Sunday, July 18, 2010

X-Files / 30 Days of Night - WildStorm / IDW Publishing

I have to admit . . I really enjoyed this issue. I was less than thrilled with the last X-Files mini series by WildStorm. I thought it was kind of dull, and predictable. But as I said then . . I just feel like the caliber of stories have increased since that series aired. Yeah, it was cutting edge then. But now? Not so much. I say that even though I have a deep fondness for the series. I loved it! Anyways, I'm still a follower, so . . I picked up this series even though I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I know the 30 Days of Night was a good franchise, so . . I figured they'd probably be a good fit together. And . . I was right. This issue basically follows a trucker . . Henry Lee Brown, 'Patches' . . a road-worker, actually. He's lived in Alaska for all of his 40 some years. And although he dreads the long winter nights, he knows that he's blessed and he balances out his time with his family with that of work . . clearing the roads. Henry, 'Patches' finds solace, quiet and time to think at his job. Plus, for the most part, it's been uneventful. That is until the night he stumbles across the semi-truck graveyard. He finds an area with a dozen or so trucks wrecked and mangled. But, at first . . he can find no bodies. And then . . he finds the effigy. A 25 foot pole with 16 headless bodies hanging from the top of it. And on the bottom . . all the collected heads, in a pile. A few of them . . he even recognizes. After reporting what he finds . . enter the Police, the FBI, and . . Mulder and Scully. This issue basically just serves to introduce the characters and set the stage. But things are going to start escalating next issue. After the long hours stuck at this site Henry is just happy to be returning home . . home to his loving family. But upon entering, he finds a pack of vampires . . demons, or whatever . . that have entered his home and killed his family. Their heads have been centered on the dining room table like the Thanksgiving turkey. This could prove to be a very interesting series. I just hope it doesn't get to predictable. It's nice to see Steve Niles return to the franchise he created. With a little help from Adam Jones on the scripts. And although I'm not a huge fan of Tom Mandrake's art . . I do have to admit that he's probably the perfect artist for this story. His style does fit in well with the macabre nature of this book. So, right now . . I'm hopefully optimistic. This could be good, or . . it could be average. We'll just have to wait and see.

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