X #0
Written by Duane Swierczynski
Illustrated by Eric Nguyen
Colored by Michelle Madsen
Lettered by Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover by Raymond Swanland
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 10, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

I love a character that doesn’t necessarily follow the typical path of the superhero; one that might be more inclined to cause a bit of pain before getting any answers; or someone with a dark past who may not have any powers, but believes in and fights for the notion of justice. This, I believe, is what Dark Horse is aiming to offer with its re-launch of the 1990’s comic vigilante, X. The problem, however, is that this particular anti-hero seems highly un-relatable in the initial issue, X #0.

Written by Duane Swierczynski with art from Eric Nguyen, we are immediately immersed into a dark, seedy criminal underworld within the city of Arcadia. While packaging up sausage links made from the meat of a previous associate, crime boss Duroc receives an envelope with a very disturbing image: his mug-shot crossed out by a large red “˜X’. Duroc meets in private with two other men, Pietrain and Hereford, both of whom have been given the same frightful letter. We learn through their conversation that other men have received letters and were murdered shortly thereafter by someone they’ve dubbed the “X-Killer.” The three men come up with their own schemes of how to either avoid or take down the X-Killer.