Dylan Dog 409, Back to the dark, the review
Dylan Dog, if everything is silent in the dark…
It was the summer of 1989 when the Il Buio book hit newsstands Italian, with the texts by Claudio Chiaverotti, who has just arrived in Sergio Bonelli's stable and the tables by Pietro Dall'Agnol. A monster that kills by acting between the darkness and the nightmares of its victims, like an evil genius evoked through the nursery rhymes of children playing in the courtyard. But for his victims and Dylan Dog it was not just a nightmare: Mana Cerace aka Philip Crane is a serial killer in the flesh, who buried him and he is not dead ... ready for a new return in the dark in this new Dylandogian universe.If in the dark all is silent you will hear Mana Cerace arrive without noise with the step of terror! Blind gaze and grim laugh, they buried him and he is not dead! One, two, three and four, it has claws like a cat! Three and four and five and six, if I were you I would run away! Six and seven and eight and nine, I would love to be somewhere else! But if the darkness still lasts we can only be afraid, because only the light can kill Mana Cerace!
In fact, in the book Back in the dark, just arrived in our newsstands, Dylan has already faced the threat of Mana Cerace in this new universe, when the young Dylan was still in the forces of Scotland Yard. But as we will see in this new story, the monster clearly inspired by the mythical Freddy Krueger, will return in an absolutely new way thanks to the dangerous and blind actions of a group of worshipers of the dark, starting a dedicated trilogy called "Mana Cerace", as the cover of this month also says.
Read also: Dylan Dog vs Old Boy: the investigator of the nightmare that everyone likes
At the beginning of the story, Dylan will be alarmed by Jeremy Badland, right after the murder of a well-known collector of objects belonging to serial killers, and the simultaneous disappearance of the iron with which Philip Crane took his own life in prison.
L The register has a particular historical-narrative relevance, since, in addition to adding a further piece in Dylan's life and his experience in the roles of the police, it traces the genesis of Mana Cerace, his childhood, revealing his family ties, up to to reach the prison and the up a transformation into the ruthless monster of Mana Cerace. Everything is told as a sort of magical rebirth, just like the aforementioned mythical Freddy conceived by Wes Craven.
One, two, three and four, it has claws like a cat!
What we can hold in our hands this month is a great attempt to celebrate one of the most notorious villains in Dylan Dog's history. For the occasion, the very same authors who in 1989 took care of the register in which Mana Cerace made his first appearance, or Chiaverotti to the texts and as the original creator of the same character, were called to arms, while we still find Pietro Dall'Agnol who at the time took care of the tables (here with the participation of Francesco Cattani). But that's not all.Probably, in order not to distort what has been seen over the course of over thirty years, Chiaverotti invites other minor characters seen in the other stories where the monster was the protagonist to the party in honor of Mana Cerace. another character already known to readers will occupy a leading role, giving all readers a "bridge" between the old and new canon of Dylan Dog. And perhaps this is the best value of the script put in place and that we will see in the next two issues. The author has not lost the polish of the past: Mana Cerace terrifies and fascinates in this new myth of his, gluing with all the new unpublished pieces of this new course of the nightmare investigator, trying to make the most its multiverses possible. A striking example are the recurring scenes (an expedient already seen in other books ed) where Dylan has "intuitions" or that feeling of déjà vu ... as if he had already experienced some events.
Certain not to make particular spoilers, the finale is perhaps the most evocative scene, a triumph of black poetry, which sees a London in the grip of the darkness by Mana Cerace. Applause.
The cover is a splendid representation of the summary of what is contained in the book: Mana Cerace together with a young Crane who originated it and, of course, our Dylan. Another incredible performance by Gigi Cavenago. While the tables in general are on a decent level: perhaps some models represented by Dall'Agnol and Cattani are too heterogeneous.
Read also: Dylan Dog between Old Boy and the new nightmare, the interview to Roberto Recchioni
We are facing one of the most promising mini cycles after the first of "666", with all the credentials to satisfy the most demanding palates and the "old guard" of the investigator, while those who have only recently come to Craven Road, will be able to witness the rebirth of evil. You have been warned: “Don't be alone in the dark”. If you are used to listening to music while reading, I can only recommend Bruce Springsteen's “Dancing in the Dark” on the album “Born in the USA”.
The second one has just arrived on Amazon Dylan Dog's volume of Tales of Tomorrow: Of Death and Heaven by Tiziano Sclavi.
