In the tradition of Dark Horse’s “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”, IDW kicks off the next comic book season of “The X-Files” with the regular team of Joe Harris, Matthew Dow Smith and Jordie Bellaire. Read on for our spoiler free review of “The X-Files: Season 11” #1.
Written by Joe Harris
Illustrated Matthew Dow Smith
Mulder has become a fugitive from a government that considers him a “secrets stealer” on the order of Julian Assange or Edward Snowden thanks to the mechanizations of “The Glasses-Wearing Man.” It’s up to Scully, and what allies Mulder has left, to work to clear his name and keep the government itself from falling further into the villain’s clutches.
The comic book version of The X-Files begins right where the last movie left off. Mulder and Scully have left the F.B.I. and live in sweet anonymity but all that is changed when they are dragged back in the paranormal and unexplained. Season 10 saw the return of Gibson Praise, the little boy with telepathic abilities from the original series, whom Mulder and Scully tried to protect from The Syndicate. Gibson has unlocked the potential powers he had and is leading a brand new version of the Syndicate. It was an exciting season that combined some “monster of the week” like stories with a lot of bigger mythology that the series is known for and it got very close to making you feel as if you were watching new episodes of the show.
“The X-Files: Season 11” #1 finds Mulder on the run after being framed by Gibson. The F.B.I. considers him a fugitive at the level of someone like Edward Snowden since they believe he stole information. Scully, as usual, has to cover for him. However, even that is comprised since Gibson is able to his powers to keep putting pressure on the two of them to do his bidding. He can control other people and what happens to them and since Mulder and Scully are heroes, they do what he tells them to prevent others from being hurt. The core mystery involves something called Cantus and some equally mysterious technology that Mulder is investigating.
Overall, this is just fine as a “season premiere”. Joe Harris settles us into the story with a slower script and it works to the extent that someone new to the comic series (but has watched the show) could jump right in. But again, it’s slow. Coming off such an exciting five issue arc, this “season premiere” can be tough to really get into. There are pieces of this that work very well but it’s a slow issue that may take too much time setting things up.
What’s key to making a continuation like this work is the characterization. There’s a lot of flexibility as to where the story can go, season 10 did that much with bringing back Gibson Praise, but what can make or break a series like this is losing the characters. Mulder’s paranoia shows and his deep love for Scully comes through without him needing to explicitly say it. His interaction with The Lone Gunmen is not the most fun conversation but the way they speak is very good. The sarcasm is there, they’re each very savvy in their own way and their real concern for Mulder as a friend shines through. Scully’s scenes in front of the F.B.I. investigative panel are written very well with Scully’s cool demeanor and intelligence being displayed properly. She doesn’t falter under pressure of this board and only gets spooked by Gibson’s powers.
Gibson Praise is proving to be an exciting main antagonist for this series. The show killed off many characters, particularly on the villain side and Gibson is in effect taking the place of those people. It’s a really exciting prospect and we’ve already seen how he’s going to use his power. Gibson is a huge failure on the part of Mulder and Scully. They couldn’t prevent him from becoming what he’s become. It’s Smith’s art that really sells what Gibson has become because as a child, he wasn’t the most playful kid but he had emotion. Adult Gibson is cold and very much a shell of his former self. Smith is careful not to make him The Cigarette Smoking Man – lite but he still remains enigmatic to an extent and very, stoic. It’ll be interesting to see how this team approaches this.
Continued belowFor the most part, artist Matthew Dow Smith does good work. He has a very distinct, dark style and when he’s great he can create some very moody pages but when’s not you get something a little too muddled. This has moments where Smith does great work, such as Scully being in front of the F.B.I. panel and the scenes with Gibson. The heavy inks and shadows work really well for a series like “The X-Files” because the things that happen are often done by sketchy people for sketchy reasons. He sets the proper visual tone for all of this. The problem is when the inks get too in the way. Smith can, at times, get too heavy in places that don’t call for it. There’s an outdoor scene in a canyon where it’s almost impossible to tell who the characters are and if they’re even there. Jordie Bellaire’s colors help very much in keeping the inks from being too overpowering. She is able to bring a certain amount of brightness to this darker artistic style and it’s no more evident than in the scene with Mulder talking to The Lone Gunman. She doesn’t change the tone of the issue, instead she uses the right blend of pastel colors to create daylight and dread.
“The X-Files: Season 11” #1 is off to a slow start but there’s a lot here that can and most likely will payoff to something big. It happened in season 10 and I have little doubt that it won’t happen here.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – Slow but the groundwork is here and I’m excited for what this season has in store.
