This is too mysterious for its own good. Two issues in and I have no idea what this book about. Is it about the shady group of people in the last issue hoisting glasses to the new millennium in the World Trade Center? Is it about Frank Black finding his daughter? Is it about some demon thing they introduce in this issue named Legion? Is it about Mulder believing? Is it about an upcoming cameo from Scully? Is it a monster of the week like the show? Is it a procedural? Is it a conspiracy drama? Is it about a serial killer? I could go on and on and on. Spoilers: I don’t know. The book is impossible to spoil because there isn’t a single answered question in it, just the addition of more questions Lost style. I don’t mind esoteric plots or deep mysteries. I can usually stay on the ball enough to get into it but I believe in starting with a set of questions and answering one question for each additional asked question. Start with 5 questions and one or two of those questions you can ride until the end of the story but answer the remaining 3 in time while you ask 3 more questions. Don’t start with 5 questions and then add 5 more, then pay off, maybe 1 before asking another 5. I don’t understand what’s happening here and I’m not really interested in what’s going on either. It makes me frustrated. And sad. Mainly because I want to understand what’s going on. This hit’s me right in the 90’s. That’s my era man. That’s when I was doing stuff, I was hip, I was with it. I was a teenager so I knew everything. But so far I am not able to get into this.

The art is decent but the color palate feels off, these characters don’t feel like they belong in this world. They didn’t go with X-Files monochromatic feel or Millennium’s earth tones. They colored it like a normal comic so it feels like a normal comic, it doesn’t feel like these characters belong there.

The writing, on the surface, is well done. The words make sense and thought was put in to them but in the context of the story I find myself at some moments utterly confused by what’s going on or feeling like the exposition is clunky. Examples: When Frank is talking to Legion I feel like this interaction should have more weight. It’s addressed like this is a key scene between two major characters who have history. I don’t know what that history is and there’s no expository tool used to inform me of that history. I’m confused. Then there are these phone calls between Mulder and Scully where Mulder has an entirely one-sided conversation that feels like Snake Eyes should be in the room collecting intelligence. It feels clunky and it tells me how I should feel about the story instead of showing me why I should care about what’s going on. If you aren’t a fan of these properties than this is a hard pass. Hopefully things will clear up in the next issue for those that are hanging on.

Score: 2/5

Millennium #2 Writer: Joe Harris Artist: Colin Lorimer Colorist: Joana Lafuente Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Release Date: 3/18/15 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital