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.
Comics
‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics
Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.
Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.
In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”
The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”
Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”
“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.
Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”
Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.
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Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover
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Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)
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Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)
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Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)
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Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)
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Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)
Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
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