Review time! Season 10 #1 has been out now for a week and for this writer, who has had little knowledge in terms of comics releases, there have been reviews aplenty.
Also, fan-made translations in French, Spanish and Russian are underway! “Welcome to the wonderful world of high technology!”
IGN did a complete primer to get you up to date with the essential information to tackle Season 10 (not as complete and mytharc-focused as that other Primer, but still handy).
The best promo for the series comes from the comic book store Friendly Neighborhood Comics, Berlingham, Massachusetts!
For writer Joe Harris and artist Michael Walsh, the task of delivering a new “X-Files” comic — an “official” continuation of the series, no less — must have seemed daunting. Although interest in the property is far below its peak, Mulder and Scully remain embedded in the collective psyche. It’d be hard enough to do an “X-Files” comic that lives up to the memory of them at all. No one would criticize a creative team tasked with moving the characters on if they turned the assignment down. Against those odds, “X-Files Season 10” #1 turns out to be a surprisingly good read. […] Where Harris and Walsh have succeeded is in the series’ general tone. Mulder’s introduction in particular feels straight out of the TV series, and similarly, the threat in the story doesn’t violate the reality established by the TV series by going too overtly supernatural or over the top. With licensed comics there can be a tendency to forget that “no budget” doesn’t mean “no limits,” and “X-Files Season 10” remains comfortably within the boundaries of the “X-Files'” world. […] There’s definitely room for improvement, but it’s also much better than you’d expect based on the results of similar projects. Harris can particularly be praised for getting straight into a story, rather than spending an entire issue on introduction and scene-setting. As long as he manages to avoid getting dragged too quickly into the convoluted series mythology, this series might just be a winner.
Season 10: Five years after we saw the last of The X-Files
And so, after a “Monster-of-the-week” second movie, the mythology of The X-Files continues once more after eleven years of absence — more than the length of the series itself! With creative input for the framing of the story and perhaps little more from Chris Carter, who comes out from XF retirement for the occasion, long-time XF fan Joe Harris is the writer. This is a new situation, where the creator teams with a fan to conceive the next steps in the story begun in 1993, in what is described as a fully canon continuation of the story.
The X-Files are not new to comics. XF comics started appearing as early as 1995, with the first issues (writer Stefan Petrucha / artist Charles Adlard / covers Miran Kim) proving to be the best of them. The relationship of the comic creators with the all-controlling Ten Thirteen Productions was not an easy one though, perhaps because Carter was not a comics man himself (as per Frank Spotnitz), and the comics stopped in 1998. There was a revival led by Frank Spotnitz around the hype of I Want To Believe in 2008, which was the closest thing XF got to a reboot separate from its main continuity; and a year later a cross-over (with horror series 30 Days of Night), which is another route franchises take when the main story has been told and characters have become part of popular culture. “The X-Files Season 10” is wholly new in the storytelling direction the comics take, and in the interest the creator (Carter) shows to them.
Important to note too that issues #1-5 “10X01: Believers” was already drafted by Harris when Carter joined the team for course-correction and advice.
Not being a supporter of the marketing-friendly idea that ‘the writers could continue the stories of these characters forever’, my interest in a continuation of XF has remained because Carter keeps repeating there is one final chapter in the mythology he wants to tell. This interest has been scaled down by the irrevocable damage to the XF mythology that seasons 8 and 9 did and by a second movie that, though decent was far from perfect. I’ll follow Season 10 with a hope that it will add something to the mythology in continuity with what has come before and with a clear mindset of moving towards a conclusion of the story somewhere down the line.
At this stage of Mulder & Scully’s characters and personal journey it’s difficult to imagine them investigating monster-of-the-week type cases and the most magical step would be to re-attempt what was done in seasons 8 & 9, i.e. introduce new characters perhaps coached by Mulder & Scully to take over these investigations. The IDW team and Joe Harris have treated the fans with a lot of respect up to now and teased all the upcoming issues in all the right ways invoking our feelings of nostalgia; it will be interesting to see whether this fan service will extend towards storytelling decisions that do disservice to the general picture (the promise of the return a certain deceased character in particular is already iffy). We will come to that in time.
The issue: A new art form
The season kicks off with a story split in five issues. It will be best to analyse the story when we will have the full story, but the discussions while the story is still developing brings us back to the time when the show was still on the air — which is exactly the point! A full review of the Believers arc will come with issue #5.
One comics issue at 22 pages is very short, however the writing is tight (whole comments on what happened before Season 10 and on what the characters are feeling right now could be made around individual panels, enhanced by Walsh’s art!) and launches us right in the thick of the action. If this were an episode, it would roughly correspond to a teaser + the first act out of four, so roughly 15 minutes which is roughly the time it take to read it. If this were an episode, the wait for the next one would last one week and not one month. These frustrating elements are inherent of the periodic comics world: it’s a different medium and we have to accept that patiently while the artists do their work. Another solution would have been to do a graphic novel (a series of them?) with more pages, more time to refine the artwork and more time between issues; but that is actually a much more rare form in comic books, in particular for licensed comic books from previously existing franchises. This is, after all, a profit-oriented enterprise. For patient X-philes/readers, you can discover the story in bulk when it gets collected, for example bundling every six issues (as with The Walking Dead, or with Joe Harris’ original series Great Pacific).
On an entirely different style, mixed media, I would have loved to see Dave McKean do the X-Files. However, even if Michael Walsh’s art can still bear some improvement (certain perspectives, some details…), I find the overall esthetic with thick black lines and marked contrasts very well adapted to the X-Files — this is reminding me of the Adlard approach in early Topps comics. This “classic comics” approach sticks much better to the XF universe than a great share of modern comics that are post-processed a lot in terms of colouring/lighting on computer, or the semi-photorealistic approach of the 2008 Wildstorm comics. This “old-style” also fits well with the classic cinematic approach the X-Files had, breathing cinema into television in the 1990s. Walsh has acknowledged that he’s studying framing and camera shots from the show to inform his art, which is good.
In what I think is unusual for comic books, and if you thought reading Season 10 is not similar enough to the experience of watching new episodes, writer Joe Harris has done a full Season 10 #1 Commentary Track looking at the comics and discussing page by page! Podcasts for commentary tracks have become more and more common lately for TV series creators (Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad), too bad we don’t have the audio here. Besides providing no less than half the pages of the issue right here (!), this is a great read. Obviously, spoilers below.
Joe Harris
CBR News: Joe, before we get into the details about the first issue, how did you find yourself writing “X-Files: Season 10?”
Joe Harris: It sort of happened really fast. I was talking with Chris Ryall, who offered congratulations on the launch of my Image Comics series “Great Pacific,” and he asked me if I had any interest. It was one of those things that caused me to almost reflexively respond, “Yes!” without even thinking too long and hard about it. For one thing — and the best thing — I’m a huge fan of the show, the characters, Chris Carter’s execution and his wonderful staff of producers and writers over the years. I was really “of age” when the series hit, a teenager with Friday nights to spare, and over the years, it had already become one of those points of discussion and reminiscing amongst my closest childhood friends and my brother, all of whom would have a hard time separating memories of growing up in the 1990s from their “X-Files” fandom.
Anyway, once IDW asked, I holed up for a couple of days and punched out a take on the material, which they responded really enthusiastically to. From there, it went to Fox and I managed to get them excited about the direction I had outlined too. And I was hired, and we started getting to work when, one day soon after, I’m told that what was thought to be a routine meeting with FOX and representatives from 1013 Productions turned into an unexpected meeting with Chris Carter himself who sought more involvement with the series. From there, we all got on the phone and talked about what I was doing. Chris had some thoughts, concerns, suggestions, etc., and we ended up meeting in Los Angeles to talk about things further and deepen the trust, the commitment and all that.
What I love about this property is the memorable mythos that wrapped around these character, unspooled over nine seasons — and one movie that dealt with it directly. It was dizzying in its execution and some of the most anticipated television in history. Once Mulder started digging into the government cover-up of the existence of extraterrestrials in hopes of uncovering the truth of what happened to his little sister, believed abducted by aliens years ago, things got intense and fast. Following Mulder and Scully through everything, their relationship and devotion to one another, and the price they continually paid in search of “the truth,” just left an indelible mark on my brain, as both a writer and creator of science fiction and horror, myself, and a fan who knows what the good shit is when he sees it.
Also, it’s the prototypical paranormal investigation franchise. So much else out there is derivative of it in some way. The show obviously borrows from the old “Kolchak” series, as well as the format of “The Outer Limits” and the various Rod Serling series’ like “Twilight Zone” and “Night Gallery”… but how many properties, across various media, do you find out there which resembles “The X-Files” in some way or another? You can tell so many types of stories in this universe, with these characters and within this paradigm, and they certainly did for a good many years.
Moving on to the first issue, the story opens with Agent Scully in quite a bit of peril. Are these new foes, or something from “X-Files” past?
They’re new adversaries whom we’ll definitely be learning more about as this opening story arc unspools. They’re connected, in ways both obvious and subtle, rooted in some of the past mythology of the show, as well as something wholly new.
One and a half decade ago (!), June 19 1998, “The X Files Movie“, better known by its main tagline “Fight The Future” premiered in the USA and Canada! (…and only in those countries on that day! That was a time when studios and audiences were less globalized and it felt like film reels had to cross the ocean by steamboat before reaching you. Release dates spread from June 19 to December 5!) Season 5 had just wrapped up, the show was so successful that FOX was willing to abide by the lead’s desire to move production from Vancouver to the more expensive Los Angeles, and Chris Carter was playing the Deep Throat informant with his fans: this was the high point of the show’s life.
Interestingly, 15 years later the same date was chosen for the launch of Season 10 of the X-Files in comics form. The same XF logo variant that was first introduced with Fight The Future is also used for Season 10, instead of the classic “typewriter X” of the show’s opening titles that was used for the Topps comics.
In rememberance, the definition of 1998, the year of Fight The Future, with Noel Gallagher’s Teotihuacan!
A day to celebrate! Let us hope Season 10 will be a worthy extension of the franchise.
For this occasion, X-Files News offers us a short interview with Chris Carter (which was done, apparently, some time in May or earlier in June):
XFN:You said once that Mulder and Scully were the light in dark places. What does it say to you that after 20 years, Mulder and Scully remain in the consciousness of so many people?
CC: “I’m blown away by the show and the character longevity. David and Gillian struck a deep chord with their portrayals.”
XFN: Reminiscing about when this great ride started, we’ve read earlier versions of the pilot that included a character named Agent Drazen. Do you remember what your plans were for this character and why he didn’t make it to the final version that was eventually produced?
CC: “I remember writing that character as a minor foil. He was named after a director. He and Scully’s boyfriend, played by Tim Ransom, didn’t make the cut, though Drazen disappeared before we shot. Something that’s not well-known is at the end of the pilot when Mulder calls Scully and she answers the phone in bed, her boyfriend’s beside her.”
XFN: Thinking back to the first day of filming the Pilot or even the whole shoot in Canada, is there a memory that strikes you about this first episode?
CC: “I have many memories, but the casting of Billy Miles comes to mind. We saw many actors before Zach Ansley came in and nailed it. I also remember how hard it was to stage the abduction sequences, with minimal special effects.”
XFN: When you think of everything that you have accomplished what is the most rewarding moment of your career so far?
CC: “We were honored by the WGA yesterday as one of the 101 best-written TV shows of all time. That is pretty amazing.”
XFN: We miss having a Chris Carter show on TV, what can you tell us about your latest projects?
CC: “I’m working on several different scripts for several different networks. The TV business is very exciting right now.”
XFN: There have been rumors that Fox is planing something for the 20th anniversary of The X-Files, what can you tell us about that?
CC: “I don’t know that Fox is planning anything, but I did hear this week that they’re bringing the series out in HD! Wow.”
XFN: It’s been heard through the grapevine that the show is being remastered to be released on Bluray, just like they’ve done with Star Trek. Is there anything you can tell us about this ambitious project?
CC: “I don’t think you’ll see the series in Bluray, but anything is possible.”
XFN: We’re really excited about the release of fresh stories via the new X-Files comics, but we’re curious, how will they fit between The X-Files: I Want To Believe and what we hope will be XF3? What can you tell us about this new stage?
CC: “The comics will pick up after the end of the second movie. Look out for some surprises, though. And trust no one.”
XFN: The unavoidable question – X-Files 3, When? What? How? The fandom is there, the timing it still there… What is the missing piece to get this project up and running?
CC: “XF3 will happen if the studio wants it to happen, and only then.”
XFN: You attended the Insect Fear Film Festival in February and attended The X-Files screening planned as the closing event for the Hero Complex Film Festival. What do you enjoy about these events and meeting fans of the show after all these years?
CC: “I’m always struck by how generally nice and respectful X-files fans are. It makes it a pleasure to do these events.”
The XFN Quick 6:
Favorite Food? Rufina’s chile rellenos
Favorite Word? Yes
Favorite X-Files Quote? Too many to choose!
Guilty pleasure? Wouldn’t you like to know.
I wish I had invented… A foolproof lie-detector
Dream Job/occupation: To surf one wave as Kelly Slater.
Thanks so much to Mr. Carter for the opportunity, and Mr. Gabe Rotter for your assistance during this interview!
This interview offers several insights.
First, after several rumours, this is the first official declaration that a HD version of the series is being prepared! An HD version would be used for broadcasting in modern TV sets, this is why Carter separates that item from a BluRay release in a somewhat puzzling remark — however once FOX will have an HD version there is no reason whatsoever not to release it in BluRay.
Second, he does tease Season 10 — but this is the only time he has done so, leaving principal writer Joe Harris to do all the promotion. This might also reflect the two creators’ relative contributions to Season 10, meaning that Carter is very little involved in this project beyond very generic indications. Joe Harris has been acknowledging and praising Carter’s contributions in all his interviews, however some of his replies sound like kind attempts to downplay Carter’s importance in the series. Carter’s participation as “executive producer” in Season 10 was/is a big marketing argument on behalf of IDW and is the only argument that makes this effort part of canon. His presence behind the scenes and absence in front might mean that this effort is not very important to him, or that we are witnessing a definitive passing of the torch.
Thirdly, Chris Carter’s characteristic few words and careful choice of words and what that says for Season 10 and a potential X-Files 3. All his answers were one-liners, he didn’t say anything more than the bare necessary and didn’t spend time on this interview more than was necessary. If he wanted to, if he really wanted this Season 10 project to happen, he’d be all over it. He has never been particularly extroverted as a character or internet-savvy, which is fine. But there are plenty of things he could do. In comparison with other creators who nurture their fanbase and know how to communicate and raise interest for a project that is close to their heart (Joss Whedon, Guillermo del Toro, JM Straczynski just to name a few) there’s a world of difference. He’s not particularly vocal on his other projects either. One possible reason for this is because he has become too afraid or weary of being the subject of attention and criticism, too averse to the idea of failure or of lack of acceptance from critics and fans. The hard work he poured in the X-Files and in “I Want To Believe” and the flood of criticism he got with the latter seasons of XF and with IWTB have taken their toll — the fact that he was hospitalized for exhaustion in September 2008 after a summer of promotion of IWTB is telling. He would like to step away from the spotlight, and that is perfectly fine, but he doesn’t seem keen to strongly defend his projects either. Perhaps, after “protecting his territory” by sticking with the X-Files after season 7 (his contract would end) throughout seasons 8 and 9 and all the way to IWTB, he has decided to relinquish some creative control and let the story go where it may. For the past five years, Carter and FOX have been playing ping-pong on whom the responsibility lies for launching the production of an XF3. If this relinquishing of control finally means that Carter is willing to let go of the idea of an XF3 and focus on other things, I’ll follow him on his next projects but I would just like him to be honest with the future of the things he’s created and stop this politically correct game of expectations.
Saturday June 22, 2013: With Joe Harris, Third Eye Comics, two separate events in Annapolis and in Southern Maryland; this is also where you can get the exclusive variant cover for #1 by Charles Paul Wilson III (the “Tooms” cover)
June 26, 2013: Michael Walsh at The Dragon, Guelph, Ontario
June 28-30, 2013: Joe Harris at the Wizard World ComicCon, New York City
Writer Joe Harris has also teased that there’s going to be a commentary track (audio?) accompanying #1 to be released on Friday June 21 on Comic Book Resources. From his twitter (June 18): “Just completed the “Commentary Track” to “The X-Files: Season 10” #1 — look for it on @CBR this friday, after the book is released.”
On May 31, BleedingCool reported that X-Files Season 10 #1 was number 14 in its TOP 25 ADVANCE REORDER COMICS/GRAPHIC NOVELS/TPs, which it establishes every month. BleedingCool also reports on real sales (in the USA only most likely) every Wednesday/Thursday after the releases, so soon we should have an idea for the sales for #1.
S10#1 extract
Finally, Bloody-disgusting posted another interview with writer Joe Harris! The interview also includes a preview of the comic, with an additional page compared to yesterday’s 7-page preview (there’s not going to be a lot left exclusive for the comic!).
Bloody-disgusting: Fans have been demanding more X-Files for years. How does it feel to be part of the team that gets to bring it back? How did you get involved?
Joe Harris: It’s an honor, to say the least. And it’s at least a little bit scary, you know? But mostly it’s exciting as I’m a fan too! I got involved when IDW asked if I had any thoughts on how to do this, and I did. Many of them.
BD: What can we expect from season 10?
JH: A re-establishment of the paradigm that first pulled you in way back when, with Agents Mulder and Scully working “The X-Files” for an FBI they’re not entirely sure they can trust, but with a sense of responsibility and calling that won’t allow them to look, or stay away any longer.
BD: I’m sure you’ve been asked a lot, but are Mulder and Scully involved romantically?
JH: Well, they have been. I think that much is clear. Whether they continue to remains to be seen…
BD: How is working with Chris Carter on the book? How involved is he in the process?
JH: It was a thrill to first learn he was reading my stuff and reacting positively to it, as you might imagine. Chris reads my outlines and scripts and offers his thoughts and advice both specific and general.
BD: You mentioned in an interview with CBR that you’ve been a big fan since the series started. What’s it like to work on such a beloved series? Do you feel a lot of pressure?
JH: I think you nailed it in the question. It’s a thrill, but not without its pressures. I’m having a good time though.
BD: So much has been done with X-Files in the TV series and the films. How are you putting a fresh spin on it?
JH: Well, we’re bringing it up to date a bit and reimagining some of the classic paradigms and concepts for this new, 2013 era. The technology and the threats are more modern. Your government is still rife with inequities, secrets and conspiratorial elements and actors. Good thing it’s also going to have Agents dedicated to rooting those out.
BD: It’s also a franchise that hasn’t been explored for over a decade (excluding the last film). How are you planning to bring Mulder and Scully into the modern age?
JH: I think they’d prefer to stay retired, but circumstances are going to drag them back into the fight, and fast. In doing so, they’re going to have to pick up some loose ends and encounter some new ones they didn’t realize existed.
BD: The TV series was so great because it always showed both sides of the story using Mulder’s beliefs and Scully’s skepticism. How do you strike that balance? Does it come naturally?
JH: The old paradigm of Mulder’s almost desperate need to believe, and Scully’s skepticism, is going to return. But they’re battle-tested now. The lines are a bit grayer. I don’t think anyone could go through what they’ve been through and not be, at least on some levels, both a believer and a skeptic. Watching that line flutter between them is going to be a fun point of tension and exploration, at least for me.
BD: Do you have some favorite episodes that you’ll be drawing from?
JH: Absolutely! I don’t want to call out the specific “Monster of the Week” episodes as to avoid spoilers for upcoming issues not yet announced… but, with regard to the “Mytharc” episodes that inform at least some aspects of the opening story arc, “Believers,” as well as future storylines exploring the extraterrestrial threat and the still-simmering conspiracy within our government and our population that surrounds it, I’m drawing on episodes like “The Erlenmeyer Flask,” “Talitha Cumi” and “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man” along with many others.
BD: Will your main focus be on aliens, or are you guys venturing into more aspects of the paranormal?
JH: Both. I think the show worked best when it peppered in the monsters and let you breathe a bit before diving back into the serialized alien colonization mystery, all the while building the characters, introducing new allies and enemies, and laying the groundwork for the next step forward in the grand, unraveling reveal. I’d like to reestablish that dynamic. I’m hopeful that’s what we’re doing right off the bat.
BD: Thanks so much, we are all excited about the series!
Interesting to see that Chris Carter has made no effort to market this yet, and behind Joe Harris’ kind words one can tell that Carter’s involvement has actually been minimal and that Joe Harris really put a lot of effort in this. That could mean that Carter has definitely moved on and passed the torch, or it could mean he might get involved at a later stage when he decides the time is ripe for a conclusion to the mytharc, in film form or in comic form.
In his interviews, you can tell that Harris is a real fan of the TV series from back when it was on the air and that he didn’t become a fan on command suddenly when IDW hired him to do the comics — which is something positive for Season 10. He’s also a big fan of the mythology, which can only make him more likable to EatTheCorn, and has mentioned the modern (2013) threats the stories could address. However, there are legitimate concerns over the direction the Season 10 will take, not only with regards to mythology plot threads that were left hanging (William) or considered shut (the Lone Gunmen, the CSM), but also in terms of how the characters are dealt with. Can Mulder and Scully return to being investigative agents for the FBI and do monster-of-the-week type casework after all they’ve been through? A “consulting” status for them, or a “coaching” status for a next generation of investigators, within the FBI or independently, is probably more appropriate given their experience.
From all we’ve seen, from the alternate covers to the promise of the return of mytharc or MOTW characters, Season 10 centers a lot around the nostalgia that has developed over the show. Whether it manages to be its own thing and be a sequel worth our interest story-wise, i.e. not just a sequel just to know “what happens next”, remains to be seen.
X-Files News has posted a round-up of links and material on the X-Files comics coming out tomorrow. In particular, there’s a section on where to find the comics:
If you’re wondering where to pick up a copy of Issue #1, there are several possibilties. Cover Variant A, Variant B, and the Subscription Variant are going to be the easier ones to find. The IDW store ships to the U.S. and internationally. There are also other online retailers that will be selling them like Midtown Comics or mycomicshop.com. In the UK, Forbidden Planet has them for sale. You can also find your local comic shop and see if they’ll be selling the series. If you’re located in another country (or even if you’re not), shop around, both online and locally, to find the best place to buy Season 10. In addition, some retailers have an option that will let you subscribe to the series, so check that out as well. Finally, there is the digital option. IDW does publish digitally, with a variety of options to chose from. ComiXology is another great option that works really well.
To get your hands on the Retailer Incentive variant, you have to find a retailer who is selling it. Dynamic Forces and Midtown Comics have the issue, but you can also look for others who are carrying it. If using Midtown Comics, they currently have a deal for 20% off your first order using their app.
After you’ve got yourself set up with Issue #1, it will only be a month until Issue #2 hits the stands. You should be able to stick with whatever option you initially chose; however, you may have to find future retailer incentive and exclusive variants somewhere else. Again, just shop around online and locally to find what works best for you. Scully taught us all how to use Google in I Want to Believe, so put those skills to good use.
To complete that good summary, the best way to buy them (at least if you’re not into hunting the hard-to-find covers) is thinking ahead and locating a local comic shop and ordering them. Pre-orders are usually done three months in advance (that’s why we already have a description of #4) but can be adjusted close to the release date. For those outside of large buying centers like the USA or the UK, it depends on how often your comic shop gets shipments from USA/UK or from a larger national comic book shop. If it’s weekly, you might get them as fast as June 19 or June 20. If it’s monthly, it will most likely be June 27 or a bit later.
The comic will take place after ‘I Want to Believe,’ is that correct? At the end of that film, it looked like Mulder and Scully were in for an extended tropical vacation. Will they come back and work for the FBI? Or are they independently back on weird cases? Harris: Yep! To be most accurate, I’d say it takes place in the “present day,” which is certainly post-movie number two. We pick up with former Agents Mulder and Scully living in anonymity, under assumed identities. But things get weird pretty much right away. And as for whether or not they’ll be back at the FBI, that’s a turning point I can’t divulge at this moment.
Will these all be new, standalone cases, or will the old mythology surface?
Oh, it’s going to be a mix of both in what I’d consider to be the classic “X-Files” tradition. Our opening story arc, “Believers,” touches on the original, extraterrestrial conspiracy “Mytharc” and lets us hit the ground running. After that, we’ve got some classic “Monster of the Week” type stories lined up, including some direct sequels to a few fan-favorite episodes. Then it’s back to the mythology, building upon what we think we know, etc.
The way the show resolved the alien invasion/black oil plot seemed . . . abrupt. Can the comic provide any more closure to long-time fans?
Closure? This is “The X-Files,” man. We don’t close anything . . . we unspool and open new doors, twists and questions. But there are plans for many of the elements you identify. I’m a fan of the mythology going back to the beginning and through the end. It’s all factoring in to the plans going forward.
What will Chris Carter’s involvement be? Has he already been suggesting plots or even offering dialogue?
Chris has been reading my outlines and scripts, offering notes and advice and tweaking some of the story elements to steer us away from where he didn’t want us to tread. But he’s been very supportive, and even his limited advice and input is invaluable when you consider the connection he must have and feel to these characters, his babies. That he’s been so kind and has had such encouraging things to say regarding where we’re going with this series has been very flattering, humbling and cool.
Besides Mulder and Scully, any other returning characters from the original series?
Oh yes. Off the bat, we’re bringing back FBI Deputy Director (a new title for him), Walter Skinner right away. And you’ve likely seen The Lone Gunmen and The Cigarette Smoking Man pictured on the covers for both issues No. 2 and No. 3 of the series.
But that’s just the beginning. I’ve got plans or ideas, to some degree of fulfillment or another, to bring back a lot more of the old allies, enemies, and those you never could quite peg along that scale.
Another thing I’m really excited about is the direct sequels to classic episodes we’re going to do. After our initial story arc, “Believers” is done, issue No. 6 is going to bring back a very belovedly reviled monster from the past. And the reunions and revisitations will continue through year one and into the next, I can promise you that.
So the Smoking Man didn’t die in the TV series finale?
I can neither confirm nor deny either fate for the Smoking Man at this time. All is not what it seems. Sometimes it’s much more.
What are you favorite episodes of “The X-Files”? Any you went back and watched before starting the new book?
I have many faves, dating back to the brilliant pilot episode and other first season eps, through the early years, toward the middle when the mainstream audience was really starting to pay attention while that first movie was prepped, and beyond.
I actually did go back, in preparation for writing this series, and re-watched the entire “Mytharc” story line from pilot to the series-ending Season 9 finale, “The Truth.”
I’ve also gone back, hunting and pecking through the classic in-between “Monster of the Week” installments and am still doing so. The library is pretty vast!
But when asked, at least these days, I always point to the Season 3 finale, “Talitha Cumi” as my favorite. So many amazing things happen in that episode! You’ve got Smoking Man and Mulder’s Mother, in which Smokey lets us know they had an affair in the past with a line of dialogue that will make you smile, and make your skin crawl, all at once. It’s got alien weaponry, it’s got the alien healer, Jeremiah Smith being interrogated by the Syndicate. And it’s got my favorite moment, again, at least for right now, in all of X-Filia at the end when Mulder and the mysterious informant Stephen Williams played, known only as “X,” get into a huge, brutal fistfight in the FBI parking garage.
X wants what Mulder has found over the course of the episode, but Mulder knows his informant can’t be fully trusted and refuses to give it to him. These two men proceed to beat the living piss out of one another and it only ends when both draw guns and have to back away slowly, battered and broken but locked in a standoff neither can crack.
I love X. LOVE X.
And that’s all the Season 10 marketing fever for now.
