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Xena: Warrior Princess (comics)

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Xena
Cover of Xena: Warrior Princess 0 (Oct 1997)
Character information
First appearanceHercules: The Legendary Journeys #3 (August 1996)
In-story information
Full nameXena
Publication information
PublisherTopps Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dynamite Entertainment
ScheduleMonthly
FormatsOriginal material for the series has been published as a set of ongoing series and limited series.
Genre
Publication dateOctober 1997 – 2019
Number of issues55
Main character(s)Xena, Gabrielle
Reprints
Collected editions
The Warrior Way of DeathISBN 1-56971-452-5
Xena: Contest of PantheonsISBN 1-933305-35-5

Xena: Warrior Princess is a series of comic books based on the television series of the same name. Topps Comics and Dark Horse Comics created a series of comics tying into the property. In 2007, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to the series.

Publication history

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Topps Comics published the first Xena series of comics, titled Xena: Warrior Princess. Xena's character was originally introduced in the 1996 Topps Comics series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, issues #3, #4, and #5. These were followed by the Xena: Warrior Princess comics released in a limited series format, with the vast majority being three-issue series, in 1997 and 1998.

Dark Horse acquired the license in 1999.

Dynamite Entertainment began new stories in 2007.

There have been a number of crossovers with other properties within the companies, including three mini-series with Army of Darkness: "Why Not?", "What, Again?", and "Forever and a Day".[1]

All publishers used cover rations involving photo covers, with stills from the television series, and drawn/inked/colored art covers.

Publishers

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Topps Comics

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Many of the comics were released with multiple covers: one photo cover and one cover with a comic book artist's rendering. These Topps comics introduced Xena's character:

  • Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1996, #3/5)
  • Xena: Warrior Princess: Year One (1997)
  • Xena: Warrior Princess (1997, 3 issues)
  • Xena: Warrior Princess/Joxer: Warrior Prince (1997/1998, 3 issues)
  • Xena: Warrior Princess and the Dragon's Teeth (1997/1998, 3 issues)
  • Xena: Warrior Princess vs. Callisto (1998, 3 issues)
  • Xena: Warrior Princess: The Orpheus Trilogy (1998, 3 issues)
  • Xena: Warrior Princess – Bloodline (1998, 2 issues)
  • Xena: Warrior Princess and the Original Olympics (1998, 3 issues)
  • The Marriage of Hercules and Xena (1998)
  • Xena: Warrior Princess and the Wrath of Hera Vol. 1 (1998, 2 issues)

Fan Art - Battle On

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A series of webcomic strips by Jeanette Atwood in the late 1990s, which were a comedic take on the circumstances, relationships, and situations involving Xena and Gabrielle.

While not officially recognized, the material is considered by some to be "comedy gold" and years later remembered fondly by fans of the strip and Xena.

Dark Horse Comics

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Dark Horse's Xena series ran for 14 issues from 1999 to 2000;[2] writers involved included John Wagner and Ian Edginton. Comics featuring Xena were also run in Dark Horse Presents Annual 1999, Dark Horse Jr.,[3] and 2000, Girls Rule!.[4] The series was incompletely collected into a series of three trade paperbacks.

Dynamite Entertainment

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Dynamite started publishing Xena comics in 2006 with a four issue mini-series and an annual titled Xena.[5] It was written by John Layman with art by Fabiano Neves. In May 2007 Dynamite and Layman launched another four issue mini-series subtitled Dark Xena, set some time after Xena, with art by Noah Salonga.

In April 2016, a third series of six issues began, written by Catwoman writer Genevieve Valentine, with art by Ariel Mendel.[6] Dynamite started a new monthly Xena: Warrior Princess series in February 2018 which ran for ten issues with writing by Meredith Finch and then Erica Schultz, followed by another six issue series written by Vita Ayala in 2019.

Dynamite also published the two four issue crossovers with Army of Darkness, Why Not? (2008) and What, Again? (2009), as well as the six issue crossover Forever... And a Day (2016).

Collected editions

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Topps Comics

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  • Xena: Warrior Princess, collects Xena: Warrior Princess #1–2 and #0 with extra material from The Official Xena: Warrior Princess Magazine

Dark Horse Comics

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The first 10 issues have been collected into trade paperbacks (TPB):

Dynamite Comics

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  • Xena, Warrior Princess: Classic Years Omnibus, collects the Dark Horse Xena: Warrior Princess #1–10, Dark Horse Presents: Dark Horse Jr. Annual 1999, and Dark Horse Presents: Girls Rule! Annual 2000, 2017, ISBN 978-1-5241-0330-9
  • Xena: Contest of Pantheons, by John Layman (writer) and Fabiano Neves (artist), TPB collects Xena v2 #1–4, 2007, ISBN 1-933305-35-5
  • Xena: Dark Xena, by John Layman (writer) and Noah Salonga (artist), TPB collects Dark Xena #1–4, 2007, ISBN 1-933305-61-4
  • Xena: Warrior Princess Omnibus Volume One, collects Xena v2 #1–4, Dark Xena #1–4, and "Strange Visitor" from Xena Annual #1, 2017, ISBN 978-1-5241-0251-7
  • Xena: Warrior Princess – All Roads, collects Xena: Warrior Princess v3 #1–6, 2017, ISBN 978-1-5241-0160-2
  • Xena: Warrior Princess – Volume 1: Penance, collects Xena: Warrior Princess v3 #1–5, 2018, ISBN 978-1-5241-0734-5
  • Xena: Warrior Princess – Volume 2: Mindgames, collects Xena: Warrior Princess v3 #5–10, 2019, ISBN 978-1-5241-1155-7
  • Xena: Warrior Princess – Road Warrior, collects Xena: Warrior Princess v4 #1–6, 2019, ISBN 978-1-5241-1290-5

John Layman's first Army of Darkness crossover was also collected.

  • Xena: Warrior Princess/Army of Darkness vol. 1: Why Not?, TPB collects Battered and Bruced #1–4, 2009, ISBN 1-60690-008-0
  • Xena vs. Army of Darkness Volume 2: What... Again?!, TPB collects #1-4, 2009, ISBN 9781606900321
  • Army of Darkness / Xena Omnibus, TPB collects Battered and Bruced #1–4, Volume 2 #1-4, Army of Darkness/Xena: Warrior Princess: Forever and a Day, 2020, ISBN 9781524115074

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Phegley, Kiel (October 22, 2008). "Xena & Army of Darkness: A Ridiculous Round 2". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  2. ^ "Search Results: "Xena"". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  3. ^ "Dark Horse Presents Annual 1999: DHP Jr". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "Dark Horse Presents Annual 2000: Girls Rule!". Dark Horse Comics. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  5. ^ "Xena #1". Dynamite Entertainment. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  6. ^ Ching, Albert (January 20, 2016). "New "Xena: Warrior Princess" Comic Debuting in April From Dynamite". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
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