While “The X-Files” has a proud tradition in comic books — enjoying stints at Topps, Dark Horse (one “Lone Gunman” issue) and Wildstorm – it’s never felt as much like the TV show as it does in “The X-Files” Season 10, which is now nine issues into its run with IDW Comics.
The reason for this is that Chris Carter helped writer Joe Harris with the series’ launch, allowing him to move the mythology forward for the first time in this medium. Although the previous comics never contradicted continuity (in fact, Carter’s second-in-command, Frank Spotnitz, penned some of the Wildstorm run), they made sure to not delve into the continuity lest they contradict the “official” future story. For the same reason, the comics stayed away from continuing monster of the week stories. Basically, everything was a new standalone yarn.
But Season 10 is unambiguously canonical, and the mythology issues (1-5 and 8) give me that old feeling of enjoying the story without entirely understanding what’s going on. A lot of deceased characters pop up, such as the Cigarette-Smoking Man, Deep Throat and Mr. X. However, they are shapeshifters – very similar to those from the TV show. It was neat to see a Mr. X flashback to 1987 in issue 8, something that couldn’t be done if we were watching Season 10 on TV. Pre-1993 (the year Scully teamed up with Mulder) flashbacks could turn out to be something the comic excels at.
The Lone Gunmen’s return in Issue 2 – it turns out they faked their deaths – has drawn mixed reactions from fans. I myself have mixed feelings about it, but ultimately I applaud the decision. For one thing, Byers, Langly and Frohike shouldn’t have been killed off in the first place; when they died at the end of “Jump the Shark” it felt a lazy decision. Episode co-writer Vince Gilligan later admitted, “I think we made the wrong choice on that one.”
For another, there are way too many juicy government conspiracies in 2014 for the Gunmen to be out of the picture. Plus, with more people being aware of government’s misdeeds than ever before, it’ll be interesting to see how the comic pushes the envelope beyond run-of-the-mill conspiracies. (The Season 10 spinoff, “X-Files: Conspiracy,” is already doing that by imagining the opposite of the Higgs Boson, something that’s somehow involved in sending information – and advance warnings — back from the future. The series also provides an excuse for the trio to meet the Ghostbusters, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Crow and various Transformers.)
The real pleasure of Season 10, though, is the MOTW sequels. About midway through the TV series’ run, I recall that Carter talked about doing more sequels to various MOTW episodes, which tended to artistically end the hour without every question having been answered. “The X-Files” did some sequels, notably delving further into Tooms, Pusher and the serial killer who was obsessed with Scully, but not as many as it could have.
In Issues 6 and 7, “Hosts” beautifully continues the yarn from Season 2’s “The Host,” about a half-man, half-flukeworm living in the sewers. The issue, the first solo effort from Harris, absolutely sings with “X-Files”-ness even as it gives a complete backstory to the creature. “What we don’t know” might’ve been scary in 1994, but 20 years later, “what we do know” turns out to a creepy capper to the story. Two issues seems to be the perfect length for a MOTW story; Issue 9’s cockroach-themed yarn feels just a bit too brisk, like many of the Topps comics.
Also in “Hosts,” Mulder and Scully return to their old jobs and old office – a nice counterpoint to early Season 2, the first time they were briefly kicked off the X-files thanks to the office politics of their higher-ups. It feels right. Arguably, Mulder and Scully got a bit tied up with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson toward the end of the TV series and “I Want to Believe.” Yes, it makes sense that the actors had had enough of “The X-Files.” But Mulder could investigate this stuff forever (he never stopped clipping out weird newspaper stories even when they went into hiding in “I Want to Believe”), and Scully also knows it’s important work.
Fans of Doggett and Reyes (including me) get a bone thrown to us in Season 10. Both of them (still FBI agents, but not on the X-files, which had been closed until Mulder and Scully’s return in “Hosts”) appear separately in the opening five-issue mythology arc, and both are missing by the end of it. It’d be nice if Skinner, Mulder and Scully showed a bit more concern for Doggett and Reyes in the four issues since then, but hey, at least it’s better than “IWTB,” where the newer agents weren’t even mentioned in passing. On the other hand, their disappearances signal a good chance that their stories will continue later in Season 10, and the editor promised as much on the letters page.
Now that the template has been laid down for Season 10, what mythology questions would you like to see explored further? And what MOTW episodes are due for a sequel?