I love once-in-a-lifetime crossovers!
I was very happy to be reading comics during the Marvel/DC collaborations, and I particularly like it when I am introduced to comics characters I haven’t read before—or haven’t seen in a long while.
I was happily surprised when I came across a news release that talked about DC teaming up with Italian creators from Sergio Bonelli Editore and RW Edizioni to bring Batman and Dylan Dog working together as well as the Joker (who is all the rage these days) and Xabaras, who I honestly had never heard of before, interacting in a story.
I’m anxious to read these books because I’ve never seen these characters in the same book before! I enjoy it when that happens!
SO WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?
Before I dive into this subject, here are some salient paragraphs from the news release:
“Sergio Bonelli Editore and DC, with RW Edizioni, are excited to announce an unprecedented new partnership to co-publish a limited series of history-making crossover comic books featuring characters from both the Bonelli Universe and DC’s Super Hero universe: Dylan Dog and Batman, Xabaras and The Joker. The companies will unite to bring fans the epic first meetings of Italian and American pop culture icons in Lucca Comics and Games 2019.”
Issue #0 of the crossover, titled “Relazioni pericolose” (“Dangerous liaisons”), script by Roberto Recchioni with art by Gigi Cavenago and Werther Dell’Edera, will focus on the characters of Dylan Dog and Batman, with villains Xabaras and The Joker and is scheduled for release at Lucca Comics and Games 2019. The companies are keeping ‘Top Secret’ the details about how they meet and the other characters who will meet in the three numbers limited series crossover projects that are planned to follow in fall 2020.
“Everyone at Sergio Bonelli Editore is thrilled to be part of an event of this magnitude”, said SBE Editor in Chief Editorial Strategy, Michele Masiero. “Our creative imaginations have been racing since the moment this kicked off with our friends at DC and RW”.
IT’S ALWAYS GREAT WHEN COMPANIES FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES WORK TOGETHER
This isn’t the first time an American comics company has worked with European or other creators to bring new stories to their audiences.
The one I really enjoyed was when Marvel and French company Soliel brought international comics to America. I particularly liked Universal War One, YTHAQ, Spin Angels, Husk, Scourge of the Gods, and Sky Doll, and I bought the best hardcover versions of each one I could find for my library.
It’s really fun to dive into another culture and see what stories the people living there enjoy. Something different really gets my attention!
I guess the sales didn’t warrant keeping those comics coming to the U.S. because I haven’t seen one of them in local shops for several years now. If they would bring them back, I would certainly support them!
WHO ARE THOSE GUYS, ANYWAY?
Of course, almost everyone knows who Batman and the Joker are. But Dylan Dog and Xabaras? I remember when Dark Horse put together a book called The Dylan Dog Case Files. I bought that volume in preparation for an American film coming based on the character. The other, however, I knew almost nothing about and had some trouble even pronouncing the name!
So, I turned to the Internet for just who these folks are. First up is Dylan Dog from Wikipedia:
“Dylan Dog is an Italian horror comics series featuring an eponymous character (a paranormal investigator) created by Tiziano Sclavi. The series is mainly set in London, where the protagonist lives, though he occasionally travels elsewhere. Dylan Dog is a penniless “nightmare investigator” (“L’indagatore dell’incubo”) who defies the whole preceding horror tradition with a vein of surrealism and an anti-bourgeois rhetoric.”
His clothes are one of his defining characteristics: He always dresses the same way, in a red shirt, black jacket, and blue jeans; he bought twelve identical outfits after the death of his lover Lillie Connolly. Even during the worst weather, he never wears an overcoat or even carries an umbrella, since, according to him, an overcoat “would ruin his look”, and he thinks that an umbrella is a “useless invention. Especially when it doesn’t rain.”
Now here’s info about Xabaras, this time from Villains Wiki:
“Xabaras is the main villain in the Italian horror comic book Dylan Dog as well as being Dylan’s father. Although he has appeared fairly seldom, he was Dylan’s first and greatest enemy, starting from number one, “The Dawn of the Living Dead.” His name is the anagram of that of the demon Axabras. A biologist on a quest for the serum of immortality, he is the one who awakens the dead and transforms them into zombies.”
Batman does delve into the supernatural on occasion, so it should be fun to see him and Dylan take on a case together. And Joker and Xabaras, who both seem to have delusions of grandeur, will make a curious pairing as well.
My hope is that these books will sell well in both countries. We’ll learn a lot about the Italian characters and characteristics, and fans in Italy might pick up a thing or two about the Dark Knight and his supporting cast as well. It’s a win-win situation, seems like, particularly if the sales numbers are good!
If these comics do well enough, perhaps we’ll see Marvel and Soliel bring more product here to the U.S. I’d love that!
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