What do you think?
Rate this book
The X-Files
Mulder and Scully are sent to San Francisco to solve a string of murders, then become targets of the Tong underworld and travel to the mysterious Badlands to investigate a series of disappearances.
168 pages, Paperback
First published November 17, 2009
8 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 1, 2011
I miss Fox TV's THE X FILES more and more with each passing television season. Chris Carter's drama about the paranormal, starring the lovely Gillian Anderson and the understated David Duchovny, was a centerpiece to my weekly viewing agenda. These were smart, witty, and intelligent explorations to things 'on the cusp' of rational explanations, and each episode was very well produced, almost like a miniature feature film. The two theatrical films have been great returns to these characters, though the second feture felt more like a bloated hour of television than it did a full-fledged feature, but nothing comes close to those moments of boob tube brilliance like watching the DVDs and rediscovering a show that helped define quality television, at least for half of its run.
To help fill this gap, I sought out and bought WildStorm's recent trade paperback collection of THE X FILES. Thankfully, these adventures take place within the context of the television show's run, so the stories kinda/sorta loosely fit in with the characters as we came know them in their weekly outings. The trade paperback collects six issues, and, while the stories aren't quite on par with the quality of writing done regularly for the show, they certainly have that X FILES' feel. Frank Spotnitz -- one of the showrunner's regular producers and contributors -- pens much of what's here, and his obvious understanding of this paranormal universe helps establish the overall tone of these three narratives, one dealing with possession, another dealing with mysticism and triads, and the last dealing with an underground civilization (think 'the Hollow Earth' theory) dining on human flesh. While not all of this works successfully, there is an undercurrent of authenticity to the show, with Mulder always representing the fringe elements as Scully chooses to abide by hard science.
This is certainly worth a read, but, if anything, I found the graphic novel only serving up a modest helping -- a virtual side order of X -- waiting for the full meal to be delivered. The last arc -- the Hollow Earth dwellers in the Badlands -- feels like an X FILES variation on the horror film, THE DESCENT (which I enjoyed immensely), not quite original but, then again, certainly far from a straight copy. Read and enjoy ... just don't look for too solid a fix. I'd welcome more adventures of the intrepid Mulder and Scully, especially within the framework of the TV show as the writers deliver here, but next time I'd hope they put a little more meat on them there bones.
To help fill this gap, I sought out and bought WildStorm's recent trade paperback collection of THE X FILES. Thankfully, these adventures take place within the context of the television show's run, so the stories kinda/sorta loosely fit in with the characters as we came know them in their weekly outings. The trade paperback collects six issues, and, while the stories aren't quite on par with the quality of writing done regularly for the show, they certainly have that X FILES' feel. Frank Spotnitz -- one of the showrunner's regular producers and contributors -- pens much of what's here, and his obvious understanding of this paranormal universe helps establish the overall tone of these three narratives, one dealing with possession, another dealing with mysticism and triads, and the last dealing with an underground civilization (think 'the Hollow Earth' theory) dining on human flesh. While not all of this works successfully, there is an undercurrent of authenticity to the show, with Mulder always representing the fringe elements as Scully chooses to abide by hard science.
This is certainly worth a read, but, if anything, I found the graphic novel only serving up a modest helping -- a virtual side order of X -- waiting for the full meal to be delivered. The last arc -- the Hollow Earth dwellers in the Badlands -- feels like an X FILES variation on the horror film, THE DESCENT (which I enjoyed immensely), not quite original but, then again, certainly far from a straight copy. Read and enjoy ... just don't look for too solid a fix. I'd welcome more adventures of the intrepid Mulder and Scully, especially within the framework of the TV show as the writers deliver here, but next time I'd hope they put a little more meat on them there bones.
Read
October 8, 2010LOVE X-FILES...READ ALL BOOKS AND WATCHED ALL MOVIES..
March 13, 2018
3 star +1 bonus star because I am big X-files fan and I cant get enough. A great collection of 3 stories that all stay true to the series. Mulder and Scully are true to form and follow their characters very well. The art is O.K. its not bad but its not great either. I think the first story about the protein and the last one with the pale people are my favorite, the middle story about the Tong was pretty good but not my favorite. If your a fan then its a must read.
March 12, 2018
I ADORED the TV show, and this comic just added to my love of it.
February 3, 2013
3.5 stars. For the most part, fabulous dialogue that stays true to the characters & show. Clever nods to the die-hard fans throughout. Great art.
I loved getting back to the "monster of the week" format, but had issues with this volume's disregard for the cannon; I also didn't find the final "episode" (chapter) made much sense. Luckily this latter issue did not affect the quality of the rest of the book. Overall, a faithful and fabulously-rendered manifestation of our ol' pals Mulder & Scully.
I loved getting back to the "monster of the week" format, but had issues with this volume's disregard for the cannon; I also didn't find the final "episode" (chapter) made much sense. Luckily this latter issue did not affect the quality of the rest of the book. Overall, a faithful and fabulously-rendered manifestation of our ol' pals Mulder & Scully.
December 10, 2009
This morning, I woke up and thought, "Did I dream that I saw new episodes of the 'X-Files' last night?" And then I remembered: It was not a dream. I had read this wonderful comic book collection of a "lost" season of one of my favorite TV shows. Mulder and Scully were back together. The Lone Gunmen even made an appearance. Skinner was there, too! I am so glad that it was not just a dream.
July 30, 2012
Such a great adaptation of the television series with a brand new adventure that makes you want to watch the show all over again.
December 17, 2024
A quick read, very solid book for a one-sitting experience also as my intro to the X-Files franchise! Great gloomy, pseudo-realistic art direction, a lot of emotion is expressed in minimalist, indirect ways which I appreciate for graphic novels especially. The characters feel like people and all the cases are interesting in that ever-so-slightly-adjacent-to-reality fiction way. I love that the conclusions are not resolute, 100% happy endings as typical with some mystery franchises - there may be a conclusion to the X-File even with an open ended plot device which could absolutely cause havoc down the line in the fictional universe.
I will admit, what drew me to checking out the series was seeing Dana Scully listed as an ISTJ lol - I was not disappointed in the characterization, and am looking forward to checking out the TV show at some point!
I will admit, what drew me to checking out the series was seeing Dana Scully listed as an ISTJ lol - I was not disappointed in the characterization, and am looking forward to checking out the TV show at some point!
April 24, 2020
Some great art and some good old school X Files writing makes a good book but the muddled up timeline stops it from being a truly great book. X Files scribe Frank Spotnitz (who writes two of the comics included) stated in an interview that this was set "somewhere between Season 2 and Season 5" yet one of the comics has a 1GB USB flashdrive (itself probably not common place in 2001 when the series ended!) and one of them has the date as 2009 which is a year after the second X-Files movie "I Want to Believe" is based. Other than this nitpick the art is good and writing is sold "classic" X Files (circa '93-95).
Recommended reading; it's a shame it wasn't picked up as a continuing series.
Recommended reading; it's a shame it wasn't picked up as a continuing series.
March 3, 2025
Slick artwork, stories which actually feel like an X-Files episode, and proper characterisation of both Mulder and Scully make this anthology collection one that no fan of the X-Files will want to miss. I loved it, just a shame it was so short.
November 17, 2017
Intriguing stories, great illustrations. I loved the neon colouring in this, it gives a certain neo noir-like feel to it.
May 21, 2020
Genuinely impressive how well-written in the spirit of the show this collection is.
February 27, 2021
3 stories over 6 issues. Quite trashy and throw away really. Probably dud X-Files episodes.
March 29, 2023
I love comics, doesn't matter what it's about😄
June 29, 2024
Los derechos de la serie en EEUU pasaron a la editorial Wildstorm y en el año 2008, en plena promoción de la película "Creer es la clave", Chris Carter y Frank Spotnitz anunciaron que durante el año siguiente vería la luz una mini-serie de 7 episodios, con cuatro historias (tres dobles y una auto-conclusiva) que debían situarse entre la segunda y la sexta temporada –aunque en todas las historias se indica que la fecha en la que sucede la acción es el año 2009, una errata que no debe ser tenida en cuenta y que probablemente esté ahí para que el neófito no le de muchas vueltas al asunto teniendo que situar la acción en una época concreta-. Por sorpresa, Panini editó la miniserie en el año 2010 en nuestro país en un lujoso tomo en tapa dura y que por desgracia podía encontrarse saldado apenas un par de años después, lo que parece indicar que no debió de venderse demasiado bien.
Una verdadera lástima porque el cómic se lee con mucho agrado. Spotnitz abre fuego en el nº0 con "El intruso", que debe ser ubicada como un “mini-episodio” de la quinta temporada y que realmente parece el borrador de algún capitulo. En él, Mulder y Scully deben investigar un caso de posesión por parte de una criatura capaz de saltar de un cuerpo a otro… el guionista de la serie de televisión escribió también el primer mini-arco de dos episodios, "Paranoia", el mejor de la mini-serie y que podría haber sido un estupendo capitulo televisivo. Los dos agentes investigan un aparente suicido que parece esconder un caso de conspiración gubernamental y experimentación con humanos. La aparición del senador Matheson nos indica que debe situarse durante la segunda temporada.
Dos veteranos del cómic clásico de Marvel y DC de los 70 y 80, Marv Wolfman (Nuevos Titanes, Dracula, Crisis en Tierras infinitas) y Doug Moench (Caballero Luna, Batman, Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu) se encargan de los dos siguientes relatos: el primero escribió "Los Tong de China", en la línea de episodios como Hell Money y que sitúa a Fox y a Dana tras la pista de un asesino relacionado con la secta oriental de los Tong que parece tener el don de la bilocación. Moench por su parte pareció encontrar un buen tono narrando una historia más terrorífica influenciado por películas como "The Descent" para "La musa de Dante", que llevará a Mulder a conocer a unas criaturas que viven bajo el submundo y que han sido la causa de centenares de desapariciones a lo largo de los años.
La ilustración corrió a cargo de un Brian Denham que intentó reflejar el estilo de la serie con sus pausas y sus silencios, aunque en ocasiones su estilo mimético resulte un poco inflexible y algo acartonado. En cualquier caso, funciona correctamente. Sin ser un cómic extraordinario, sirve para “matar el mono” de aventuras de los dos personajes y se nota el máximo cuidado en ofrecer los rasgos reconocibles de la serie en cada una de sus páginas, algo que quizá era menos evidente en la serie de Stefan Petrucha (aunque por otro lado le otorgaba a su cómic una identidad propia, mientras este evidencia en exceso su condición de “explotación de franquicia”).
Una verdadera lástima porque el cómic se lee con mucho agrado. Spotnitz abre fuego en el nº0 con "El intruso", que debe ser ubicada como un “mini-episodio” de la quinta temporada y que realmente parece el borrador de algún capitulo. En él, Mulder y Scully deben investigar un caso de posesión por parte de una criatura capaz de saltar de un cuerpo a otro… el guionista de la serie de televisión escribió también el primer mini-arco de dos episodios, "Paranoia", el mejor de la mini-serie y que podría haber sido un estupendo capitulo televisivo. Los dos agentes investigan un aparente suicido que parece esconder un caso de conspiración gubernamental y experimentación con humanos. La aparición del senador Matheson nos indica que debe situarse durante la segunda temporada.
Dos veteranos del cómic clásico de Marvel y DC de los 70 y 80, Marv Wolfman (Nuevos Titanes, Dracula, Crisis en Tierras infinitas) y Doug Moench (Caballero Luna, Batman, Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu) se encargan de los dos siguientes relatos: el primero escribió "Los Tong de China", en la línea de episodios como Hell Money y que sitúa a Fox y a Dana tras la pista de un asesino relacionado con la secta oriental de los Tong que parece tener el don de la bilocación. Moench por su parte pareció encontrar un buen tono narrando una historia más terrorífica influenciado por películas como "The Descent" para "La musa de Dante", que llevará a Mulder a conocer a unas criaturas que viven bajo el submundo y que han sido la causa de centenares de desapariciones a lo largo de los años.
La ilustración corrió a cargo de un Brian Denham que intentó reflejar el estilo de la serie con sus pausas y sus silencios, aunque en ocasiones su estilo mimético resulte un poco inflexible y algo acartonado. En cualquier caso, funciona correctamente. Sin ser un cómic extraordinario, sirve para “matar el mono” de aventuras de los dos personajes y se nota el máximo cuidado en ofrecer los rasgos reconocibles de la serie en cada una de sus páginas, algo que quizá era menos evidente en la serie de Stefan Petrucha (aunque por otro lado le otorgaba a su cómic una identidad propia, mientras este evidencia en exceso su condición de “explotación de franquicia”).
August 8, 2011
I am not really sure what I expected of this. I was a huge fan of the first 6 or 7 seasons of this show. Not so much the last few when they just mailed it in and things got strange. I will say i did actually like the last movie (at least more than the first one).
There was one really good story in this, and the rest was ok. I don't like that they were making jokes about the "x-files", it seemed like they were just trying to force jokes about the show.
The artwork was pretty good, and it is always cool to see characters you love in a new media.
Maybe too much time has passed for this to be taken seriously,I wanted to like it more, but the writing wasn't great. Overall, it was a decent take.
There was one really good story in this, and the rest was ok. I don't like that they were making jokes about the "x-files", it seemed like they were just trying to force jokes about the show.
The artwork was pretty good, and it is always cool to see characters you love in a new media.
Maybe too much time has passed for this to be taken seriously,I wanted to like it more, but the writing wasn't great. Overall, it was a decent take.
December 29, 2010
This graphic novel really kept with the spirit of the show... I like it when comic art doesn't try to hard to look like stills from the show; a little style makes the graphic novel feel a natural transition from the show. I don't usually get involved with comics of shows or games; I was never interested in Buffy. I suppose the limitless possible plotlines that the X-Files allows just means that it won't be repetitive. I'd be quite happy for this team of writers/artists to repeat their pairing!
June 6, 2012
Really enjoying this so far. The artwork is fantastic and the stories fill the gaping X-Files shaped hole in my TV life!
May 19, 2012
Graphic novel of the TV show: true.
Stories about a killer possessing spirit, a drug that makes you paranoid to death, killer tong clones, and underground aliens.
Stories about a killer possessing spirit, a drug that makes you paranoid to death, killer tong clones, and underground aliens.
March 21, 2018
Typical Mulder/Scully Story. I love the humor they use for Mulder.
April 6, 2013
liked it more than the other xfiles comics i read. it feels more like the tv show. plus better art.
August 19, 2014
Reviewed on All That Geek: http://allthatgeek.wordpress.com/2014...
February 14, 2015
Interesting play on reported happenings, but concentrates more on the negative side - however, good stimulation for ideas and possibilities
April 10, 2016
I really enjoyed this! Wish the show was still on. [sigh]
August 12, 2017
This was surprisingly good. Really enjoyed this volume. I think I actually liked it better than the tv revival!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews