Is It Good? The X-Files: Season 10 #24 Review

The penultimate issue of X-Files: Season 10 brings us one step closer to revealing Gibson Praise’s master plan. Is it good?

The X-Files: Season 10 #24 (IDW Publishing)

The issue opens with cloned members of the syndicate (Clondicate?) discussing their new predicament with a very special guest/hostage.

“At least I’m not naked this time.”

Back in Cuba, Mulder goes on a jungle stroll with one of the Cigarette Smoking Man clones. After some tense dialogue, CSM gets brutally dispatched by a military search party. Mulder runs for cover. He later learns why hitchhiking is never a good idea.

Meanwhile, Scully arrives in Havana to search for Mulder. Her cab driver says a few cryptic things and then begins speeding away from armed pursuers. Eight hours later, Scully wakes up from a nice little car nap, decides this whole situation is whack, and leaps out of the vehicle. She soon encounters a village that has a very strange secret…along with another very special guest.

Is It Good?

Okay, first of all, the running gag of CSM clones getting wrecked via the most horrifying means imaginable is kind of hilarious. Unfortunately, that was probably the best part about this issue, which seems to suffer from a crippling case of ‘setupitis.’

While it was fun to watch the pieces all move together for the big finish, it felt like a huge let down compared the previously thrilling chapters. We don’t learn very much other than there’s a weird village, Mulder and Scully are in danger, and Skinner needs to get better security. Oh, and there’s the thing about Scully sleeping in the car after a high speed car chase and not knowing where she’s being taken. I don’t remember seeing the driver slip her anything (or a struggle with narcolepsy in the character’s history).

There was still plenty to like about the issue, though. We got some action, a nice return/callback to the Syndicate scheming in a darkened room (albeit with very different intentions now), and of course getting to see CSM find yet another way to die. In fact, the contents of X-Files #24 work pretty well as part of a story (sans the Scully sleeping in the car part), but not so great as an individual issue.