Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

X-Files #6

X-Files #6 of 6
Wildstorm Comics (DC)
Moench & Denham

The series wraps up with a very strong installment. Mulder is in trouble and ends up rescuing a missing person, but he needs help himself to escape. The issue ends in classic ambiguous fashion as we still don’t have a full explanation of what was going on in the Badlands. This issue captures an episode of X-Files very well.

The issue starts out with Mulder stuck in a cave maze while Scully is pursing his trail. The key suspect, Dante, is still out there as well. Things converge in the caverns. Mulder finds one of the missing women who happens to be knocked out. As he attempts to navigate the maze he is dictating his thoughts into a recorder just in case he dies, Scully will know what happened to him.

As the issue races towards it conclusion we find a few players show up. Dante, the mole people and a few surprises all make the ending something I didn’t really see coming. What’s interesting about the ending is that we don’t get a true explanation. This fits the story so well. It actually, in a strange way, makes Mulder, Scully, Dante and the cops all correct in their assessment of the goings on in the area, despite the fact that they all can’t seem to agree. The correct answer is truly a mystery.

The issue doesn’t take any easy way out. It offers a possible explanation of how the mole people seem to abduct people but it doesn’t actually reveal what they do with them or who they actually are. They could be anything really. A hallucination, people in costumes, some bears or an army of big foot creatures. In fact, based on some of the speculation in the issue it’s possible the same thing has been going on in other states. The story has legs left after it completes and it makes it more intriguing this way I think.

The artwork is good. This issue has a lot of fire and uses characters in shadows in the forefront with an illuminated background very well. The flashback scenes were extremely eye catching as they seemed to be water colored almost. The art excels at the close ups in this issue.

This issue ends the arc and the series. It might be the best arc among the mini series because it literally leaves you wondering right up until the end and even then you aren’t sure exactly what just happened. It’s a satisfying read and makes great use of Mulder. You could argue that Scully is under used in the issue and arc, but the story lends itself more to Mulder chasing something rather than them investigating and speculating, so it works well. I felt this issue captured what was best about the TV series very well.

4 out of 5 geek goggles