POBB December 14, 2025

Pick of the Brown Bag

December 14, 2025

by

Ray Tate

Created by Tiziano Sclavi, Dylan Dog is an occult investigator with his own long-running comic book series originating in Italy.  This figure may ring a bell to the English speakers of the world and not just Europeans.

Legends of Tomorrow's Brandon Routh starred as Dylan in a feature film that didn't gain a lot of traction, to be kind. 

Italian director and frequent Dario Argento collaborator Michele Soavi indebted his 1994 critically-acclaimed dark fantasy movie Cemetery Man to Dylan Dog.  

With those works in mind, it's safe to say that Dylan Dog has been hanging around in the pop culture consciousness.  You may have seen Dylan somewhere before without knowing who he was.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that he teamed up with Batman: ISBN: 978-1-77952-948-0. 

The story begins when the Joker receives a letter from an old acquaintance, Dylan Dog's arch-nemesis Dr. Xabaras.  

Writer Roberto Recchioni takes the opportunity to tie the villains together with a smart updating to the Joker's history.

The inclusion of a doctor in the house of the Joker hasn't been done since Tim Burton's Batman.  So, it's a relatively fresh revisit.

After reading the letter, the Joker departs Gotham for London and leaves Batman a parting gift.

The Joker's victimization of this unfortunate justifies Batman beating the Joker senseless in later panels.  In fact you can imagine Batman compartmentalizing his anger.  Letting it stew and waiting for the perfect moment to serve.

The prologue does a lot with very few pages.  It establishes Recchioni's and artists Werther Dell'Edera's and Gigi Cavenago's take on Batman.  It creates the relationship between the Joker and Dr. Xabaras.

In the next scene, the evil doctor returns to face Dylan Dog and his assistant Groucho, a dead ringer for his namesake.

Don't be alarmed by the colors.  These are out of context.  Within frame of reference, they work well to contrast the earthen zombie tones and the hot hues of conflagration.

Batman interrogates his various squealers and follows the Joker.  He makes contact with Dylan.  Dylan was the last to see Xabaras alive.  As coincidence would have it another familiar Gothamite made contact with Dylan before Bruce arrived.

It was huge shock to see Selina Kyle in this book.  In fact, a number of DC Comics characters step onto stage.  Some of which I'll not spoil until you've been amply warned.  

Selina belongs in the Batman universe.  Her appearance though a delightful surprise isn't unwarranted.  Other guest-stars in Batman/Dylan Dog are at best tangential to Batman mythology.

Tipped off by Bruce Wayne's appearance, Dylan Dog searches for Xabaras at his last known hideout and encounters Killer Croc, whom the Joker hired as his muscle.  Fortunately for Dylan if Selina Kyle is in London, Catwoman cannot be far behind.  

Recchioni's, Dell'Edera's and Cavenago's Catwoman is perfect.  Her reasons for doing everything fit her personality.  Why she's in London?  Why she interferes in Dylan's untimely demise?  How she can wrangle Killer Croc with just a whip and pluck.  

Catwoman's interference should secure Dylan Dog's continued existence.  Should.  

In addition to providing Killer Croc with steady employment, the Joker surfaces another threat for the Nightmare Investigator.  

This peril comes in the form of another merger between DC and Sergio Bonnelli Comics, publisher of Dylan Dog.  The meld produces unique undead creatures that soon overwhelm Dylan and Groucho.  Fortunately, not his Dark Detective co-star.

Now it's official the team-up between Batman and Dylan Dog.

Or not.  Batman doesn't warm up to Dylan immediately.  Their methods strongly differ.  In fact Dylan Dog shares more with Dirk Gently.

Meanwhile, the catalyst of the uneasy partnership finds herself in dire straits.  

I could rattle on about the animosity between Catwoman and the Joker.  Suffice to say it's 1940s long.  Recchioni may or may not know about the Catwoman/Joker antagonism, but he really nails the zeitgeist.

Catwoman escapes all on her own.  Yay!  She quickly finds Batman, who drops the pretense and invites Dylan Dog on his quest to take down the Joker.

This moment also begins the fish out of water humor threading the plot of the book.  Batman is a very funny character.  He just doesn't tell jokes.  Dylan is ostensibly an ordinary guy, and his reactions to Batman's ways are a riot.

Batman takes the poisoned Catwoman back to his London headquarters.  There we get to enjoy Batman's characterization as a detective and scientist.

Batman and Dylan Dog investigate another of Dr. Xabaras' lair, and they find instead a Jokerized Groucho leading a lurch of zombies.  

Once they overcome the Joker's undead troops, Batman takes advantage of the resources given to him to find a means to cure Catwoman and Groucho.  

Okay.  Okay.  Spoiler Ahoy.  Maybe you thought Recchioni would kill anti-hero and sidekick.  I mean technically.  None of this is canonical.  At best it occurs on one of DC's many earths where Batman, Catwoman and Dylan Dog cohabit.  

A recovered Groucho reveals the Joker's plans go beyond meeting up with Dr. Xabaras. 

The Joker intends to resurrect another of Dylan Dog's rogue's gallery.  I'll not reveal the identity in case some better versed in Dylan Dog are reading.  The name will mean nothing to the Batman community.

One of the reasons why I choose to buy these out of left field team-ups is that Batman is usually broken down into the facts the whole world knows.  I don't need to follow an ongoing Batman book that I may not like.  As expected, Rechionni streamlines Batman beautifully.

For example, he's wealthy millionaire Bruce Wayne.  Alfred Pennyworth attends to him as wealthy scion of the Wayne Family and as crimefighter Batman.  Selina Kyle alias Catwoman is a known associate.  Batman mentions Robin.  He answers Commissioner Gordon's signal, etc. etc.

Though Recchioni simplifies the continuity that surrounds Batman, he nevertheless presents a complex character to entertain.  He delves into Batman's philosophy, his utter hatred of the Joker, his refusal to kill.  

Someone who hasn't been following Batman's adventures of late as well as a seasoned Batman fan can pick up this book, dig right in and be rewarded for reading.  I furthermore liked Dylan Dog.  He didn't feel gratuitous or a cypher.  Rather integral to the mystery.

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So far, Batman/Dylan Dog has been pulp, science-fiction disguised as horror.  What with the Jokerized zombies.  Now, the book turns a corner and takes the alleyway to the supernatural.  

The first step in Dylan's investigation.  Establish whether or not the Joker actually succeeded in raising the dead from Hell.  

At first, Dylan Dog uses one of his more benign contacts.  A hilarious lady psychic who happens to be in touch with Batman's parents.  On the other hand, maybe she merely suspects Batman's origin story involved the death of his parents.  Fictional psychics can go both ways: really empowered and/or really good detectives.  

When she's unsuccessful, Dylan must consult someone seedier: John Constantine.  One of those tangential Batman mythology characters I referred to.

Again.  Hilarious.  This book is entertaining in so many ways.  The path to Hell incidentally gives a nod to Ghostbusters.  Yes.  I saw what you did there.  Cheeky devils.  

Even John an arch magic user.  I doubt he would refer to himself as a magician, wizard or sorcerer.  Nothing so "wanky" for John, thank you very much.  Anyway.   Although a practitioner of sorcery, John still needs a guide for Hell.

Jason Blood.  Jason was John Constantine before John Constantine.  

Created by Jack Kirby in 1972, Jason Blood and his alter-ego Etrigan made their home in Gotham City, but originally never met Batman.  

It would take Bob Haney and Jim Aparo for that to happen a year later.  Since then.  Creators considered The Demon and Jason associates of Batman.

...Gone, gone of form of man, arise the Demon Etrigan...

Etrigan leads John Constantine and Dylan Dog through Hell.  Along the way, we get to enjoy the Demon's terrifically imagined battle against a demonic minotaur.  

Recchioni imbues the impression that the Demon is helping John and Dylan only for the sport in Hell.  That is a brilliant explanation.  The one thing that ties all the different written versions of the Demon together is challenge.  The Demon likes to fight and seeks usually to kill or destroy his opponent.  Merlin first called forth the Demon to defend Camelot.

Once on the beaten path, Dylan Dog and Constantine discover the worst has come.  See what I did there?  The Joker did indeed bring out the dead, ostensibly for a playmate.  Not sexual.  Just somebody to pal around with while he kills people.  It doesn't go well for the Joker.

In the end, Batman, Dylan Dog, Jason Blood, John Constantine and Dylan Dog cast member Madame Trelkovski must combine forces to bring justice to the unjust world.  

I'm not usually big on hocus hocus.  The eerie elements in Batman/Dylan Dog were reminiscent of the juxtaposition against the real world in Kolchak the Nightstalker and The Sixth Sense, the television show with Gary Collins.  In other words.  Fantastic.

POBB November 21, 2022

Pick of the Brown Bag

November 21, 2022

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag.  I'm Ray Tate, and this week I take a break from such books as Batgirls, Nightwing and The Human Target, which inadvertently became frequent subjects, to cast an eye at The New Golden Age and Star-Girl The Lost Children.  I promise to review some Marvel and indy books in the near future.

I would include #PickoftheBrownBag for Twitter users, but what with Elon Musk burning Twitter to dust, that doesn't seem logical.  I'm still sticking with Twitter for now and will post some short thoughts of the books under that hashtag, but you know....ah...well...c'est la vie.  Twitter had a good run.

So, for the current and future postings, I'm going to add something to the first paragraph just before the body of the review.

Pick up The New Golden Age and Star-Girl The Lost Children.  Even if you're not keen on the well-written stories, the art in both will wow you.  See? That was easy.  

The Golden Age boasts the pedigree of writer Geoff Johns, artists Jerry Ordway, Todd Nauck, Steve Lieber, Diego Olorteguei, J.P. Mayer, Scott Hanna, Scott Kollins, Viktor Bogdonovic, Brandon Peterson and Gary Frank.  

With color art by Nicolas Filardi, John Kalisz, Matt Herms, Jordan Boyd and Brad Anderson, Golden Age clocks in at forty-eight pages with no--repeat--no ads.  But is it worth the five dollar price tag?  Affirmative.

The story opens with young Helena Wayne enjoying a snowy day in Gotham City.  

Created in 1977 by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton, Helena Wayne is the daughter of Batman and Catwoman.  Helena becomes the Huntress to avenge her mother's death.

For those not in the know, DC thrives on the concept of parallel earths and the multiverse.  Defined in the name.  

The above scenario occurred on earth two.  Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino who gave us The Flash of Two Worlds. conceived earth two for pure entertainment.  Other writers used the concept to explain character ages.

Historically Batman existed for eighty plus years.  He doesn't look like he's aged a stick.  It's a fictional conceit, but how to explain it in context?  The Powers That Be split Batman in two.  

The then modern Batman from the seventies' Bronze Age actually began his career in the nineteen sixties.  

The original led his life on earth two.  He started in 1939, married Catwoman, had a daughter and retired his cowl at the same time his counterpart built his considerable reputation.  More or less.

Writer Johns rationally points out that by now the earth two Batman would be dust.  So he takes the Batman Family on a new spin.  

Johns distinguishes this Batman and Catwoman duality in another way.  Catwoman and Batman plied their trades against the character backdrop of the Justice Society.  The 1940s group that started all superhero associations in comic books.

The story nevertheless focuses on Helena Wayne enjoying a snowy day in Gotham City.  What could be more innocent? Reading on, we discover Helena's being watched.

This is no child's nightmare.  

.  

The villain of the piece flits through this new earth two's history at will.  Past, present, future.  

His motive is suitably bizarre and it laces the proceedings with intense drama.  Furthermore, the figure appears to tie-in with Johns' other major work that's flying under the radar.  

The Star Girl Spring Break Special suggested that somebody or something kidnapped all the hero sidekicks from time and space.  The Golden Age introduces readers to those partners in heroism.

Johns even creates dummy Who's Who in the DC Universe entries for these new heroes and villains.  

So, yes, The Boom's entry states she first arrived in Flash Comics #10, but that's utter rubbish.  Flash Comics literally relates another, more innocuous story.

With the creation of Robin in 1940, Bob Kane and Bill Finger invented the kid sidekick.  The concept of the sidekick still didn't catch on until much later.  Most of the Justice Society did not have kid sidekicks.  

Johns cheekily contradicts that they did.  The heroes just don't remember them because some force abducted them from history.  

The New Golden Age closes on the death of Batman.  This moment which factors historically into a lot of JSA stories of the past becomes pivotal in kicking off a new mystery to be solved by the daughter of Catwoman and Batman, the new Huntress of earth two.

As previously stated, The Golden Age also reignites the mystery Star-Girl's been investigating with the Red Arrow, Emiko Queen, sister of the Green Arrow.  

You can be forgiven for not knowing who Emiko Queen is.  She's relatively new and partially the result of Willa Holland's wonderful portrayal of Oliver Queen's sister Thea on The Arrow.

To confuse matters more, Emiko actually did manifest in The Arrow during its final seasons.  Emiko played by Sea Shimooka.

The Lost Children begins with the obscure heroes TNT and Dan Dynamite engaging in a typical high speed chase in pursuit of garden variety bank robbers.  An indication of a more innocent time.

Though Johns created new sidekicks in The Golden Age, I'm here to tell you.  These guys actually are historical heroes from the comics.  They just didn't make it big.  

They're part of "...and others."

Of course TNT also represents Johns' double joke.  The original Star-Spangled Kid, the former sobriquet of Stargirl, naturally started in Star-Spangled Comics.   So, The Lost Children in a way continues the umbrella titled book from the 1940s.

Anyway.  Courtney's and Emiko's investigation takes them to the research of a now elderly Dan "Dynamite" Dunbar.

As you can see, Courtney's as in the dark about some of these sidekicks as we are...psst...that's because many never appeared in any comic book until now.

Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself though.  Maybe you don't even know who Star-Girl is.  

Geoff Johns and Lee Moder created a new Star-Spangled Kid, whom Johns based on his late sister Courtney.  

Make no mistake. For Johns, Star-Girl is real personal.  She's appeared in several iterations on television, including Smallville and Legends of Tomorrow, before gaining her own television series.  Its her current state that influences the story and background of The Lost Children the most.

Actress Amy Smart makes Coutney's mom the everyman, moral compass of the show.  Because of Smart's humanistic treatment of the character, Courtney's mom gains much more substance in the very first issue of this series.

Courtney's step-dad Pat Dugan is actually an old 1940s hero named Stripesy.  Nowadays he tools around in a big mechanical suit, known as STRIPE.  Johns transforms Pat.  He becomes more relaxed to match his essayer Luke Wilson.

The natural fusion between television series and comic book character combined with her multiple appearances forms a more interesting and richer superhero.  Stargirl still boasts the optimism that Johns wanted to preserve for his sister's memory, but Courtney is now more seasoned than before.  She's measured rather than headstrong.  That makes her an ideal partner for the Red Arrow as they investigate the mystery of The Lost Children.

While writing this entry for the POBB, Kevin Conroy died.  In every interview I saw, every appearance, I just knew.  This guy was one of the good ones.

The underrated Island City

His death hits hard, but Kevin lives on as Batman.  

Hopefully forever.