Finally, toward the end of 2019 we got the Dillon Annual Collection 2019. I had recently read and reviewed the Odd Jobs collection, and now we get this Dillon collection.
For those who have missed out, Dillon, is a modern-day New Pulp adventurer hero created by Derrick Ferguson. Dillon has unique skills and abilities, and a mysterious past, which we have only learned some of it. Ferguson seems to have created a whole history or timeline for Dillon, dropping hints of other adventures that may or may not be written.
This volume has three stories, along with a pair of interviews. The first two stories are Christmas stories, and previously appeared in the Pulpwork Christmas Specials for 2012 and 2014. The third story appeared at Derrick’s Patreon site, so this is its first appearance in print. And as to the interviews, they are interviews with Dillon and his best friend Eli Creed. They have appeared on his blog.
“Dillon and the Night Before Christmas” is, as noted, a Christmas story. We find Dillon in a bar, drunk and despondent about a recent action that went bad, where some innocent people were killed as he stopped the bad guys. A mysterious woman gives him a taste of what life would be like without him. It’s a take on It’s a Wonderful Life with a little of A Christmas Carol mixed in. I do wonder if we’ll see more of this mysterious woman in future stories.
“Dillon and the Night of the Krampus” is another Christmas story. We mix in The Krampus, which is a legendary “anti-Santa Claus” that I think most people have only learned of in recent years due to a few movies. I know I had never heard of him/it until then. In Alaska with a couple of associates, Dillon stumbles across a town that seems to be menaced by the Krampus for the past three years, having lost 12 children each year. Is there some secret that is causing this? Can Dillon and his friends work out what is going on and put an end to it? We are also introduced to a new character who joins Dillon’s extended circle of friends and associates. Might she be a possible love interest?
“Dillon and the Prophecy of Fire” is actually set a couple of days after the prior story. It starts when Dillon and his friends from the last story travel to Dillon’s home, which none of them knew existed. Including the reader. But as this is a Dillon story, we can’t have a relaxing time at his house. Instead we have a mysterious group of people who attack it in an attempt at kidnapping him, apparently to get the secret of Vril from him. This is tied to a previous adventure he had dealing with Sun Koh. Dillon and friends track the group back to their secret lair in Colorado and take care of things. But we also learn about the big baddie behind it all, so clearly this will lead to further adventures. I look forward to it.
Now, what is next for Dillon? I know that on Ferguson’s Patreon site you can read new chapters of Dillon and The Island of Dr. Mamuwalde. So hopefully this will see print in the next Dillon Annual Collection, as at this point I’m not aware of any other Dillon works from Ferguson that aren’t available in other collections from Pulpwork Press or Pro Se Productions that I’ve reviewed. I look forward to it.
I first became aware of The Krampus years ago thanks to Joshua Reynolds, way before the character’s popularity in recent movies here in the U.S. In Europe, The Krampus is far more well known and more of a big deal with various cities and towns holding elaborate parades and parties to celebrate The Krampus. Josh himself has written stories about The Krampus.
Will the mysterious woman in “Dillon and The Night Before Christmas” appear again? At this point I don’t think so. The revelation of who she is is a very special and tender one and I wouldn’t want to dilute it’s impact.
Ursula Van Houghton will indeed be returning. Quite possibly in a new Christmas story that for now I’m calling “Dillon’s Christmas Vacation” Will she and Dillon have a romantic relationship? Can’t say at this point. But it’s undeniable that there is a mutual attraction going on there.