Karl Kesel, Vic Malhotra and Greg Scott are teaming up to tell the secret origins of the X-Files. The X-Files: Year Zero, a five-issue miniseries debuting in July, will see Agents Scully and Mulder tackling a mystery that dates back to the 1940s and the beginning of the FBI's X-Files unit.

“The origins of the X-Files unit of the FBI were only hinted at in the TV show, and we’re proud to present the story of how the precursors of our favorite paranormal agents established the division in the late 1940s,” said editor Denton J. Tipton in a press release. “I think Bing and Millie will become fan-favorites alongside Mulder, Scully, Reyes and Doggett.”

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According to the release, a shadowy informant known as “Mr. Xero” directed the FBI to a number of paranormal cases in the 1940s that would be classified as “X-Files." In the present, Mulder mets up with “Mr. Zero” and resolves to uncover the truth about who this mystery person is and their connection to these cases.

Kesel, known for both his writing and art skills, will write the story, while Malhotra will draw the 1940s sequences and Scott will draw the present-day storyline. Covers will be provided by X-Files Season 10 artist Carlos Valenzuela, with pulp-novel-inspired subscription variants by Robert Hack and a retailer incentive cover by Francesco Francavilla for the first issue.

“I’ve always thought the 40s would be a wonderful setting for X-Files, with the Russian red menace, atomic mutations and flying saucers all lurking in the shadows— what I like to think of as ‘UFO Noir.’” said Kesel in the release. “Of course, iconic characters like Mulder and Scully are a joy to write, and being given the opportunity to introduce their predecessors— Bing Ellinson and Millie Ohio— well, the truth is it’s all a little unbelievable to me. But the unbelievable is what X-Files is all about, isn’t it?”