I am a proud Xena: Warrior Princess fanatic. The show was a pillar of my childhood and to this day stands as one of my favorite television programs of all times. I’m happy to say that Dynamite Comics new series does it justice. If you’ve watched the show then you’ll recognize this story takes place during the beginning of the last season of the series. Xena and her partner Gabrielle have awakened from a 25 year slumber and are trying to reconcile with the people they’ve left in the past. Among them are a group of female warriors, all with backgrounds that are familiar to Xena fans. It was an interesting choice to set the storyline in such a continuity driven timeline but it definitely works. The storytelling is strong in this issue as it was in issue one. Genevieve Valentine does a great job of capturing the voices of Xena and Gabrielle as well as the dialects of the different characters. While issue one was more of a light-hearted take on Xena this story deals with the hatred and violence that Xena attracts due to her dark past with the Romans.
The artwork is consistent throughout the book. It has the feel of an old Greek tale and the style choices in the character designs are well-detailed. The fight scenes are full of cool moves and swordplay. Close ups of the faces of each character are well-defined. You see real emotion on the page.
The highest compliment I can give any comic based on an existing property is that it is as good in quality. This new Xena: Warrior Princess series does everything the Xena television show did. There are strong female characters, Greek mythology, and cool action scenes. I’m glad that Dynamite Comics is breathing life into this classic franchise. It’s clear that there are plenty more great stories to tell.
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