The 90s are out there, and Scully and Mulder are determined to find them. IDW will be relaunching the X-files franchise in comics form. The plan includes reprints of the original series that ran from 1995-2009, and a new series launching in June.
“THE X-FILES is a classic property that helped redefine fans’ expectations for the science-fiction and horror genres,” said IDW’s President/Chief Operating Officer Greg Goldstein. “The possibilities for new comic stories are virtually unlimited!”
“The fans of THE X-FILES have remained loyal to the series since its conclusion. What better way to continue the show’s legacy and give back to them than through new stories in a different medium,” said Jeffrey Godsick, President of Fox Consumer Products. “IDW has worked with a number of our Fox properties, and we know they’re going to do great things with these iconic characters.”
“Few shows have captured the zeitgeist and fans’ imaginations like THE X-FILES, and fewer shows still have left people hungry for more in the way this one did,” said Chris Ryall, IDW’s Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief. “Our new series will be picking up where the second film left off, which will hopefully be as exciting for fans to read as it is for us to develop.”
No creative team was announced for the news series.
The original X-Files comics ran at Topps from 1995 to 1998, many written by Stefan Petrucha, John Rozum and so on. It was quite successful for the licensed comics of the day. Wildstorm ran a one-shot movie adaptation and a six-issue mini series in 2008-2009, and IDW brought it back in 20120 with a 30 Days of Night crossover.
Supernatural G-men Dana Scully and Fox Mulder are among the classic characters of horror pop culture and the dark, green-lit mood of the original series influnced many a serial killer drama to come. The book should fit in well with IDW’s line.
They should do a Doctor Who crossover.
You know, I had a moment of self-realization the other day that I automatically tune out IDW at the rack. I’m not sure if it’s because of the positively-terrible Star Trek issues I’ve sampled (life-long fan until Abrams), or if it was due to all the eye-rolling cross-over gimmicks.
I *loved* the X-Files (even the new team), but even with looking past my developed biases, it’s difficult to get excited without any creative team announced.
Will they actually complete storylines, or will we be expected to buy the trade if we want the final issue, ala Trio?
@Kevin: Seems to me that if they don’t complete storylines, it’ll be a pretty good X-Files adaptation.
Following the second film could be interesting. I know there’s a lot of fan hate for the second film but I went in with a pretty simple set of expectations (a modest return, intended to launch a new series of movies that were more like big-budget episodes than the sort of spectacle we’d seen in the first movie) and I thought it met them.
Wonder how close to the ending of the second film it’ll be. Will it actually be set in 2008? Or will they jump forward to 2013 and just sort of shrug about that whole end-of-the-world-in-2012 plotline?
The danger of licensed comics set in a universe that might continue someday is always that they tend to remain static — the Star Trek comics series following Wrath of Khan had to end back where it started, that sort of thing. Given that I Want to Believe had Mulder and Scully reluctantly coming out of retirement, and Walter Skinner showing up to lend a hand in the last act, is that the status quo that the comic will have to maintain? Because even though there are no more films on the horizon at the moment, I get the impression that that’s still the way Carter wants to continue the series, and this isn’t going to be the kind of “No, this is what happens” continuation that, say, Buffy is.
Put another way: I don’t expect any serious shakeups. I suppose we could find out what Doggett and Reyes have been up to if IDW wants to go that route, but I hope they don’t kitchen-sink it with returning characters. (The movie made a canny move, I think, in sticking to Mulder and Scully and only bringing in one more original cast member, near the end.) Lord knows there are plenty of unresolved storylines left over from the show, but I’m not sure I want to see the comic going that direction.
“The danger of licensed comics set in a universe that might continue someday is always that they tend to remain static — the Star Trek comics series following Wrath of Khan had to end back where it started, that sort of thing.”
I guess this must be IDW’s choice? The Pocket books license featuring the Star Trek universe are not static and have featured a number of status quo changing events.
@ Pink Apocalypse – “I *loved* the X-Files (even the new team)”.
You know, I did too, though at the time I felt it was a fairly insulting to the fans to ask us to ignore most of the seeds the show’d been planting for so long and follow these two new folks, despite how much it ‘worked’. I used to joke it should have been a separate show, like X-Files Miami or something similar.
IDW seems to like to reboot the properties they license and I’ll say that the two I read (TMNT and Cobra) are fantastic reboots. Esp. Cobra. I never thought I’d be able to see past Larry Hama’s 80’s GIJOE comic, but Costa did it. Now, would something similar work with the X-files? Well, again there were a lot of unanswered seeds planted, but you know now it’s been so long… who knows?
I want a Warehouse 13 series.
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