Comics and transgenerational memory in Italy. The case of Dylan Dog

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 1986 Tiziano Sclavi published Dylan Dog. This commercial series rapidly attracted a massive audience of young readers by engaging with key issues within the transnational sub-cultures of their generation: animal rights, antiracism, the inclusion of marginalised communities. These themes underline the first series of Dylan Dog (n. 1–100, 1986–1995) reflecting the wider production and the political engagement of its author. By incorporating literary, musical and cinematic references, Sclavi empowered a generation of Italians readers who would identify in the transnational aesthetic canon of Dylan Dog. The identification between text and readers couldn’t be replicated in the subsequent two series (n. 101–324, 1995–2013; 2013-now) despite the continuing attempt to engage with cultural issues and to develop the visual style of the comic series by drawing from TV series. By examining the creative and commercial strategies developed by the authors of Dylan Dog over three decades, the article analyse how elements of the cultural memory of different generations may be represented in a comics series and which factors facilitated or impeded the identification between the different Dylan Dog series and its readers.