Comics
Review: ‘The X-Files Season 10’ # 1
“The X-Files” returns this month, continuing from where the original series left off. Joe Harris jumps in with an engrossing story, terrific dialogue, and a plot that’s equally dangerous and mysterious. A lot has happened in the eleven years since “The X-Files” has been off the air. Most notable of which is the passing of the colonization date: December 22, 2012. This season propels the series to a current timeline. So it seems skipping this date would be a grave misstep. Yet, it is the issue’s biggest strength. “The X-Files” is back in a big way.
WRITTEN BY: Joe Harris
ART BY: Michael Walsh
PUBLISHER: IDW
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: June 19th, 2013
Harris decidedly reintroduces the world to Mulder and Scully, just in case we forgot in the decade break. They now live together, and have taken up new names to protect their identities. Things are quiet but the characters are the same. Scully is still all business and a practicing doctor. While Mulder is still his quirky self, as evidenced in a wonderful speech to a group of kids playing in the street.
The issue spends no time throwing us back into the world of “The X-Files”. A monster of the week is apparent right from the get-go. Things are wonderfully creepy, and the quiet world our protagonists reside in, is quickly torn asunder. The story has an incredible pace, making it seem like that season nine ended just last year.
I was overjoyed to see the return of a certain familiar face. It allowed for a certain breath of familiarity to come through the pages, but also allowed for a great sense of time passing. Harris’ choice of moments was superb and interesting. Every scene was compelling and tonally dead on.
Michael Walsh’s art may take some getting used to, but when the action ramps up, his quality does too. His small moments lingering on the faces of these loved characters tells me everything I need to know about his art: he knows “The X-Files”. The subtleties in Mulder’s face, the worry in Scully’s eyes. It’s all here, and it’s all there with deadly accuracy. A style that is very reminiscent of David Aja’s work in Hawkeye. The pastel like color palate builds the world of season 10 in its own unique light.
Harris throws us back into the world of “The X-Files” and does so with relative ease. Chris Carter is producing the series and it’s wonderful to his support on these pages. “The X-Files” is back for the first time in years. Luckily this time the plot isn’t about organ harvesters and faith, but rather something mysterious and dangerous.
As a debut issue there isn’t really much here for those new to “The X-Files”. While the story is completely accessible for the uninitiated, Harris doesn’t offer much outside of fan service for the first issue back. This is a smart choice for a series with such a strong following, but ultimately a little damning.
In any event “The X-Files” has returned, and it’s fantastic. With Season 10 we can finally forget the horrors of season 8 and 9, and the last film I Want to Believe. More Season 10 can’t arrive soon enough.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jimbus_Christ
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
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