Comics
Review: “X-Files Season 10” #10
Joe Harris makes the brilliant choice to go back and shed some light on one of the more elusive X-Files characters and in doing so provides one of the most entertaining and illuminating chapters of the series thus far. This is a high point for the “X-Files Season 10” that’s brought to life by the haunting work of Menton3.
WRITTEN BY: Joe Harris
ART BY: Menton3
PUBLISHER: IDW
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: March 12, 2014
The Cigarette Smoking Man has been one of the most recognizable figures to emerge off the X-Files. He was nefarious in the course of the series and the revelations about his past served to humanize him in a staggering way. Harris wraps this month’s issue around the CSM, and sheds some light on the illusive figure once and for all.
The story is told almost entirely in flashback. We’re given brief hints to CSM’s military past, and who he was before the events of the series. These moments are poignant because they sow the seeds for disillusionment. Showing a man who was comfortable with being the ultimate tool of the government devolve into a pawn, and the rage that comes along with it.
There are beautiful moments in this issue. Seeing little Mulder run up to his father and having him say “The truth will set you free” shows a small moment that is seemingly responsible for everything. It’s just the type of flashback you want because it influences everything that came after organically.
Menton3’s work this month is more subdued than his usual efforts. Yet, it works to brilliant effect. The flashback sequences are drawn with a sense of old paper, as if Menton3 is helping you sort through coffee stained documents in a dingy basement. The color is sapped out.
When the color returns, Meton3’s vivid character work bursts onto the page and articulates the characters with such detail that it’s stunning. Plus, he finds time to work in one of his horrific creature designs. Possibly the best panel of a monster this series has seen yet.
This issue will burrow into the minds of long time fans. The ramifications are not necessarily clear, and the answers don’t really take the story in a new direction, but they offer so much insight into a character that you’ll come to see CSM with a new lens. He was betrayed, cast out, and before he was much like his own son. Perhaps even an idealist.
I could read a series of the young CSM’s adventures alone. Seeing the cancer man as a youthful protagonist was a refreshing breath of fresh air in a series that sometimes forgets to breath. I can’t recommend the issue enough since long time fans will finally get some answers that they seek and newcomers will be taken on a harrowing journey that destroys a man’s morals.
Rating: 4.5/5 Skulls.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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