''The X-Files'' was a spin-off from the television series of the same name, originally published by

Topps Comics Topps Comics was a division of Topps, Topps Company, Inc. that published comic books from 1993 to 1998, beginning its existence during a short comics-industry boom that attracted many investors and new companies. It was based in New York City, at ...

and, most recently,

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

imprint

Wildstorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wilds ...

Publication history

The first series was published by

and ran for 41 issues from January

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

to September 1998, coinciding with the second through fifth seasons of the television program. In 1996, Topps published ''X-Files'' #0, an adaptation of the pilot episode, in order to test the market for a series adapting the episodes of the ''X-Files'' TV series. The issue was successful, and ''X-Files Season One'' ran for nine issues (August 1997 – July 1998). The series's name was provisional, and Topps in fact intended to adapt every episode, but never got as far as season two. The series was written by

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor, who was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibl ...

, who would create a first draft for each issue by working off of the episode's script, then watch the actual episode and modify his work to account for changes made on the set. Topps also published ''Ground Zero'', a four-issue mini-series (December 1997 – March 1998).

Tony Isabella Tony Isabella (born December 22, 1951) is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath; DC Comics' first major African-American superhero, Black Lightning; and as ...

reported difficulties with ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...

'' creator Chris Carter over the Topps Comics' series: The digest consisted of three issues published at five month intervals beginning December 1995 through September 1996, each featuring separate titles: "Big Foot, Warm Heart", "Dead to the World", and "Scape Goats". All included stories from ''Ray Bradbury Comics''. There were also a number of one-offs like the ''

Hero Illustrated ''Hero Illustrated'' was a comic book-themed magazine published in the early to mid-1990s in the United States. Columnists included Andy Mangels, and Frank Kurtz was at one time a managing editor. The journal won the 1995 Eisner Award for Best Co ...

Special'' (March 1995), and the

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

''Afterflight'' (August 1997).

published ''The X-Files Special'' in August 2008. It was a one-shot timed with the release of the second film, written by

Frank Spotnitz Frank Charles Spotnitz is an American television screenwriter and executive producer, best known for his work on ''The X-Files'' and ''The Man in the High Castle''. Spotnitz is also the chief executive officer and founder of Big Light Production ...

with art by Brian Denham. The deal Spotnitz signed was for another two comics.Spotnitz Wants to Believe in Wildstorm's "The X-Files Special"

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

, June 12, 2008 This became a six-part series that ran from November 2008 to April 2009 with Spotnitz writing the first two issues, Marv Wolfman for #3–4, and Doug Moench for #5–6. Wildstorm then teamed with IDW to publish '' The X-Files/30 Days of Night'' to positive reviews from July 2010. The six-issue limited series is written by '' 30 Days of Night'' creator

Steve Niles Steve Niles (born June 21, 1965) is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as ''30 Days of Night'', '' Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery'', ''Simon Dark'', ''Mystery Society'', and '' Batman: Gotham County Line''. ...

and

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

guitarist Adam Jones and follows Mulder and Scully to Alaska to investigate a series of grisly murders that may be linked to vampires. IDW then went on in July 2013 to begin publishing '' The X-Files Season 10'' as an ongoing series reuniting Mulder and Scully with creator Chris Carter returning as executive producer. This was followed by the eight-issue '' The X-Files Season 11'' in 2015. By the end of 2016, IDW Publishing has re-released all the previous Topps comics in collected form.

Creative contributors

Original series

Writers

Stefan Petrucha Stefan Petrucha (born January 27, 1959) is an American writer of comics and young adult fiction. He has written graphic novels in the '' X-Files'' and ''Nancy Drew'' series, as well as science fiction and horror. For 13 years, from 1994 to 2007, ...

:Issues #1–16 :''Annual'' #1 :''Digest''s #1 and 2 :''Afterflight'' *

John Rozum John Rozum is an American writer of comic books and graphic novels who is best known for his work for Milestone Comics, where he wrote ''Xombi'' and ''Kobalt (DC Comics), Kobalt''. He has also written most often for DC Comics but has also written fo ...

:Issues #17–19, 22–39, and 41 :''Annual'' #2 :''Digest'' #3 * Kevin J. Anderson :Issues #20 and 21 :''Ground Zero'' *Dwight Jon Zimmerman :Issue #40

Artist

Charles Adlard Charles Adlard is a British comic book artist known for his work on books such as '' The Walking Dead'' and '' Savage''. Career Adlard began his work in the UK on ''White Death'' with Robbie Morrison and '' 2000 AD'' series including ''Judge D ...

:Issues #1–16, 18, 19, 22, 23, and 27–29 :''Annual'' #1 :''Digest''s #1–3

Pencillers

Gordon Purcell Gordon Purcell (born February 14, 1959) is an American comics artist, perhaps best known for his '' Star Trek'' work, in particular his realistic renditions of the actors who play that franchise’s characters, as well as those of similarly lice ...

:Issues #17, 20, 21, and 24–29 :''Annual'' #2 :''Ground Zero'' *

Alex Saviuk Alex Saviuk (; born August 17, 1952) is an American comics artist primarily known for his work on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. Early life Alex Saviuk grew up on Long Island, New York, graduating from Floral Park Memorial High Schoo ...

:Issues 30–41 :''Afterflight'' :''Ground Zero''

Inkers

Josef Rubenstein Josef "Joe" Rubinstein (born 4 June 1958) is a comic book artist and inker, most associated with inking Marvel Comics' '' The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe'' and the 1982 four-issue ''Wolverine'' miniseries by Chris Claremont and Frank M ...

:Issues #17, 20, 21, and 24–29 :''Annual'' #2 *Rick Magyar :Issues #30–41 :''Afterflight'' *Larry Mahlstedt :''Ground Zero''

Cover artists

*Miran Kim :Issues #1–32 and 34–41 :''Annual''s #1 and 2 :''Digest''s #1–3 :''Afterflight'' *George Pratt :Issue #33 :''Ground Zero''

Plot

The three digests contained stories on Bigfoot, the Count of St. Germain and the

Chupacabra The chupacabra or chupacabras (, literally 'goat-sucker'; from es, chupar, 'to suck', and , 'goats') is a legendary creature in the folklore of parts of the Americas, with its first purported sightings reported in Puerto Rico in 1995. The na ...

, respectively. ''Afterflight'' dealt with elements of the

mystery airship Mystery airships or phantom airships are a class of unidentified flying objects best known from a series of newspaper reports originating in the western United States and spreading east during late 1896 and early 1897.. According to researcher ...

flap. ''Fight the Future'' was the official

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

adaptation, "Fight the Future" being the film's subtitle used to differentiate it from the television series. ''Season One'' adapted some of the episodes from the first season: "

Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

", " Deep Throat", " Squeeze", "

Conduit Conduit may refer to: Engineering systems * Conduit (fluid conveyance), a pipe suitable for carrying either open-channel or pressurized liquids * Electrical conduit, a protective cover, tube or piping system for electric cables * Conduit curre ...

", "

Ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

", "

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

", "

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

", " Beyond the Sea" and "

Shadows A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, ...

". Two others, " The Jersey Devil" and "

Ghost in the Machine The "ghost in the machine" is a term originally used to describe and critique the notion of the mind existing alongside and separate to the body. In more recent times, the term has several uses, including the concept that the intellectual part of ...

", were solicited but never published. Despite coinciding with the film, ''The X-Files Special'' will not be an adaptation but is set in what the writer calls "the classic period of the X-Files" – between Season 2 and Season 5. While this is a stand-alone story, he will be writing two more which fit into the broader conspiracy theory that developed, saying "the next ones that I am going to write tie into the mythology of the show not in a way that changes the path but deepens it a little bit."

Collected editions

The series has been collected into

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

. In the U.K.,

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and c ...

did a near-complete run (which in the U.S. Topps Comics run stopped at #12) but recently Checker Book Publishing started publishing the rest (although they re-started the numbering again). * ''The X-Files Collection'' (Topps Comics): ** ''Volume 1'' (collects ''The X-Files'' #1–6 and ''The X-Files/Hero Illustrated Special'', Berkley Publishing Group, February 1996, ) ** ''Volume 2'' (collects ''The X-Files'' #7–12 and ''Annual'' #1, 180 pages, February 1997, ) * Checker Book Publishing: ** ''Volume 1'' (collects #13–17, "Squeeze" and #0 "Pilot Episode", May 2005, , Titan Books, July 2008, ) ** ''Volume 2'' (collects #18–22, #1/2 and ''Digest'' #1, May 2005, , Titan Books, July 2008, ) ** ''Volume 3'' (collects #23–26, ''Fire'', ''Ice'' and ''Hero Illustrated Special'' "Trick of the Light", December 2005, ) *

: ** ''Firebird'' (by Stefan Petrucha, with art by Charlie Adlard, collects ''The X-Files'' #1–6 and ''The X-Files/Hero Illustrated Special'' "Trick of the Light", 160 pages, November 1995, ) ** ''Project Aquarius'' (by Stefan Petrucha, with art by Charlie Adlard, collects ''The X-Files'' #7–12, 151 pages, August 1996, ) ** ''The Haunting'' (by Stefan Petrucha, with art by Charlie Adlard, collects ''The X-Files'' #12–16, 160 pages, March 1997, ) ** ''Night Light'' (by Kevin J. Anderson and John Rozum, with art by Charlie Adlard and Gordon Purcell, collects ''The X-Files'' #17- 21, 128 pages, March 1997, ) ** ''Internal Affairs'' (by John Rozum, with art by Charlie Adlard, collects ''The X-Files'' #22–23, 128 pages, August 1997, ) ** ''Remote Control'' (by John Rozum, with art by Charlie Adlard, collects ''The X-Files'' #24–29, 160 pages, November 1997, ) ** ''Skin Deep'' (by John Rozum, with art by Alex Saviuk, collects ''The X-Files'' #30–33, 128 pages, April 1998, ) Other volumes include: *''Dead to the World'' (by Stefan Petrucha with Charlie Adlard, collects ''Digest''s #1–3, 208 pages, Titan Books, April 1996, ) *''Afterflight'' (by Stefan Petrucha, with art by Jill Thompson, Alexander Saviuk and Rick Magyar, graphic novel, Topps, August 1997, Titan Books, October 1997, ) The Wildstorm comics are also being collected: *''The X-Files'' (176 pages, Wildstorm, November 2009, )

Digital editions

The ''X-Files'' series is released digitally exclusively through Devil's Due Digital.

Reception

A review of the first Checker Book volume is complimentary about the writing and art, but scathing about the production values of the book itself, stating that "this collection from Checker reflects a lack of editorial control, poor workmanship, and generally shoddy values".Review of ''The X-Files Vol. 1'' from Checker Book

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice. During this ...

Notes

References

* * * * * * *
''The X-Files'' Comics ChecklistFantastic Fiction listing for ''The X-Files''

External links

Digest 1''The X-Files'' #00.5128
at Wowio

''X-Files''
digital comics from Devil's Due Digital. {{DEFAULTSORT:X-Files, The 1995 comics debuts 1998 comics endings Comics based on television series Comics based on films Comics by Don McGregor Comics by Marv Wolfman

Comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...