Last issue ended with one heck of a cliffhanger. This month brings us to the explosive conclusion to the Peacock family’s return to the X-Files mythos.
Is it good?
The X-Files: Season 11 #4 (IDW Publishing)
The Plot
- Not sure why, but Matthew Dow Smith’s art looks even better in flashback sequences.
- Uh oh. The Peacocks are in trouble with a lot more than just their genetics.
- Mulder? Wasn’t he falling to the ground from a lethal height the last time we saw him? What the heck happened?
- Together again at last.
- BOOM!
- Dang it, Mulder. Haven’t you learned by now to always listen to Scully?
Is It Good?
First, let’s talk about the resolution (or lack there of) to the final scene from last month. It’s bad enough that Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead screwed us out of a good cliffhanger (No, not Glenn. It was Rick being trapped in the RV). Now it’s gotta happen in one of my favorite comics, too? I don’t care what Gibson Praise did (or didn’t do) to keep Mulder from falling to his death. That’s really not cool, Joe Harris.
Fortunately, Harris makes up for this atrocious sin with a harrowing stand off that literally combusts into a surprisingly poignant (and chilling) ending. He also juxtaposes the present tension with some great callbacks to the Peacock family’s past, including some scenes (brilliantly rendered by Smith) that should look very familiar to longtime X-Philes.
The issue ends with another cliffhanger, albeit one that isn’t quite as immediate as the one from last month. It also looks like the fallout won’t be so easily avoided…which is really good, because Gibson Praise is starting to get on my nerves. He was cool at first, but his shifting power levels are making it harder and harder to trust the narrative. Harris isa good enough writer to still spin a good story around such a nebulous character, but the series’ over arcing plot would be much better served by a slightly clearer picture of its main antagonist.
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