly.
From my point of view, I would reduce the stories of the nightmare investigator, I would carefully consider what kind of script to bring to life with a captivating drawing.