After a quiet announcement six years ago, Italian comic team Roberto Recchioni, Gigi Cavenago, Werther Dell’Edera, and Giovanna Niro finally released the first issue of the anticipated Batman/Dylan Dog. The first issue, totaling 81 pages, brings a lot from the Italian comic book scene to the American one that has the potential to make or break the miniseries. For American readers, this series acts as their first foray into the world of Dylan Dog and the many horrors that Sergio Bonelli Editore has introduced into the company’s long-running horror series, and with the character’s growing resurgence in America, it was no surprise that an eventual crossover with a superhero was announced.
With that in mind, the first installment in this crossover between the Nightmare Investigator and the Dark Knight is beautiful. The artistic trio of Cavenago, Dell’Edera, and Niro do a lot of heavy lifting with Recchioni’s scripting as we see a beautiful insight into their interpretations of Gotham City and Batman himself. The most striking aspect of Bruce’s design we have seen is that he takes the mannerisms of a gargoyle in both build and composure as they truly depict the vigilante as a stone guardian who protects the city. Bruce’s design isn’t the only domineering design that takes presence over the story either as we see the many designs made for beloved characters such as Alfred Pennyworth, Selina Kyle, and The Joker as they’re carefully placed throughout the story.
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Additionally, the trio does wonders when it comes to the action and intrigue of the story as every single page flows to the other in a fluid way which allows the story to be beautiful yet easy to digest. The largest problem that readers will run into with this story is the scripting itself. While there are many benefits to Recchioni’s style of writing with the story’s comedy and often pulpy moments of writing with his work on Dylan Dog, his scripting for Batman is less brilliant as readers may find this to be a rather simple interpretation of Bruce Wayne rather than a larger deconstruction of his character that many crave.
Besides that, however, the script nails the causal mixture of worlds brilliantly as the story grounds itself in a universe where the London we see in Dylan Dog’s stories is just another piece of the DC universe, functioning as any other city with an extraordinary investigator. The crossover and its writing use techniques that were once found in classic Marvel/DC crossover stories where each team and/or character are in a world of pure co-existence, which allows for the story to completely take presence rather than the two characters having to introduce each other and their larger world right off the bat. Ricchioni uses the concept of Batman being a myth to help cement this into the story and it works phenomenally as it plays with the idea that outside of Gotham City, Batman is just a mere bedtime story to the rest of the world.
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Something that can be appreciated with Batman/Dylan Dog #1″is that the comic itself is made by an all-Italian creative team. It would’ve been too easy for DC to set the creative team up with an American co-writer. There is a certain unfamiliarity with the writing style that makes the story feel unique. Any newcomer coming into Dylan Dog with a more recognizable writer in the industry would have a different experience reading the story that wouldn’t allow for the story to feel like what it is, a Dylan Dog story.
Ultimately, Batman/Dylan Dog #1 is a sometimes messy but always intriguing introduction into a crossover featuring two beloved detectives in comic book history. I can’t wait to see how far this journey goes.
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