The X-Files (comics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The X-Files | |
 The X-Files #5 (May 1995), cover art by Miran Kim. |
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| Publisher | Topps Comics |
|---|---|
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Publication date | January 1995 - September 1998 |
| Number of issues | 41 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Stefan Petrucha |
| Artist(s) | Charlie Adlard |
| Collected editions | |
| Volume 1 | ISBN 1883313104 |
| Volume 2 | ISBN 1883313236 |
The X-Files comics were a number of spin-offs from the TV series of the same name, produced by Topps Comics and most recently Wildstorm.
The main creative teams for the Topps series were the writers Stefan Petrucha (up to issue #16) and John Rozum (#17-41), with artists Charlie Adlard (up to issue #29) and Alex Saviuk (#30-41)
Contents |
[edit] Publication history
Main series was published by Topps Comics and ran for 41 issues from January 1995 to September 1998.
There were also two limited series: Ground Zero was a four-issue mini-series (December 1997 - March 1998) and Season One which ran for 9 issues (July 1997 - July 1998).
The digest consisted of three issues published twice yearly from December 1995 - December 1996, with separate titles: "Big Foot, Warm Heart," "Dead to the World" and "Scape Goats." The first two also included stories from the Ray Bradbury Comics.
There were also a number of one-offs like the Hero Illustrated Special (March 1995), and graphic novels like Afterflight (August 1997).
Wildstorm are releasing, "The X-Files Special", in August 2008. It will be a one-shot to coincide with the release of the second film written by Frank Spotnitz with art by Brian Denham. The deal Spotnitz signed is for another two comics.[1]
[edit] Plot
The three digests contained stories on Bigfoot being hunted, the Count Saint-Germaine and the chupacabras, respectively.
Afterflight dealt with elements of the mystery airship flap.
Fight the Future was the official film adaptation, "Fight the Future" being the films subtitle used to differentiate it from the television series.
Season One adapated some of the episodes from the first season: Pilot, Deep Throat, Squeeze, Conduit, Ice, Space, Fire, Beyond the Sea and Shadows. Two others, The Jersey Devil and Ghost in the Machine, were solicited but never published.
Despite coinciding with the film, "The X-Files Special" won't be an adaptation but is set in what the writer calls "the classic period of the X-Files" - between Season 2 and Season 5. While this is a stand-alone story he will be writing two more which fit into the broader conspiracy theory that developed, saying "the next ones that I am going to write tie into the mythology of the show not in a way that changes the path but deepens it a little bit."[1]
[edit] Problems
Tony Isabella reported difficulties with The X-Files creator Chris Carter over the Topps Comics' series:
"[W]hoever was approving the comics over in Chris Carter Land were the poster kids for anal retentiveness. Although it's possible that they were so picky because they never wanted the comics out there in the first place. The main reason the comics fell behind schedule was because it took so long to satisfy the X-Files people. They went over everything with a fine-tooth comb, including the letters columns. ... I rarely ran negative letters in these columns because the [Topps] editors were afraid that the X-Files people would want even more changes in the material. Almost from the start, there were never enough usable letters for our needs. That's why I started including the "Deep Postage" news items — and making up letters completely. I also wrote the Xena letters columns, but those were a lot easier to produce." [2]
[edit] Collected editions
The series has been collected into trade paperbacks. In the UK, Titan Books did a near complete run but in the US Topps stopped at #12, but recently Checker Book Publishing started publishing the rest (although they restarted the numbering again).
- The X-Files Collection (Topps Comics):
- Volume 1 (collects The X-Files #1-6 and The X-Files Heroes Illustrated Special, Berkley Publishing Group, February 1996, ISBN 1883313104)[3]
- Volume 2 (collects The X-Files #7-12 and Annual #1, 180 pages, February 1997, ISBN 1883313236)[4]
- Checker Book Publishing:
- Volume 1 (collects #13-17, Squeeze and #0 Pilot Episode, May 2005, ISBN 1-933160-02-0)
- Volume 2 (collects #18-22, #1/2 and Digest #1, May 2005, ISBN 1-933160-03-9)
- Volume 3 (collects #23-26, Fire, Ice and Hero Illustrated Special "Trick of the light", December 2005, ISBN 1-933160-39-X)
- Titan Books:
- Firebird (by Stefan Petrucha, with art by Charlie Adlard, collects The X-Files #1-6, and The X-Files/Hero Illustrated Special, 1995 Trick of the Light, 160 pages, November 1995, ISBN 1900097087)
- Project Aquarius (by Stefan Petrucha, with art by Charlie Adlard, collects The X-Files #7-9, 151 pages, August 1996, 1900097176)
- The Haunting (by Stefan Petrucha, with art by Charlie Adlard, collects The X-Files #10-16, 160 pages, March 1997, ISBN 1900097230)
- Night Light (by Kevin J. Anderson and John Rozum, with art by Charlie Adlard and Gordon Purcell, collects The X-Files #17- 19, 128 pages, March 1997, ISBN 1852868082)
- Internal Affairs (by John Rozum, with art by Charlie Adlard, collects The X-Files #20-23, 128 pages, August 1997, ISBN 1852868090)
- Remote Control (by John Rozum, with art by Charlie Adlard, collects The X-Files #24-29, 160 pages, Novmber 1997, ISBN 1852868406)
- Skin Deep (by John Rozum, with art by Alex Saviuk, collects The X-Files #30-33, 128 pages, April 1998, ISBN 1852869518)
Other volumes include:
- Dead to the World (by Stefan Petrucha with Charlie Adlard, collects Digests 1-3, 208 pages, April 1996, ISBN 1900097249)
- Afterflight (by Stefan Petrucha, with art by Jill Thompson, Alexander Saviuk and Rick Magyar, graphic novel, Topps, August 1997, Titan Books, October 1997, ISBN 1852868600)
[edit] Reception
A review of the first Checker Book volume is complimentary about the writing and art but scathing about the production values of the book itself, stating that "this collection from Checker reflects a lack of editorial control, poor workmanship, and generally shoddy values".[5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Spotnitz Wants to Believe in Wildstorm's "The X-Files Special", Comic Book Resources, June 12, 2008
- ^ Coville, Jamie (May 2000). An Interview with Tony Isabella (HTML). collectortimes.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
- ^ The X-Files Collection Volume 1 at the Comic Book DB
- ^ The X-Files Collection Volume 2 at the Comic Book DB
- ^ Review of The X-Files Vol. 1 from Checker Book, Comics Bulletin
[edit] References
- The X-Files at the Comic Book DB
- The X-Files: Comics Digest at the Comic Book DB
- The X-Files/Hero Illustrated Special at the Comic Book DB
- The X-Files: Season One at the Comic Book DB
- The X-Files: AfterFlight at the Comic Book DB
- The X-Files: Ground Zero at the Comic Book DB
- The X-Files: Fight the Future at the Comic Book DB
- The X-Files Comics Checklist
- Fantastic Fiction listing for the X-Files
[edit] External links
- Digest 1, The X-Files #0, 0.5, 1-28 at Wowio
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