OneMetal.com REVIEW:
X-Files/30 Days of Night #1

The television phenomenon whose supernatural, paranormal, and extraterrestrial graces earned it nine long seasons, two movies, and more praise than one basement office can tuck away has met revival in the comics community. After Topps Comics provided fans three years of issues, which matched the second through fifth seasons, the X-Files packed up and transferred to its new home at Wildstorm (DC). Now a successful writer and a guitarist are bringing two horrific sci-fi wonders together on the page. 30 Days of Night co-sire Steve Niles and Adam Jones of Tool fame have partnered for the six-issue crossover X-Files/30 Days of Night, which premieres this Wednesday.

Wildstorm isn’t holding back in celebration, either. They’ve arranged a total of three distinctive covers to accompany the debut: The standard cover features the work of Andrea Sorrentino (God of War), the X-Files variant that of Tom Mandrake, and the 30 Days of Night that of Sam Kieth (The Maxx, Lobo). With Mandrake previously contributing visuals to The Spectre and Batman comics, the DC familiar is providing the main artwork for this latest X-Files mystery.

He does a commendable job, too, as he depicts the eerie, tundra setting of Wainwright, Alaska, which is entering its second week of darkness when plowman Henry-Lee “Patches” Brown encounters an unnerving scene. The banter-prone Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are assigned to investigate the slaughter, and tensions soon rise despite the subzero temperatures. Mulder clashes once again with skeptic and federal agent Daniel Robert French (aka “Frenchy”).

Mandrake accomplishes some chilling visuals, a luxury which the crime’s nature facilitates, but a few panels do cause some temporary confusion. The scene in which Patches nearly crashes is a bit deceiving at first because Alan Willis falls victim to the unknown perpetrator (or perpetrators), not Patches himself. Another scene simply abandons proportion in the snow: Workers carry a decapitated body, but they tower impossibly over the agents as if giants.

For the most part, Niles and Jones tell the story easily enough, but the abrupt shift back to Patches’ narration comes without warning. X-Files/ 30 Days of Night #1 will please believers and vampire lovers alike, but expect a few bumps along the icy road.

Bottom Line

Readers can enjoy this X-Files reunion with a bite—even with the occasional weirdness, good and bad.