This week brings us the first issue of the 11th season (and 2nd series) of IDW’s X-Files franchise. Is it good?
The X-Files: Season 11 #1 (IDW Publishing)
After the explosive chain of events at the end of season ten, Mulder is sporting a (gloriously absurd) pornstache and on the run from the authorities. He also seems to have fallen in with a mercenary salvage crew. While on a mission to retrieve a crashed spacecraft, things get weird in a Dr. Doolittle-sort of way.
“Someone ask the new guy what his first pet’s name was and the street he grew up on…see if it checks out.”
Meanwhile, Scully is getting politely grilled about Mulder’s shenanigans when a force from her past shows up and starts making people’s brains short circuit.
Then the Loan Gunmen show up and give him life advice.
Is It Good?
So yeah… that’s about it. The animals-talking-to-Mulder thing gets explained in a very creepy and effective way. Aside from that, though, this opening issue feels like a lot of wheel spinning.
There are a few interesting narrative seeds planted — Mulder’s shifting view on Gibson Praise, the Cantus organization, etc. — but not whole lot of leaves and flowers coming up from the stories’ soil to grab a new reader’s attention…or long-timers like myself. The two biggest action sequences involve a stilted looking wolf attack and an aneurism. I’m not saying that The X-Files has to have all action all the time to be good (especially with how well writer Joe Harris writes dialogue), but it feels strange to have so much exposition in an issue that presumably sets the tone for the series.
I do like where things seem to be going, especially with the evolution of Gibson Praise and his relationship to Mulder and Scully. It’s just tad disappointing to be off to such a slow start.
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