The X-Files: Year Zero

MULDER & SCULLY UNCOVER THE PAST IN THE X-FILES: YEAR ZERO
Sunday, Apr 20th, 2014



The Case That Started It All Debuts At IDW!

San Diego, CA (April 20, 2014) – In its first year at IDW, The X-Files Season 10 has pitted FBI special agents Mulder and Scully against monsters, cults, conspiracies, and more, and now the duo will unravel a mystery that dates back to the very beginning of “the X-Files.” The brand-new five-issue miniseries,The X-Files: Year Zero, debuts this July with an original tale suited for both X-Files diehards and mystery fans alike!

In the 1940s, a shadowy informant known as “Mr. Xero” directed the FBI to a number of paranormal cases that would soon be classified as “X-Files,” which were reserved for the improbable and unexplainable. When faced with an eerily similar “Mr. Zero” in the present, Agent Mulder resolves to uncover the truth about who this mystery person is and their connection to these cases.

The multi-talented veteran Karl Kesel (FF, Superboy) makes his debut at IDW as the writer on the series. Vic Malhotra (The X-Files: Conspiracy: The Crow) andGreg Scott (The X-Files: Season 10) will be splitting art duties with Malhotra providing the art for the 1940s sequences and Scott drawing the present day storyline. Covers will be provided by Season 10’s Carlos Valenzuela, with pulp-novel-inspired subscription variants by Robert Hack (Doctor Who) and a retailer incentive cover by Eisner Award-winner Francesco Francavilla for the first installment.

“The origins of the X-Files unit of the FBI were only hinted at in the TV show, and we’re proud to present the story of how the precursors of our favorite paranormal agents established the division in the late 1940s,” says editor Denton J. Tipton. “I think Bing and Millie will become fan-favorites alongside Mulder, Scully, Reyes and Doggett.”

“I’ve always thought the 40s would be a wonderful setting for X-Files, with the Russian red menace, atomic mutations and flying saucers all lurking in the shadows— what I like to think of as ‘UFO Noir.’” said Kesel from an undisclosed location. “Of course, iconic characters like Mulder and Scully are a joy to write, and being given the opportunity to introduce their predecessors— Bing Ellinson and Millie Ohio— well, the truth is it’s all a little unbelievable to me. But the unbelievable is what X-Files is all about, isn’t it?”

With an upcoming board game from IDW Games, the ongoing Season 10 series, and now this new adventure into the past, IDW is the essential stop for fans of The X-Files! Stay up to date at facebook.com/idwpublishing!


IDW Publishing

Thanks Jade.

THE X-FILES: YEAR ZERO #3
Coming in September from IDW Publishing




Carlos Valenzuela

Review: The X-Files: Year Zero #2



The X-Files: Year Zero, Issue #2, once again delivers brilliantly, artfully merging both stories and timelines into a cohesive whole. Karl Kesel nails Mulder and Scully's voices, and in the process, continues to make me fall in love with Agent Bing Ellison and the unfortunately named Humility Ohio. After reading this issue, I can't wait to see what's next for the dynamic duos and how it all leads to the creation of "The X-Files". If you pick up just one comic series this year, I'd recommend Year Zero.

Hit the jump for the spoiler-filled review below.


We pick up where we left off last issue, in the living room of Mrs. Dorothy Sears, circa 1946, as she describes to the agents her first meeting with the mysterious Mr. Xero. We learn he's not simply a benevolent intruder, but that she saw a flash of something "hard" before his face smoothed over. We also learned he has something of a language deficit that has yet to be explained. Questioning her instant trust of the intruder in her home, we then learn that Mrs. Sears believes she has the gift of second sight. Xero has offered Dorothy the chance to stop wars, end famines and live forever and apparently, that was an offer she couldn't refuse. Millie questions the letter she received, and it's revealed that yes, Xero did in fact give it to her, and it was recently. Dorothy goes on to explain that Xero likes to talk in riddles, and this leads our agents, via Millie's letter, to Montana.

Cut to Jersey in the present day, and Mulder and Scully are camped out in a diner resuming their conversation from the car in the last issue. Scully, true to form, raises her skeptibrow high and thinks Mulder is crazy, pointing out that, so far, any tips from the mysterious Zero/Xero have been helpful. Mulder concedes her point, but rationally explains that, either way, they need to talk to their tipster.



Here, they are interrupted by the waitress bearing coffee, and for this rabid Twin Peaks fan, I was delighted to read my second FBI crush, Fox Mulder, refer to my very first, Dale Cooper. It was a great little shout-out. Moving on and back to the story...

The waitress overhears their conversation and asks if she can help. Turns out she can't, but something tells me there's more to this dame than meets the eye. In the end, she leads them to the town square where there is... wait for it... a 'town square'; an art project the locals use as a community bulletin board.

It's raining heavily when our agents arrive, and who should appear but Mr. Spoon, the animal control agent we met last issue, along with Aura Starlight, (Lord, the names in this series. Cheesy goodness!), the artist behind the 'square.' She's a bit of a hippy and seems enamored with the agents and the FBI. The liberal use of emphasis leads me to believe she's somehow embroiled in this mystery.

Mulder asks Mr. Spoon if he could describe Zero, but he does him one better, revealing that he saw him moments earlier on the other side of the monument.

Mulder rushes to the other side and spots Zero hanging out by a tree. Mulder confronts him about Ellison and Ohio and is rewarded by a tip of his hat and a gloriously cheesy pun. Unfortunately, lightning strikes, literally, as Zero reveals a transformed and ugly face before disappearing, seemingly into thin air. The tree falls, aiming directly for Dell Spoon, but he's saved by Scully just in the nick of time.

Finally, she's convinced his life might be in danger, because while Mulder was with Zero, Scully found out something too. On one side of the square, all but one of the postings had been removed. The only thing remaining? A news article regarding Dorothy Sears' death back in 1946.

Back to the past and now in Montana, the agents are talking to the local PD. Bing has a 'moment,' thinking he spies Xero, only to instead find an officer; it doesn't exactly help their situation with the mistrustful of feds policeman. Another officer deflects from the awkward moment though and reveals the suspect they are looking for is a kid by the name of Ish. Mille (because I still can't type Humility Ohio with a straight face) recognizes the name from her ambiguous letter; it's a clue!

The group ends up at Glacier National Park. Millie, feigning fear and betting on 1940s misogyny, ditches the local PD and reveals to Bing that she saw an old logging road on the map and explains that it's where she would go and double-back to if she was on the run like Ish.

Sure enough, they follow the clues and some tracks to a cabin where they find their suspect. Ish is hiding and scared; not exactly the picture of the brutal killer they are looking for. But he does have some information. Earlier, he'd witnessed a spirit take over the missing local, Watkins, eventually fully taking over his body and bursting out from within. He believes it is the "Manitou," an evil spirit that is now tracking him, and by default, Bing and Ohio, because they know its secret.

They hear a loud roar, and the agents spring into action. Bing pulls his gun, and in a display of badassery, so does Millie. Turns out, she's been packing heat on the sly and has no trouble using it. The agents prepare, avoiding the doors and windows when... Bam! The beast bursts through the wall and the issue ends!

I've already mentioned what a great job Karl Kesel does with the writing, but let me reiterate. Mulder and Scully's banter is spot-on, and Bing and Humility are a class act that I can't wait to get to know better. The story flows nicely, and you never feel bogged down by the time jumps; they are seamless.

The art is by Greg Scott and Vic Malhotra, and for both stories, the art works beautifully. The coloring, by Mat Lopes, is subtlety different for each period and looks gorgeous.

Now, on to the covers. Please don't make me pick a favorite! The regular cover is by Carlos Valenzuela, and he delivers a gorgeous piece in blue, depicting both sets of agents in all their glory. The subscription cover, with art by Robert Hack and colors by Stephen Downer, continues with the hard-boiled detective novel theme and is fantastic.



Did I mention how much I love this series? Because I do. I really, really do. Could you tell?

You can pick up a copy August 20th at your local comic book retailer, or, of course, subscribe via Comixology. Be sure to let IDW know what you think by contacting them at letters@idwpublishing.com. Remember to title the subject as 'Okay to publish' if you'd like it to appear in future issues.

Xfilesnews.com

Review: The X-Files: Year Zero #4



Issue #4 of The X-Files: Year Zero answers a couple of burning questions while raising quite a few more.

As we near the conclusion to this great series, I’m left salivating for more and hoping that Karl Kessel can pull all the loose threads together to form a satisfying whole.

Read on for the spoiler-filled recap and review.

In a departure from the norm, instead of opening where we left off, we instead catch up with our dynamic duo in the 40s as they sit with an upset Dorothy Sears. She’s afraid for her life, and with good reason. The night before she’d woken up to find Xero crouched at the end of her bed, watching her sleep. Yikes!



Here, ambrosiac is first mentioned and we learn that perhaps Dorothy has made a deal with the devil. Millie now believes that Mr. Xero now thinks he is owed something. Dorothy is insistent that she’s not going to give him what he wants, and Bing reminds her that they can’t lock up Xero just because of a bad feeling. Dorothy scoffs at the thought of locking Xero up but she does have something else for the agents. Xero has left his next riddle.

Humility Ohio (God, that name is still awfully awful) thinks the clue sounds familiar, and sure enough, she’s right. There’s an article in the previous days paper about a missing woman from Oyster Bay, New York. But here’s the kicker: The missing, and presumably dead, woman is a dead ringer for Dorothy. This isn’t just a tip for the agents; it’s a warning for Dorothy.

The duo sets off to Oyster Bay and Agent Ohio finagles her way into the interrogation room. As is to be expected, she’s met with a touch of scorn and a large heaping of misogyny from the suspect, the missing woman’s husband. It’s the 40s after all, and policing in men’s work. Millie soon sets him straight with an eyebrow worthy of Scully and a surprise guest. She’s brought Dorothy along for the ride and the show’s about to begin.



Eventually the husband cracks and Dorothy’s skills are proved to be legitimate.

Moving on, and it is New Years Eve, 1946. Bing and Millie are ringing in the New Year at Dorothy’s place as they watch over her. They discuss the case at Oyster Bay, lamenting the fact that though Ashland won’t be walking away from the murder, the body was never found. Millie wonders if Xero had something to do with it but Dorothy doesn’t want to think about him, instead suggesting they try and have a little fun. It turns out though that these agents from the past have about as little a life as Mulder and Scully do; Bing’s missing out on being a mean drunk, and Millie’s missing out on a dress down by her Senator father. They offer a toast to a better New Year and that’s when things get freaky…

The agents lose time and Dorothy is missing!

The agents rush to their feet and make it to the kitchen just in time to witness Xero grabbing Dorothy. A struggle ensues and Bing takes Xero out. For a moment, it seems like Bing has sapped Xero of all his energy, but this guy is like a Timex watch; he takes a licking and keeps on ticking, soon bounding out the window and running away. Bing gives chase, and after checking on Dorothy, Millie joins in on the pursuit. She pulls out her trusty firearm and takes a shot, downing Xero so that Bing can catch up. After noting, that though he’s hit, he’s not bleeding, Bing asks if he has any last words before being hauled to jail. Ever the charmer, Xero’s eyes turn red and he offers up some gibberish. While Bing and Millie try to figure out what the heck is going on, Dorothy’s house promptly goes boom!

It’s here that we leave the 40s agents and finally catch up to where we left off last issue. Mulder, Scully, Dell Spoon and Zero are having a chat.

Quickly, we learn that Zero believes Dorothy is Dell’s mother and that all these years later he’s still searching for her. Dell points out that Dorothy had supposedly died, decades before he was even born, but Zero is insistent that it was all a trick and that he’s not happy about it. Mulder perks up, it’s proof that Zero is one and the same as Xero and there’s a warrant out for his arrest. Zero all but admits that he’s the same guy, but he also points out that there’s no proof of him murdering anybody and is actually quite adamant that he didn’t. He goes on to say that the effects of the ambrosiac mentioned earlier to Bing and Millie would have made it so that Dorothy hasn’t aged a day, thus quelling Scully’s skeptibrow™ about Dorothy’s age and child-bearing abilities when Dell was born.



A quick ‘truth is out there’ pun and we learn that Dell is also gifted with psychic abilities. Just like his supposed mother. Dell’s powers are however focused on animals and not humans. As is to be expected, Scully’s brow raises high and Mulder wants to believe.

Zero points out that though a body was found in Dorothy’s house, it wasn’t necessarily Dorothy’s. Mulder thinks it’s convenient that the missing woman, whose body was never found, happened to look an awful lot like Dorothy. Dell wonders why if Zero is psychic himself, he’s bothering to try and find his mother through him? It’s a good point and Zero reveals that he has blind spots in his visions. Dorothy has learned to hide herself form him. There’s one thing that Zero can see though: he thinks someone is going to kill Dell. After today, he sees no future for Dell Spoon.

Scully asks why after all this time he even cares about Dorothy. Zero does his face-shifty-ugly-thingy and tells her that Dorothy made a deal and he intends to hold her to it. Mulder, in a case of perhaps very poor judgment, decides this is a perfect time for he and Scully to leave Dell in the care of Zero while they go on the hunt for Dorothy.

Over to the diner and the shifty waitress is chatting to the shifty artist from issue number two. They discuss Dell, they both love him, and Zero, neither in a hurry to run into him in a dark alley when…Ta-ting! The bell above the door rings and who should walk in but none other than Dorothy Sears, looking fine, and not a day over thirty. Dun dun dun!

Cut to the woods and Dell Spoon has come across a sick dog. He uses his powers to somehow touch the dog and restore him to health when he has a vision. It isn’t pretty. He sees the dogs, angry and growing, and as he comes out of his haze, Dell decides he has to call the cops.

Not so fast though. Three men holding rifles surround Dell and the issue fades to black…



I thought this issue was the weakest so far in an otherwise great series. The dialogue was still good, the story still moved forward, and yet…. Something was missing. Perhaps the transitions from one time period to the next weren’t as smooth. I have nothing specific to gripe about and yet something didn’t quite sit right with me this time around. Perhaps I just haven’t had enough sleep. That being said, this is still my favorite of all the X-Files comics, and I look forward to the next issue and the conclusion to this great story.

Greg Scott and Vic Malhotra did a great job on the art, clearly marking the difference in time periods. I thought Dorothy was especially well depicted this issue and that her emotions were really brought out well on the page. The coloring was gorgeous as always.

There are two covers this month. The regular cover is by Carlos Valenzuela and is really striking. It features Bing and Millie walking in on a nefarious looking Xero who has Dorothy in his clutches. The subscription cover again wins my love though. It’s no secret that I am coveting all the hard-boiled covers in poster format and this one is no exception. With art by Robert Hack and colors by Stephen Downer, Mulder looks on while a werewolf holds a lifeless looking Scully.



The X-Files: Year Zero, issue #4 is on sale now. Run down to your local dealer and pick up a copy or you can always head on over to Comixology for the digital version.

Category: Featured Stories

XFilesnews.com

Here are download links to all the ones released so far:

download password: yrzr0

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Thank you.

The X-Files Classics – Ground Zero (2015)



Adapts the best-selling novel by Kevin J. Anderson. Dr. Gregory, a renowned nuclear weapons researcher, is not only dead-he's been charred to a radioactive cinder. Since this is a death on federal property, Mulder and Scully are hastily called in. When a second victim, completely unrelated to nuclear science or Dr. Gregory is obliterated in the New Mexico desert, and then a third dies the same way in Washington, DC, Mulder and Scully begin to focus on the frightening dimension of their task. As they work to uncover the secret unifying element that ties these deaths, it becomes clear that this twisted puzzle has fatal consequences for the entire world.

The X-Files: Year Zero (IDW) #1-5 (Review)

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Darren

This June, we’re going to be taking a look at the current run of The X-Files, beginning with the IDW comic book revival and perhaps taking some detours along the way. Check back daily for the latest review.

Year Zero is the best thing that IDW has done with the X-Files license.

There are multiple reasons for that. Most obviously, the five-part miniseries is incredibly charming when taken on its own terms. Writer Karl Kesel offers in incredibly playful script, one full of teases and wordplay that holds together remarkably well without ever seeming heavy-handed or awkward. Artists Greg Scott and Vic Malhotra do an excellent job keeping the comic consistent while clearly distinguishing between its two time periods. The modern day sequences as scratchy and detailed, while the flashbacks are illustrated more like cartoons.


There is also a clever metafictional commentary underpinning the story that feels like something of a companion to the larger mythology of The X-Files. If the mythology of The X-Files can be read as a secret history of the United States filtered through folklore about aliens and UFOs, then Year Zero positions itself as an origin story for that folklore. It places the origin of The X-Files at the moment those narratives began to change, tying the series into the aftermath of the Second World War in a manner distinct from (but still compatible with) that featured on the show.

More than that, Year Zero is a story that unfolds without a heavy reliance on the mythology or continuity. Given the way that Joe Harris has approached The X-Files: Season 10 and The X-Files: Season 11, it is a welcome surprise that the comic does not feature a guest appearance from William Mulder or C.G.B. Spender. There are lots of little winks and nods to the finer details of the show, but Year Zero is more than just a story carved out from a throwaway line of dialogue in Shapes or as an extension of Travelers.


In fact, Year Zero practically revels in the discontinuity of it all. References to existing stories seem to exist primarily to emphasise the disconnect that exists between them. Given the care the IDW have taken in trying to craft and shape a consistent X-Files continuity, there is something quite refreshing in the cheeky approach taken by Karl Kesel to Year Zero. This is a book that could easily be handed to a casual fan who stopped watching the show around the fifth season, or even to somebody who had only seen a handful of episodes.

However, Year Zero does something far more important. The IDW comics have placed a heavy emphasis on the idea of legitimacy and canon. The comics have worked hard to present themselves as a viable continuation of the franchise. However, a lot of that has involved looking backwards and evoking nostalgia. The Cigarette-Smoking Man returns, Mister X reappears, Alex Krycek is revived. Even the other tie-in miniseries exist to market existing aspects of the brand. Conspiracy is a companion to The Lone Gunmen. Millennium brings back Frank Black.


Year Zero gives the IDW comics something unique and novel. It creates something fresh and exciting rather than simply repackaging recognisable moments or iconic characters. It gives the IDW line something that never existed in any prior incarnation of The X-Files. The characters of Humility Ohio and Bing Ellinson might be familiar archetypes, but they represent something intriguing. Instead of simply repackaging material and elements that fans loved, Year Zero slots in something exciting and intriguing.

The fact that all of this is done as through what is effectively positioned as a clichéd “origin story” makes it all the more exciting.


“Origin stories” are very much a familiar comic book trope. After all, it is easy to understand the appeal of telling an origin story in a long-form serialised narrative. Given that most long-running comics exist within a fairly static status quo, telling a story where the characters actually change and evolve has a very strong appeal. More than that, there is something interesting in taking a popular character like Batman and getting to see “who he is and how he came to be.”

At the same time, there is something inherently cynical about origin stories. They can feel like tinkering for the sake of tinkering. They can feel unnecessary. They can feel overly familiar. Comic fans will note that DC comics have fixated upon providing Superman with new and varied origins, particularly in the last few years. Secret Identity. Birthright. Secret Origin. Earth One. Grant Morrison’s Action Comics. American Alien. Given that the character’s origins are so iconic that they can be distilled to eight simple words, this seems like an obsession.


The obsession with origin stories may also be tied to the contemporary fixation with the notion of the “canon.” What better way to assert the legitimacy of a given continuation of a work than to reveal some secret hidden detail that potentially changes everything that everybody thought that they knew about the work in question? It also helps to entrench the continuation of the work in the existing continuity rather than simply presenting it as an extrapolation. It allows the continuation of the work to tie itself into the roots of the original story.

Joe Harris has dedicated a considerable volume of The X-Files: Season 10 to mapping out origin stories. Being for the Benefit of Mister X overs a somewhat reductive look at the origin of the eponymous informant. More Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man is a clever story on its own merits, but it hops around the established history of The X-Files like a tourist. Even G-23 provides the origin story for Mulder’s beloved “I Want to Believe” poster. There is a point at which all of this just becomes exhausting.


On paper, Year Zero sounds like it should fit that pattern. It reads like another unnecessary origin story. How did the X-files really begin? What was the first X-file really like? This could easily become an indulgent exploration of existing continuity. Certainly, the series has provided enough details that readers can imagine a half-hearted comic book story assembling the origin like IKEA furniture. Add the Manitou from Shapes, slot in a cameo from C.G.B. Spender from Apocrypha, maybe delve into the origins of the conspiracy suggested in Paper Clip.

Refreshingly, writer Karl Kesel decides to do more than just assemble the furniture using the pieces that he has been offered. Instead, Kesel opts to fashion his own story about the early days of the FBI’s paranormal investigative unit without wading knee-deep into continuity. The Manitou appears, because it has to. However, there is only a single veiled reference to some shady international conspiracy, no sinister figure smokes a cigarette, and J. Edgar Hoover never makes an awkward reference to the fact that he founded the Millennium Group back in Matryoshka.


In interviews around the launch of the miniseries, Kesel was respectful of the show’s continuity without seeming overly reverent:

We followed what was canon. I’ll admit I’m not the world’s biggest X-Files expert, but I did love the show and remembered watching an episode in the first season called Shapes. In that episode it’s established that the very first X-File was in 1946 and investigated a werewolf creature — which they called a Manitou — in Montana. I was talking to Chris Ryall at IDW and said that a werewolf case seemed a bit pedestrian for the X-Files’ first file, but what if that was just part of the story? And that’s what we’re doing. The FBI, specifically Millie, gets a tip about what’s happening in Montana with the werewolf. That’s their first adventure. But then the same source gives them more tips, and that’s what they’re really investigating.

It is certainly possible to make the series fit within the established continuity, but integrating the story into the larger canon requires a certain amount of work.


Kesel acknowledged that the unit already had an origin story, with the X-files entering existence once the “unsolved” and “unexplained” cases began to fill over from the “U” drawer to the “X” drawer that still had a bit more space. Kessel assured fans, “All that will be addressed. But the whole ‘filed under X because there was more room there’ sounds like one of the lamest cover stories I’ve ever heard. If you ask me.” In short, it seemed like Kesel was a writer who was not going to let the finer points of continuity get in the way of an interesting story. Quite right, too.

After all, Year Zero exists in a larger context of discontinuous X-Files origin stories. Did the X-files begin with the investigation of a Native American werewolf, as Shapes suggested? Did the X-files open with an investigation tied to the House Unamerican Activities Committee, as Travelers implies? Did Mulder discover the X-files with Diana Fowley as she suggests in The End? Did he come to it through a chance meeting with Arthur Dales as portrayed in Travelers? Is Mulder’s fascination with the X-files a result of a psychotic break as implied by Unusual Suspects?


Again, none of these stories are mutual incompatible. It is possible to structure the facts into a cohesive narrative with only a little tweaking here and there. However, there are clear incongruities that exist as a result of the show never settling on a singular unified origin story for the X-files department. Year Zero exists as part of that rich tradition, with Kesel inventing his own alternative origin story rather than simply stitching one together from other sources. It is a creative decision that feels very much in keeping with the spirit of The X-Files.

Far from trying to paper over the inconsistencies or logic gaps, Kesel draws attention to them. “I’ve met Arthur Dales,” Mulder states at one point, “he thought he investigated the first X-files, but he clearly didn’t know about the 1940s cases.” The forties cases exist as a discontinuity. When Mister Zero makes a reference to another adventure, Mulder challenges him by insisting it is not part of the historical record. It is not part of the canon. Zero responds, “Do you write down all that happens to you, Agent Mulder? Do you, Agent Scully?”


This is important, because it signals that Year Zero is not so much about tying together disparate threads of continuity as it is about expanding the concept and the premise. Indeed, Kesel seems to reference external continuity at least as frequently as he acknowledges earlier X-Files episodes. Early on, Mulder nods towards The Sopranos by stating that the duo are investigating a case near “the Pine Barrens, a nexus for the odd and unexplained. Such as the urban legend of a half-crazed Russian gangster who stills talks the woods ever since a botched Jersey mob hit.”

Later, Mulder acknowledges Twin Peaks at a diner. He compliments a waitress by acknowledging Dale Cooper as a colleague, “Damn fine coffee, as a friend of mine in the Pacific Northwest would say.” It is a particularly nice nod given that Shapes had featured a guest appearance from Twin Peak regular Michael Horse. More than that, the references feel quite deliberate. Twin Peaks was very much a spiritual precursor to The X-Files, while The Sopranos represented the next evolutionary leap forward in television storytelling after The X-Files.


This willingness to look beyond The X-Files is important, because it sets Year Zero apart from a lot of IDW’s contemporary X-Files output. A lot of the publisher’s work on the X-Files license feels insular and nostalgic. On paper, even Year Zero fits that template. There is a reluctance to embrace new ideas or new concepts, with Joe Harris literally resurrecting the conspiracy as it appeared during the “peak” seasons of the show. Too often, The X-Files: Season 10 and The X-Files: Season 11 seem to be looking backwards and inwards.

Year Zero looks outwards, adding a whole collection of new ideas to the basic X-Files mythos. In a way, what Kesel is doing here recalls the work of Stefan Petrucha on the classic Topps comic book. Petrucha worked within the limitations set by Ten Thirteen, but also skirted around them. When he was denied access to the show’s mythology, he responded by creating his own alternative mythology from scratch. It was a brazen storytelling decision, and very few of the comics that followed have lived up to that cheeky promise.


Introducing the characters of Bing Ellinson and Humility Ohio, Karl Kesel effectively gives IDW a new addition to the mythos. These are characters unique to this interpretation of the franchise. They are unlikely to ever exist outside IDW’s stewardship of the license, in the same way that Stefan Petrucha and Charles Adlard’s Project Aquarius would never live beyond their work on the book. Ellinson and Ohio are very much stock forties archetypes, but they are fresh within the world of The X-Files.

This allows Kesel to put his own stamp on the mythology and mythos. Year Zero is explicitly identified as 1946, the year after Japan surrendered and the Second World War came to an end. That is entirely consistent with the show itself. While Chris Carter was fond of incorporating concepts like ancient astronauts into episodes like Anasazi or Biogenesis, the bulk of the X-Files is rooted in the aftermath of the Second World War. This is outlined in mythology episodes like Paper Clip, Nisei, 731, Piper Maru, Apocrypha and Gethsemane.


Without explicitly tying the origin of the X-files into the larger conspiracy, Kesel positions it as part of a broader cultural milieu. Bing Ellinson is introduced arresting a scientist fleeing a secret government project in New Mexico, creating a strong association between the X-files and the atomic age. Both Ellinson and Ohio are shaped by the conflict in their own way; Ellinson is ashamed that he never got to serve, while Ohio is struggling to earn the respect of the men around her despite serving in London during the Blitz.

Ellinson and Ohio seem to exist at the margins of history, beyond the familiar narratives of the conventional roles. Ellinson is the fighting man who could not serve, while Ohio is a female veteran. In their own way, they represent the secret history and legacy of the conflict. As such, they are perfectly positioned to headline the earliest incarnation of the X-files; The X-Files has always been about the secret history of the United States during the second half of the twentieth century, from the importing of Axis scientists to experimentation on an unwitting public.


The X-Files always argued that the United States fundamentally changed in the aftermath of the Second World War. That was the moment at which the United States emerged as the defining global superpower, while also representing a loss of innocence. After all the Second World War had seen destruction and brutality on an industrial scale. The imagery of the destroyed cities and the industrialised genocide would linger in the public consciousness, even as the United States immediately prepared for the Cold War.

Throughout the miniseries, it is suggested that Ellinson is dealing with his own post-traumatic stress disorder. The character appears to have lost his own innocence during the conflict, whether as a result of the actions he was forced to take on the home front or as a result of secretive work elsewhere. “How old did they say this Ish is?” Ohio wonders as the two track a suspect in a series of brutal homicides. “Sixteen? Hard to believe he’s somehow involved with all those killings.” Ellinson replies, “I’ve seen things a lot harder to believe.” The whole world had.


This ties directly into the core themes of The X-Files, the loss of innocence and the horrors of the late twentieth century. “Some of the things I’ve seen – I stopped looking or explanations long ago,” Ellinson confesses to Ohio. “The world isn’t the way most people see it.” That seems like a logical starting point for the X-files, given Chris Carter’s fascination with “the unseen world.” Mulder and Scully are very much historians exposing the dark secrets of the past to the light and learning to see the world in a new way.

Year Zero does not fixate on the particulars of these horrors. The Second World War is referenced repeatedly, but Kesel does not fixate upon the Holocaust or Operation Paper Clip. Instead, Year Zero is more interested in a broader cultural shift that had taken place. As Mulder explains to Scully, “The world was changing, Scully. Even the phenomena were changing. Suddenly there were rumours of aliens and atomic mutations in addition to ghosts and goblins.” In some ways, Year Zero is about the emergence of the cases Mulder and Scully would investigate.


This was of huge interest to Kesel as part of the series’ period trappings:

Noir classics like Double Indemnity and Out of the Past have definitely influenced this story in various ways. In a very different way, so has Them!–the 1950s movie about giant atomic-mutated ants (and James Arness’ character was an FBI agent in that, I’d point out). But just as important are the UFO reports and literature from the 1940s. This was the birth of the modern UFO, with the Roswell crash and Kenneth Arnold’s flying saucer sightings near Mt. Rainier, and there was a real feeling that something new was happening–something we’d never experienced before. That the world was changing. I try to capture that feeling in this story.

The forties marks the beginning of the folklore that would fuel The X-Files.


The series centres around the enigmatic character of Mister Zero (or Xero), who is presented as a more mischievous and magical figure than most X-Files monsters. A Native American boy named Ish compares Zero to the Native American archetype “raven.” Ish suggests that Zero is “a trickster who is helpful at times, hurtful at others.” This turns out to be true on a rather literal level; Zero and Xero represent the opposite sides of the same coin, the benign trickster and the malicious spirit.

However, Mulder suggests that Zero was going through something of a transformation in the forties. In an effort to keep step with the world around him, Zero was shifting from fairy to an alien. “Xero presented himself in terms that people from the 40s would understand – a being from another world,” Mulder explains, “but there are patterns and peculiarities to his appearances that have shown up throughout history. Two hundred years ago, he would have been considered a mischievous or maleficent faerie or elf like Rumplestiltskin.”


This reflects a shift that was taking place in American folklore at the same time. As Carole G. Silver contends in Strange and Secret Peoples, the traditional depictions of fairies and fair folk gave way to a fascination with aliens and UFOs:

Science fiction has transmuted fairies to the small green men from outer space. As Edmund Little suggests in The Fantasts, the world of faerie industrialised and rendered technological becomes the realm of science fiction: “The machine replaces magic, technical jargon the spell or incantation, and the wizard acquires a labcoat to be called a scientist.” Moreover, the adult fantasies so popular in the 1980s and ’90s (some scientifically based and future-oriented, others closer to “pure” fantasy) serve in ways similar to those of the fairy tales we read as children. They, too, provide symbols for the starved imagination and create a unifying mythos for out time; they, too, provide remedies for tired postmoderns, weary of realism, and can function as vehicles for social protest or quasi-religious reassurances of a peopled universe.

After all, aliens and UFOs have taken on an importance in American culture that suggest contemporary folklore. It is very much akin to the mythology cultivated around fairies in Great Britain and Ireland, right down to the abduction stories and the distortion of time and space.


This transition from more traditional folklore to science-fiction is reflected within the story itself. At one point, Dorothy returns home by what looks like “a transmatter ray.” A quick glimpse of Mister Zero’s home space in flashback suggests a completely alien environment akin to limbo or neverwhere. Nevertheless, in the present day sequences, Mister Zero identifies his point of origin as “the Zeta Reticuli Star System.” This is a nod to the reported abduction of Barney and Betty Hill that helped to shape contemporary expectations of alien abduction.

The final note that Mister Zero sends to Ohio and Ellinson is just one single word, “Roswell.” Referring to that cornerstone of UFO folklore that occurred in July 1947, Kesel effectively positions the Roswell Incident as “Year One” for the new American mythology typified by The X-Files. It would not be a bad sequel hook, but it also seems like an appropriate place to leave Year Zero. After all, the story is about the transition from one form of folklore to another. Roswell marks the point at which aliens and UFOs completely take over the cultural consciousness.


Indeed, there is something even more fascinating about how Kesel chooses to present Mister Zero. Kesel is a veteran writer and cartoonist, with a long and distinguished career at DC comics that has often explored the lighter side of the publisher’s catalogue with a fixation on form and history. Kessel helped to launch the first Harley Quinn on-going, wrote a ten-issue World’s Finest series that charted the evolution of the relationship between Batman and Superman, and even wrote the Wednesday Comics: Flash story. Kessel is a very playful creator.

In casting Mister Zero as a concept undergoing evolution from trickster god to playful alien, Kessel chooses to draw from comic books. As presented in Year Zero, Mister Zero looks and behaves a lot like the classic Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. An impish trickster from the Fifth Dimension, Mister Mxyzptlk perfectly captures the transition between fairy and alien. Even more cheekily, artists Greg Scott and Vic Malhotra draw Mister Zero so he bears more than a slight resemblance to self-aware postmodernist superhero writer Grant Morrison.


All of this is very clever, but Year Zero is so much more than clever. The comic moves incredibly quickly for what is a five-issue arc. Kesel writes convincing dialogue for both Mulder and Scully, but he also understands that the story needs to be more than just a collection of references and commentary. Kesel is clearly a fan of The X-Files, and does an excellent job of approximating the show’s style. In particular, he understands that the characters around Mulder and Scully need to be engaging and exciting in their own right.

Many of the best X-Files episodes live and die by the strength of their supporting cast. Classic episodes like Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose or Jose Chung’s “From Outer Space” or Drive would not be as effective if the scripts were only focused on developing Mulder and Scully. While Kesel does not necessarily create any truly iconic characters for the ages, supporting cast members like Dorothy Sears and Dell Spoon feel fleshed out and developed in a way that very few original guest stars in The X-Files: Season 10 can claim to be.


There is also a very strong feminist subtext running through the comic. There is a strong feminist reading to be made of The X-Files, as it relates to women’s autonomy over their own bodies in a world that is driven and controlled by masculine power structures. Year Zero incorporates that feminist subtext into its story. Most obviously, Humility Ohio finds herself repeatedly facing implicit and explicit sexism as male colleagues refuse to take her seriously. In a way, it evokes Agent Carter, an contemporaneous forties story which touched on many of the same ideas.

However, Year Zero‘s feminism also bubbles through in other ways. While Ohio faces repeated systemic and institutional sexism, Year Zero is populated with female characters who are victimised in more direct ways. In the penultimate issue, Dorothy Sears helps Ellinson and Ohio to solve the mystery of Gracie Ashland. It turns out that Gracie was murdered by her husband because he suspected that she was cheating on him. There is a casualness to the murder that is quite jarring.


That case reflects Dorothy’s own anxieties and issues. Dorothy grapples with the expectations and demands of society around her. She is the subject of neighbourhood gossip due to her personal circumstances. “It seems some people think the only thing worse than me not living with my husband would be for me to divorce him,” she confesses. Later on, Ohio confronts a bunch of gossiping neighbours who are spreading malicious rumours about the nature of Dorothy’s relationship to Mister Zero.

More to the point, Year Zero is quite candid about the creepy subtext that underpins fairytale stories like those of Rumplestiltskin. The relationship between Dorothy and Mister Zero is quite heavily coded as abusive. “I’m afraid he might kill me,” Dorothy confesses, reflecting the type of anxiety that many victimised partners feel. “He’s becoming more and more intense… insistent… invasive…” She then relates how she awoke one night to find Mister Zero croached at the foot of her bed.


Mister Zero is presented as the embodiment of male entitlement. “He feels he’s owed something,” Ohio observes. Dorothy responds, “Well, he’s not going to get it.” Mister Zero is presented as a man desperately trying to assert his power over a woman and to bully her into going along with his own wishes. What makes Year Zero an explicitly feminist narrative is the way that Dorothy ultimately plays Mister Zero. She plays along with his game, but only as means to empower herself. Dorothy cannily plays against Mister Zero, using him to leverage her own freedom.

All of this sounds rather heavy, but Kesel prevents Year Zero from ever becoming too overwhelming or suffocating. There is an endearing self-awareness to Kesel’s script, and a willingness to deflate the more ridiculous aspects an outlandish story. Indeed, one of the best gags in the miniseries concerns Mulder’s outlandish speculation that the pair have stumbled across a sinister plot to open “a dimensional gateway” involving “elder gods” and “human sacrifice.” The idea is vintage Mulder, but is wonderfully subverted by the more mundane motives at play.


Year Zero is a joy and a triumph from start to finish. It is a shame that Kesel did not get to do much more the X-Files beyond a short story in The X-Files Christmas Special 2015. Still, Kesel manages to zero in on what makes The X-Files so special while putting his own slant on it. It is very much a highlight of the franchise’s second life.


the m0vie blog

Thanks

THE X-FILES: YEAR ZERO #1

Posted on August 2, 2014 by Andrew Lamb




IDW continues its reverent treatment of The X-Files mythos with this five-issue limited series, Year Zero, a thrilling origin story that links unexplained mysteries nearly a century apart. After the FBI receives prophetic messages from a blue-collar worker in New Jersey via a mysterious ‘Mr. Zero,’ Agent Mulder is convinced it is the same ‘Mr. Xero’ that contacted a suburban housewife in the 1940s.

Writer Karl Kesel clearly enjoys the duel time periods, especially “the Russian red menace, atomic mutations, and flying saucers” of the 1940s “UFO Noir,” as he so eloquently put. While we don’t see little green men in this first book, he’s set the stage for time-spanning spookiness. An origin story also brings new characters. Kesel maintains Mulder’s dry humor and Scully’s skepticism, but aptly introduces a gritty Agent Bing Ellinson and an ambitious Millie Ohio.

Though I wasn’t a fan of artist Michael Walsh‘s work on Season 10, I have no complaints with the Year Zero illustration tag team Greg Scott and Vic Malhotra. In fact, in a genius division of duties, Scott has the present day storyline and Malhotra took the the 1940s panels which adds a truly unique touch to the issue. Hopefully they can keep that up the length of the series.

Executive produced by creator Chris Carter, this first issue is a great start to a promising series, one which will hopefully answer some of the series’ burning questions. After sweeping this year’s Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards with seven wins, IDW is clearly the publisher to beat.

Story: Karl Kesel Art: Greg Scott, Vic Malhotra
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Graphicpolicy.com

MULDER & SCULLY UNCOVER THE PAST IN THE X-FILES: YEAR ZERO
Posted on April 22, 2014 by Brett

In its first year at IDW, The X-Files Season 10 has pitted FBI special agents Mulder and Scully against monsters, cults, conspiracies, and more, and now the duo will unravel a mystery that dates back to the very beginning of “the X-Files.” The brand-new five-issue miniseries, The X-Files: Year Zero, debuts this July with an original tale suited for both X-Files diehards and mystery fans alike!

In the 1940s, a shadowy informant known as “Mr. Xero” directed the FBI to a number of paranormal cases that would soon be classified as “X-Files,” which were reserved for the improbable and unexplainable. When faced with an eerily similar “Mr. Zero” in the present, Agent Mulder resolves to uncover the truth about who this mystery person is and their connection to these cases.

The multi-talented veteran Karl Kesel makes his debut at IDW as the writer on the series. Vic Malhotra and Greg Scott will be splitting art duties with Malhotra providing the art for the 1940s sequences and Scott drawing the present day storyline. Covers will be provided by Season 10’s Carlos Valenzuela, with pulp-novel-inspired subscription variants by Robert Hack and a retailer incentive cover by Eisner Award-winner Francesco Francavilla for the first installment.

With an upcoming board game from IDW Games, the ongoing Season 10 series, and now this new adventure into the past, IDW is the essential stop for fans of The X-Files!



Grafhicpolicy.com

Review: “The X-Files Year Zero” #1

By Zac Thompson on July 16, 2014



While hunting a shape-shifting black leopard, Agents Mulder and Scully are assisted by a tip from the mysterious “Mr. Zero”.  Mulder notes some striking similarities to the first on record X-File which happens to involve animals attacks, a disgraced FBI agent teaming up with a disrespected female agent, and an enigmatic “Mr. Xero” in 1946.  Thus begins the cross-generational five issue miniseries “X-Files: Year Zero”.  Fans rejoice.




Two disclosures:  First of all while I love The X-Files tv series I haven’t been reading the season 10 continuation and secondly I tend to stay away from licensed comics. To me they tend to feel both inauthentic and inconsequential (unless they are canonical like the current drool-worthy Serenity series) so I was biased against this book before I started it.  Having said that I did actually enjoy reading it.  Connecting the two time lines is an interesting convention and there is enough mystery in both to create something that feels both fresh and true to the original series.  This is going to be an obvious case of a “If you are a fan, you’ll like it” review but the good news is there is really nothing to dislike about it.  This book is pretty strong from beginning to end.

Despite my personal feelings of licensed comics being a cash in, as a fan I can’t help but feel nostalgia seeing Mulder and Scully investigating cat people together.  Their interplay is true enough, and it is pretty funny to hear them use and discuss modern technology like google and texting, appropriate as the show was always known to have the first fan base to embrace the internet and social media.  I would have loved to see Mulder texting on his infamous giant cellphone, but I digress.

The 1946 team are meant to be parallels of Mulder and Scully but socially appropriate to the time period.  I think this is a really interesting idea and in fact I would really love to see a mid-century X-Files show, so major points for a clever concept.  In the first issue the present day team is used to bookend the 1946 narrative but I hope in future issues there is some flipping back and forth.  I think it will help the pacing a lot, as I felt this book kind of dragged in the middle.

There is nothing wrong with this book, but there also isn’t really anything special.  Creating in an established universe can be difficult as well as rewarding for the creators, but personally like with all licensed comics I found myself not really excited to keep reading.  If you a hungry for more X-Files this series won’t betray you. Otherwise you’re better off reading something new.

Epic Switzer AKA Eric is an aspiring filmmaker and screenplay writer living in Los Angeles.  His work tends to focus on the lighter side of entropy, dystopic futures, and man’s innate struggle with his own mortality.  He can be found on twitter @epicswitzer or reached via email at ericswitzerfilm@gmail.com. 

OFFICIAL SCORE ***

Bloodydisgusting.com