The X-Files: Season 10 #2 is my Pick of the Week for treading down a dangerous path which could turn on or turn off fans of the long-running show. Breaking out of the status quo in the comic book industry comes with taking calculated risks. In The X-Files: Season 10 #2, IDW, Joe Harris, and Chris Carter take a risk which they hope will pay off in escalated sales.
The X-Files: Season 10 #2 is my Pick of the Week!
Is The X-Files: Season 10 #2 Jumping the Shark?
A simple look at the cover of The X-Files: Season 10 #2 and next month’s #3 cover will show characters which we (fans of the show) thought were dead. The Lone Gunmen are on the cover of this issue, and we were led to believe they died giving their lives to protect the world from bioterrorist biological attack. The episode was entitled “Jump the Shark.” Sadly, I did not have to look this information up as it is locked in my brain.
As you probably know from Diamond Previews, the Cigarette Smoking Man is on the cover of issue #3. You know I don’t like spoilers, but there are a few frames which reveal a man smoking Morley cigarettes. CSM is also a character who is thought to be dead since the pueblo he was hiding in was blown up by a missile strike from a helicopter in the episode couplet entitled “The Truth,” which made up the last two episodes of the final season. Again, I did not need to look this information up. Sorry, I was always a big fan of the show and have seen each episode multiple times.
The Risk Being Taken
The Lone Gunmen and CSM are among the most popular characters on The X-Files. To call them iconic in geek culture would be an understatement. Many fans complained about their apparent deaths, and the way their apparent deaths were handled on the show. In fact, I have heard some of the harshest criticism about the series from fans when talking about these particular instances. By bringing these characters back in The X-Files: Season 10 #2, the old wounds are being reopened and an effort is being made to heal them at the same time.
Will it Work?
It will be interesting to see how the fans react to this poking and prodding of old wounds. I have to admit that I was very leery about ready this week’s issue, but I think the story was pulled off correctly. I look forward to the nostalgia of seeing the Lone Gunmen again in a form of entertainment, and hope this opens the door for them making it into a movie in the future (if another X-Files movie is ever made – hopefully the third one will be the good one).
By the Numbers
The X-Files: Season 10 #1 debuted in June at #94 on Diamond’s Top 100 list. This is very high for IDW which typically will show industry-topping numbers with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (#66 on the list last month), but that is it. Typical market drop-off will take The X-Files: Season 10 out of the Top 100 this month (not a handful of variants this month and people will often just purchase a #1 of a new series), but the risk could pay off in the next few months. If calculated risks are taken with the franchise, The X-Files: Season 10 #2 could be the start of a move upwards after the typical market drop-off.
