Dylan Dog is an Italian horror comics series created by Tiziano Sclavi and published by Sergio Bonelli Editore since 1986.

[1] The series features the eponymous character, a paranormal investigator who takes on cases involving supernatural elements such as ghosts, demons, vampires, undeads, werewolves and other creatures, but also horrifying sociopathic criminals and serial killers.

A direct American film adaptation, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, starring Brandon Routh, was instead released in 2011, although it was significantly different from the source material.

[5] Dylan Dog was created by Tiziano Sclavi, a comics and novel writer, while the graphic representation of the character was elaborated mainly by Angelo Stano, who was its first cover artist too, taking the inspiration from the English actor Rupert Everett, as he saw in the movie Another Country.

[8] Dylan Dog series debuted in October 1986 with a comic book entitled "L'alba dei morti viventi" ("Dawn of the Living Dead"), plotted and scripted by Tiziano Sclavi and illustrated by Angelo Stano; it proved to be a huge publishing success in the years to come.

[2] May 2003 saw the publication of Issue 200, entitled "Il numero duecento" ("The Number Two-Hundred"), plotted and scripted by Paola Barbato and drawn by Bruno Brindisi.

[9] Another annual release was added in March 1991, L'almanacco della paura ("The Almanac of Fear"): together with Dylan Dog stories, it includes articles and curiosities about film, literature, and other topics, all related to the horror theme.

Other coloured issues are number #131 "Quando cadono le stelle" ("When the Stars Fall", only final pages not in black and white), #224 "In nome del padre" (In Father's Name), #350 "Lacrime di pietra" ("Tears of Stone"), #361 "Mater Dolorosa" and #375 "Nel Mistero" ("To Mystery"), which celebrates the return of Tiziano Sclavi in writing the script.

[13] 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.

[15] The series is mainly set in London, where the protagonist lives, though he occasionally travels elsewhere, such as imaginary realms such as "La zona del crepuscolo" (Twilight Zone).

Some crossover stories combining Dylan Dog with characters from different comics were published, including, with Martin Mystere, Mister No, Ken Parker, Nathan Never, and DampyrRupert Mike.

In October 2019, DC Comics and Sergio Bonelli Editori announced a crossover series between Dylan Dog and Batman.

Issue #0 of the crossover, titled "Relazioni pericolose" ("Dangerous liaisons"), script by Roberto Recchioni with art by Gigi Cavenago and Werther Dell'Edera, was published in December 2019.

"[19] Dylan Dog is the second most widely sold comic book in Italy (the first one is another publication of Sergio Bonelli Editore, Tex): including both reprints and new stories, it sells over 120,000 copies each month.

[3] The series is also published in Croatia by Ludens, in Serbia by Veseli Četvrtak and Expik Publications, in North Macedonia by M-comics, in Denmark by Shadow Zone Media, in the Netherlands by Silvester, in Poland by Tore, in Spain by Aleta Ediciones, in Sweden by Ades Media, in Turkey by Rodeo and Hoz Comics, in Greece by Mamouth Comix, Jemma Press and Mikros Iros Publications and in Mexico by Panini Comics.

In 1994 Italian director Michele Soavi directed the film Dellamorte Dellamore (known abroad as Cemetery Man or Of Death and Love), with a screenplay written by Giovanni Romoli and based on Tiziano Sclavi's similarly titled novel.

[26] Francesco Dellamorte (his mother's surname was Dellamore) – a sort of Italian alter ego for Dylan Dog – appears for the first time in the third special issue of Dylan Dog, Orrore nero (Black Horror), released July 1989, in which he met the Nightmare Detective, but Sclavi's novel was written before the special issue.

Differences between the comic result in the film being set in New Orleans instead of London, the character of Groucho being replaced by an un-dead sidekick called Marcus due to issues for the production to acquire the rights to use the Groucho Marx name and style, another difference is Dylan Dog's Volkswagen Beetle being black with a white hood instead of the opposite like in the comic.

A television series based on the comics, produced by James Wan and his production company Atomic Monster, was announced by Sergio Bonelli Editore in August 2018.

[29] On 2 June 2023, Michele Masiero, editorial director of Sergio Bonelli Editore, said that the series will be faithful to the comics, and that they were preparing the casting.