Comic(s) Relief: X-Files Prequel Explores The Case That Started It All

The truth is back then.

By David Wharton | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

x-files_year_zeroLast summer IDW Publishing released the first issue of The X-Files: Season 10, an official continuation of the series that picked up with Mulder and Scully living a low-key existence under false names in order to keep them safe from their enemies. Naturally, strange happenings soon put an end to their mundane life in the suburbs, and the pair were soon back on the job for the FBI. This July The X-Files: Season 10 be celebrating its first full year by releasing a new mini-series, The X-Files: Year Zero, which will delve into the earliest days of the FBI’s paranormal investigations unit.

IDW announced Year Zero at WonderCon in Anaheim last weekend. The five-part series will be penned by Eisner Award-nominated Karl Kesel (Superboy, FF), with Vic Malhotra (The X-Files: Conspiracy – The Crow) and Greg Scott (The X-Files: Season 10) splitting the art duties. Why two artists? The series will unfold in two different time periods, with Scott drawing the “modern” storyline and Malhotra tackling the past. Here’s the official blurb from IDW:

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.

Die-hard X-Files fans will likely remember that the show itself occasionally touched on the origins of the Bureau’s X-Files division, specifically in the episodes exploring the background of retired Agent Arthur Dales (the “modern” incarnation of Dales was played by Darren McGavin, whose title role in Kolchak: The Night Stalker served as one of the inspirations for The X-Files). Year Zero’s press release touts the story as going back to “the case that started it all,” so it’ll be interesting to see how it all meshes together. Dare we hope for an appearance from a younger Agent Dales? You never know.

In the press release, Kesel says:

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.’ 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?

Editor Denton J. Tipton adds:

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. I think Bing and Millie will become fan-favorites alongside Mulder, Scully, Reyes and Doggett.

The X-Files comics just released its first oversized annual issue, and you can grab digital versions of the comics on Comixology.

Hit the next link for more info about all of this week’s new science fiction comics!


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