Dylan+Dog+-+author

Dylan Dog's “father” is Tiziano Sclavi. He was born in Pavia in 1953. The long, foggy, and sad winters of his homeland, Po Valley, will influence his dark and ironic imagination. While attending high school, he begins his career writing for magazines addressed to young people. Once graded, he moves to Milan and starts working as comic author for the important Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera”. In the 1970s he begins writing also novels by publishing a series of crime stories. The turning point in his career is 1980, when he is hired by “Sergio Bonelli Editore”, the most important Italian publishing house specialized in comics. Here he starts creating stories (in Italian they are called “sceneggiature” as for films) for various comics, such as Zagor, and Ken Parker. In October 1986 the first Dylan Dog is published, at the beginning it seems to be a total flop; however, after some weeks other copies must be printed in order to face the many requests. In the 1990s it comes the climax of the success both for Sclavi and for his Dylan. In 1991 Sclavi publishes the novel “DellaMorte, DellAmore”; some years after it becomes a film (“The Cemetery Man” for foreign distribution) appreciated by author such as Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, and Terry Gilliam. The protagonist is Rupert Everett who strongly resemble Dylan. In the late 1990s Sclavi faces a personal and creative crisis which leads him far from his creature, Dylan Dog, and from his career as a novelist. After having overcome his problems with alcohol and depression, he begins a new phase in his life and career. Among other works, he writes “Non è Successo Niente”, a sort of autobiography since the protagonists of the book represents the different side of his personality; the successful comic author, the alcohol addicted person facing the same crisis as Sclavi, and the “new” Sclavi, who has finally found harmony, but cannot write any more.