Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
The X-Files #4 of 6
Wildstorm Comics (DC Comics)
Wolfman & Denham
The two-part arc wraps up with a little mystery and lot of noise. While this series, in print and on screen, usually ends with some intrigue and a little bit of a brain stumper, this one uses some good, old-fashioned shooting. It’s still a good read but it clearly falls on the action side of the fence, which threw me for a loop.
The issue opens wehn Scully and Mulder are basically run over by a truck that causes a huge fire in a warehouse. True to their luck, they happened to find a stack of fireproof coats to hide under. This made me chuckle a little bit and clearly took a page out of the show’s playbook. When the dust clears they begin to piece together the cover-up, as Chan, who was driving the truck is nowhere to be found. And neither are his double, triples, etc.
After staking out a funeral in hopes of getting someone to talk about the cult that Chan may be mixed up with Scully and Mulder find someone who is willing to give them some information. This makes some people unhappy and their trail is left dead almost immediately.
The issue takes some twists and turns and eventually they unravel exactly how many Chan(s) there are and how they came into existence. The issue has a ton of gunfire and the story doesn’t get resolved 100%. I’m not even sure which Chan was the mastermind but they all aren’t fully accounted for in the end and things are always a little murky, which is they way I like it with X-Files.
Overall the issue is fun. However, the element of it being an X-File is hinged on the fact that there are so many of the exact same person. What doesn’t quite line up is the motive for murder and crime. The young Chan is trying to muscle the old cult regime back into the old ways, but something doesn’t totally line up with the method behind everything. Why cant a younger generation start up? Why rely on the old? There was more to this mystery and while not everything needs to be neat and tidy, I would have liked to have seen a little more on this plot as it seemed multi faceted.
The art handles the action well and the choice of colors is nicely contrasted when dealing with the bright colors of the fire or the blood versus the general dark tone of the issue. Is it me (or my printing) but does Dana’s eye color change from green to blue?
This was a fun read but not the very best this series has to offer. If you like your X-Files to leave something open for you at the end then this issue has it for you. Just count up your dead Chan fellows in the end. How many do you think are left?
3 out of 5 geek goggles
