Secret Agent X-9 is returning to comics in 2027, with Dan DiDio writing a new series for Mad Cave Studios. Secret Agent X-9 #1, illustrated by Tom Derenick and featuring a cover by Mike Perkins, is scheduled for January 27, 2027, at $4.99.
The relaunch brings Phil Corrigan, the operative associated with the long-running newspaper-strip property, into a contemporary espionage setup. The announced premise begins with a failed assassination attempt that pulls the retired agent back into action. Corrigan must then work alongside a younger operative to confront Pendulum, a covert network said to manipulate political extremes in the pursuit of continuing global disorder.
That setup suggests the new book is aiming for an intergenerational spy story as much as a straight revival. Corrigan is positioned as an experienced figure returning to a changed field, while the younger agent creates an immediate opportunity for disagreement over methods, loyalties, and what intelligence work looks like in a modern setting. Those are story implications rather than confirmed plot details, but the basic setup gives the series more to work with than merely reusing a familiar name.
A newspaper-strip spy returns
Secret Agent X-9 began in 1934, created by Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond. Hammett is associated with The Maltese Falcon, while Raymond is best known for Flash Gordon. Their strip starred an unnamed government agent serving an anonymous, shadowy organization. It ultimately ran for more than six decades, making the property a particularly unusual fit for a modern comic-book relaunch: its roots are in serialized newspaper adventure, not the superhero pamphlet format that dominates most contemporary franchise revivals.
That distinction matters. A daily adventure strip traditionally relies on momentum, clean dramatic turns, and a reason to return for the next installment. Spy fiction is naturally compatible with that structure. An agent can be sent to a new location, uncover a hidden operation, be betrayed by an apparent ally, or end an installment with an immediate threat. The announced X-9 series promises old villains, new allies, unexpected settings, noir elements, and explosive action, all of which align with that serialized adventure DNA.
Noir, in this context, refers to crime and espionage storytelling built around secrecy, compromised motives, danger, and uncertainty about whom to trust. It does not necessarily mean the comic will imitate one historical visual style. Instead, the term signals a story world where a protagonist’s mission is complicated by concealed agendas and where the institutions supposedly providing order may be difficult to read.
Pendulum, the network named as the new book’s central threat, is described as pulling at opposing sides of the political spectrum to preserve chaos. That makes it an intentionally broad adversary concept. The effectiveness of the premise will rest on how specifically the comic defines Pendulum’s operations, stakes, and connection to Corrigan. For now, it establishes a conspiracy-focused conflict suited to a protagonist with a background in clandestine work.
DiDio’s move from publisher to writer
DiDio’s name is closely tied to his editorial and publishing career at DC. He joined the company as vice president of editorial in 2002, later becoming co-publisher with Jim Lee in 2010. His tenure included close involvement with the weekly series 52 and the 2011 New 52 relaunch. He also wrote or co-wrote comics including OMAC, Phantom Stranger, and Sideways.
After leaving DC in 2020, DiDio became publisher at Frank Miller Presents and moved into work with other comics publishers. At Mad Cave, he has written Defenders of the Earth since 2024. He also contributed a short Nightwing story to a DC anthology in 2024. The X-9 project continues that writing-focused phase, and it does so with a character whose history is rooted in pulp-flavored action and espionage rather than superhero continuity.
There is a meaningful connection between DiDio’s DC work and this assignment. During his time at DC, the publisher launched Grayson, the series in which Dick Grayson became Agent 37 for Spyral, an intelligence organization operating in the DC Universe. Written by Tim Seeley and Tom King with art by Mikel Janín, Grayson blended undercover work, international missions, superhero-world intelligence gathering, and ties to characters including Batman and Helena Bertinelli.
Grayson was compared with Secret Agent X-9 at the time, and the new project makes the association more direct. The comparison does not mean the two series are interchangeable: one turns a major superhero character toward espionage, while the other is built from a classic spy-adventure property. But both work from a similar dramatic engine—an operative moving through secret organizations, uncertain alliances, elaborate missions, and action-heavy conspiracies.
Readers interested in comics announcements beyond this particular revival can also find another recent one-shot-focused story in this look at AWA’s murder-mystery one-shot.
The classic Goodwin and Williamson material arrives first
Mad Cave is pairing the fresh start with a major archival release. Secret Agent X-9 Classic Collection HC Vol. 01 is due January 13, 2027, two weeks before the new issue. Priced at $49.99, the hardcover collects the first two years of Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson’s work on the strip.
Goodwin and Williamson took up the property roughly three decades after its creation, when it had become known as Secret Agent Corrigan. Their run gave the character a renewed identity and a different mode of spy-and-adventure storytelling. For a revival built around Phil Corrigan, collecting this material is more than a nostalgia exercise: it supplies accessible historical context for readers who may know the name X-9 but have not encountered the version that centered Corrigan.
Archival editions can also clarify why a dormant property has been selected for relaunch. A new #1 has to introduce its own version of the character, and it should be understandable without reading older stories. But placing classic material back in print lets interested readers compare eras directly. They can see the earlier adventure-strip approach, then assess which foundational ideas the modern series chooses to retain, reinterpret, or leave behind.
The timing is useful for collectors and readers who want that sequence. The hardcover’s January 13 release date precedes Secret Agent X-9 #1 on January 27. Anyone looking to sample the Goodwin and Williamson era before trying DiDio and Derenick’s version has a defined, straightforward route into the material.
What is confirmed for the new series
- Title: Secret Agent X-9 #1
- Writer: Dan DiDio
- Artist: Tom Derenick
- Cover artist: Mike Perkins
- Release date: January 27, 2027
- Price: $4.99
- Premise: A failed assassination attempt brings retired Phil Corrigan back into the field, where he partners uneasily with a younger operative against Pendulum.
What is confirmed for the hardcover
- Title: Secret Agent X-9 Classic Collection HC Vol. 01
- Writer: Archie Goodwin
- Artist and cover artist: Al Williamson
- Contents: The first two years of the Goodwin and Williamson run
- Release date: January 13, 2027
- Price: $49.99
Much remains unannounced, including the intended length of the new run, the identity of Corrigan’s younger partner, and the specific returning villains referenced in the solicitation. Still, the launch plan is clear: a new creative team will take a historically significant newspaper-strip agent into modern spy fiction, while a hardcover offers a substantial entry point to one of the character’s celebrated later eras. For readers who enjoy espionage comics, pulp adventure, or the sometimes surprising routes by which older comics properties return, Secret Agent X-9 has a notably well-defined opening in January 2027.
