X #9

Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Release on: January 15, 2014

Now that Setter's drug ring has been stopped and the good cops promoted to be able to help, it's time for X and his friend Leigh to settle in to new surroundings. She sees this all as a good thing, since X didn't have to kill anybody this time around…

Leigh also wants to know more about her mysterious roommate and, over time, little truths begin slipping out during everyday conversations. The fact that they both grew up as foster kids “in the system” is the biggest revelation and sends her investigating for more info.

Meanwhile, a mob hitman named Turner executes a seemingly harmless old man. Right after the deed, though, the hitman discovers the identity of this target and the connection they once had, the hope they once shared. Beleaguered with guilt, Turner tries to shoot himself but can't do so - he feels he has to pay for all his sins in this world in order to save himself. So he gets the inspiration of having X take him out, a “death by X” sort of thing.

The problem is, X is less busy now that word has got out about how he handled the corrupt Lt. Setter. He's posting his “one-strike” warnings and the criminals are mostly responding by getting outta town. X and Leigh are tracking down a villainous scumbag who has ignored that warning and, just when they're setting him up, Turner appears and kills said scumbag, hoping to entice X into killing him. But that's not X's way and he leaves him behind.

Not for long, though, as they both track one criminal who's attempting to leave town. They fight on a subway platform but X still won't kill Turner, especially now that he knows he wants it. He does, though, manage to seriously disable him and leave him to the cops. As he's rehabing in prison, Turner realizes this is now his mission in life and so devotes himself to the mission of dying by and with X, now calling himself Deathwish…

Duane Swierczynski turns the story back onto X deftly here from where it had been focused previously in this series. Now, X gets to be back in his element of violence but even that's getting tested and called into question by everyone around him now. And his code forces the genesis of another arch-villain. Eric Nguyen's excellent artwork gets to have a good deal of fun here, with big, bloody action scenes filling the pages. It's yet another fun, new direction for this highly-entertaining series.