X-Files Season 10 #8 – Review

By: Joe Harris (writer), Michael Walsh (art), Jordie Bellaire (colors), Robbin Robbins (letters)

The Story: An old source of Mulder’s reappears to point him toward a new conspiracy.

Review (with SPOILERS): This issue sings because of the return of Michael Walsh to art duties.  When Walsh is doing the art, The X-Files, Season 10 reminds me of a good high school reunion: all the people that you wanted to see are there, none of the bad people and everyone kind acts and looks the way you expect them too.  This whole series is nothing but a nostalgia trip for people who enjoyed the TV series, so it means everything that Walsh is so expertly able to peg the characters.

Much of this issue is about Mulder’s second informant on the TV series: X.  I’ll save you the wikipedia and remind you that Mulder’s original source (Deep Throat) was murdered at the end of Season 1.  In Season 2, we met the mysterious X who gave Mulder a lot of tips over his time on the series, but never seemed quite as friendly as Deep Throat.  Perhaps it was just that Deep Throat had an avuncular air to him??  Regardless, X was a minor character on the X-Files from 1994-1997….and that was a long, long time ago.  But, when you first see X in this issue, you brain goes, “Oh yeah…..it’s that guy from 21 Jump Street who also played Fox Mulder’s informant on the X-Files.”  Walsh’s depiction is so perfect.

X-Files: Season 10 #6 – Review

By: Joe Harris (writer), Elena Casagrande & Silvia Califano (art), Arianna Florean with Valentina Cuomo (colors) and Neil Uyetake & Tom B. Long (letters)

The Story: Return of Flukeman.

The Review (with SPOILERS): This was a new story arc for The X-Files, Season 10 and it represents a big test to see how well the series can maintain fan interest with a non-mythology storyline.  If you were a fan of the X-Files TV program, you remember that the stories fell into two categories.  The program was best known for it’s continuing government conspiracy/alien invasion story, but – since it was the 1990s – they still had to make ~25 episodes for a full season.  So, Agents Mulder and Scully were just as often investigating other forms of weirdness as they were dealing with the Cigarette Smoking Man and getting information from The Lone Gunmen.  These standalone episodes are usually referred to as “Monster of the Week”.

The ironic thing about the TV program is that the alien mythology story eventually fell apart like wet toilet paper at the end of the show’s run.  So, the story for which the show was best known ended up being the least rewatchable; it was fun while the story was ongoing, but the final resolution wasn’t all that satisfying.  For you younger folks, the best comparison would be Lost.

X-Files: Season 10 #5 – Review

By: Joe Harris and Chris Carter (story), Harris (writer), Michael Walsh (art), Jordie Bellaire (colors) and Tom B. Long (letters)

The Story: The climax of the first arc as Mulder and Scully deal with the (possibly) alien Acolytes in Yellowstone Park.

Review (with SPOILERS): This issue is the first hiccup for a series that has been mostly flawless since its launch a few months ago.

The things that I’ve loved about the first four issue are still there.  Namely, the combination of writing and art makes this seem like a completely organic continuation of the X-Files TV series; when you read the word balloons, it is almost like David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson have come over to narrate a comic just for you.  The speech patterns are the same, the art makes the characters look authentic without being too photo-referency and even the coloring matches the original TV series.  I also applaud the creative team for making this a 5-issue arc which keeps it snappier than a longer arc would have felt.

X-Files Season 10 #4 – Review

By: Joe Harris & Chris Carter (story), Joe Harris (writer), Michael Walsh (art), Jordie Bellaire (colors) and Robbie Robbins (letters)

The Story: Mulder finally tracks down a kidnapped Scully.

Review (with minor SPOILERS): This series has still got it’s mojo.  What I loved so much about the first issue was how it felt like a natural continuation of the TV series.  Not only did the story kinda make sense as the next phase for these characters, but I actually heard the actors’ voices in my head as a I read the comic.

That “hearing the actors’ voices” thing continues strongly in this issue.  Right from the opening scene, we see Mulder and Scully running around, calling out each other’s names: “SCULLY!” and “Mulder–?”  I mean, how many times did we hear THAT during the course of the series?  Even the way the dialog is written enhances the feeling of nostalgia.  Mulder was always just yelling, “SCULLY!”….there was never anything questioning when he did it.  Scully, on the other hand, always sounded a little unsure when she called out, “Mulder–?”  It’s so smart for the comic to smack us in the face with that heavy dose of nostalgia in the opening pages because it almost calibrates our brains to believe that this IS the X-Files…..not some licensed property…..but the REAL X-Files.  So, afterwards, all of the character’s dialog sounds just like you have the actual actors reading the comic to you.  I love it.

The X-Files: Season 10 #2 – Review

By: Joe Harris & Chris Carter (story), Harris (writer), Michael Walsh (art), Jordie Bellaire (colors) and Shawn Lee (letters)

The Story: With Scully kidnapped, Mulder enlists some old friends to find her.

Review (with SPOILERS): The first issue of X-Files kinda snuck up on me with how good it was.  I was just expecting some derivative product that was low(er) quality and designed just to get X-Files fans to plop down a few dollars.  But, when I read that first issue, it was almost like we had the TV show back on again.

Even if this second issue didn’t sneak up on me (since I expected it to be really good), it keeps that magic rolling right along.  The most important thing is how effectively creators are able to capture the look and feel of the actors who played the characters in the series…..it really does feel like you’re consuming The X-Files and not just some story with that name on the cover.  I guess a good example would be to compare to those X-Files novels that came out in the mid-1990’s when the series was in its heyday.  I will admit to having actually read a few of those and they were entertaining enough, but you didn’t hear Mulder’s and Scully’s voices when you read the novel.  The novels felt more like someone telling me a story about Mulder and Scully (“Once upon a time, the was an Agent Mulder and an Agent Scully and there were alien honeybees that spoke the Navajo language….”); this comic feels like you’re experiencing the story yourself.  A lot of credit needs to go to Michael Walsh.  He has clearly spent a lot of time watching the series because he just knows what these characters look like.  It isn’t like he is watching X-Files and just pausing the action to draw the face that he sees, it’s more like he is just a fan like us and remembers what they looked like almost 20 years ago.

So, when we get introduced to Agent Doggett in the opening pages, it looks like the guy who came on the X-Files ~2000 and not the fat, gray-haired guy who plays a werewolf on True Blood.  When we see the Lone Gunmen, they look just like the dudes we remember.  I mean, I’m not sure I WANT to see what the actor who played Frohike looks like in 2013.  It’s just really good art that perfectly captures the look and feel of the series.

The X-Files #1 – Review

By: Joe Harris & Chris Carter (story), Harris (script), Michael Walsh (art), Jordie Bellaire (colors) and Robbie Robbins (letters)

The Story: Mulder and Scully are back to investigate weird things.

Review: This issue was a really pleasant surprise.  The saying, “You can’t go home again” is often true.  Anyone who has ever rewatched a beloved old TV series or reread some old comics knows this feeling.  Our enjoyment of stories can be very linked to a time and place in our lives, making it hard to go back.

I was a huge X-Files fan.  It was a series that ran during a pivotal time in my life.  The first season ran during my senior year of college (and had nothing but time on my hands) and the finale ran after I’d finished graduate school, gotten married and secured respectable employment (when I had to pick and choose my TV watching).  My wife-to-be learned very early on that Sunday evenings were not to be trifled with.

The Joker’s Asylum: Scarecrow

By Joe Harris (writer), Juan Doe (art and cover), Rob Leigh (letters)

Scarecrow is one of those Batman villains who doesn’t seem to get a fair shake. I like him a lot, but he seems to be missing his “epic” story – one that either redefines, or reaffirms his place in the upper echelon of Bat-villains. This certainly isn’t his version of The Killing Joke, but it’s a fun read.

One thing I’ll get off my chest right away is I don’t buy the setup. Not the part about girls being mean in high school – that’s just life – but the fact that this girl Lindsey doesn’t know what Jonathan Crane looks like. She meets him as a patient and unless he’s been wearing a Mission Impossible caliber mask, I just don’t believe she’s never seen a newscast with this guy’s mug-shot. I’m also bummed that there isn’t anything done to hide the true identity of her doctor. We don’t see his face, but it’s clear it’s Scarecrow. Nitpicking aside, I really liked this book. Joe Harris writes some great dialogue and it acts as a mechanism to unfold more than just the story itself. Stereotypes exist for a reason and Harris plays up each high school archetype to its fullest effectiveness.

Artistically, I wasn’t a fan at first glance, but it grew on me – I think it just takes some getting used to. I usually prefer more detail but there’s something about this I really enjoyed. Maybe it’s a throwback to the older cartoons I used to love. Juan Doe does an excellent job of illustrating the points Harris makes about these high school stereotypes.  As Scarecrow’s gas evokes their deepest fears, we get to see them as they truly see themselves. There’s a great panel showing Batman as a monster through The Scarecrow’s eyes and it works very effectively.

Joker’s Asylum continues to prove me wrong each week. Every time I expect the quality to drop with a new creative team. I’m glad the surprises keep coming. Scarecrow’s story is similar to The Joker’s in the sense that it takes some reflection for me to really enjoy it. In that instance, it may not be for everyone, but if you give this series a fighting chance, it may surprise you too. (Grade B-)

– Ben Berger