‘Dylan Dog: Jack the Ripper’ is Another Stellar Graphic Novel (Review)

The more I read of Dylan Dog, the more I fall in love with the book while simultaneously feeling my disdain for the film grow. Dylan Dog makes for an amazing read, and it just leaves you to wonder how in the world a major studio can butcher such a promising story. Oh well, such is life. At least I’ve got a handful of brilliant comics to work my way through.

In this book, Dylan Dog: Jack the Ripper we get a familiar story. The title alone leaves us in a place that eliminates a lot of the mystery. But worry not, because the book itself is bad ass, as was the last Dylan Dog book I read. This time however, the tone undergoes a slight change. Where Dylan Dog: Dawn of the Dead had some good chuckles sprinkled throughout the story, Jack the Ripper is absolutely drenched in jokes. Some succeed, and some face plant. That’s the name of the comedic graphic novel game.

Even with the occasional comedic misfire, the book is still a highly engaging read. I love the fact that Dylan Dog wasn’t a 24-32 page book. These are 100 page full on graphic novels and that allows the stories to be fleshed out extremely well, and it gives us a whole lot of time to let Dylan Dog work his way into our hearts – which he’s successfully doing!

But back to the details at hand: has Jack the Ripper somehow been resurrected to resume his surgical savagery? Or is this something else entirely? Dylan’s smoother than he is sharp, but he’s no moron and he’s got a good idea of how to get to the bottom of this mystery. Unfortunately for you spoiler thirsty readers, I won’t be revealing the story’s plot twists or conclusion.

I will tell you there’s a creepy séance, an awesome wax museum featuring all kinds of cool and familiar monsters, there are a few lovely ladies in the story and Dylan’s slick demeanor is as effective as it should be. There are a number of high intensity exchanges in the book, and there’s never so much as a lull in the action or the mystery.

This is another top notch read from a character that we American’s simply haven’t shown the respect he deserves. If you can snag any of the Dylan Dog books, do so, you’re bound to have a blast reading these beasts!

Rating: 4/5