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Xerxes (graphic novel)

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Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander
Publication information
PublisherDark Horse Comics
ScheduleMonthly
FormatLimited series
Publication dateApril 4 – August 1, 2018
No. of issues5
Creative team
Written byFrank Miller[1][2][3]
Artist(s)Frank Miller[4][5][6]
Colorist(s)Alex Sinclair
Editor(s)Freddye Miller

Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander,[7][8][9] or simply Xerxes,[10][11] is a 2018 comic book limited series written and illustrated by Frank Miller.[12][13] Acting as both a prequel and sequel to the events chronicled in Miller's earlier series 300, a fictional retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae, the series garnered a mixed reception.[14]

Parts of the series were loosely adapted for the 2014 film 300: Rise of an Empire, a sequel to the 2007 film adaptation of 300. However, the comic series was not actually published until 2018, four years after the film's release. A further film adaptation of Xerxes' Rise of Alexander segments, Blood and Ashes, is also in development.

Synopsis

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Chapter One

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In 490 BC, Darius I invades mainland Greece in retaliation for the Ionian Revolt's destruction of Sardis, with Athens's aid. An advance scouting party is slaughtered by a small detachment of Athenians, led by Themistokles and Aeskylos. The following day, at Marathon, General Miltiades comes up with a radical strategy to abandon the traditional phalanx and charge the numerically superior Persian force with a battle line that has been deliberately thinned in order to allow the Greeks to flank the Persians and catch them in a pincer.[15][16] The strategy works, and the Persian force is slaughtered, but Miltiades orders the army to return to Athens immediately, knowing that the main body of Darius' force is headed there by sea.[17][18]

Chapter Two

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The army returns to Athens ahead of the Persians, but Militades sees they are hopelessly outnumbered, and begs to be killed for his failure. Themistokles, however, has a plan: all the citizens of Athens, including women and the elderly, are dressed in armor and arrayed on the shore, presenting the image of a mighty army. Darius balks from landing, and decides to send a detachment of Androsians to test the Athenians. The Androsians' barges are destroyed by arrows lit with Greek fire, which acts as a diversion for Aeskylos to swim between the Persian ships, mount a cliff above Darius' flagship, and rain javelins onto the deck, killing Darius and several of his Immortals. Darius dies in his son Xerxes's arms, warning his son not to repeat his mistake, and to leave the Greeks in peace. The Persian navy retreats, but Themistokles feels no sense of triumph, believing that Xerxes's survival will come back to haunt them.[19]

Chapter Three

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In 479 BC, Xerxes journeys into the desert of Najd, communing with the spirits of his ancestors and emerging as a mighty god-king. Returning to his capital, he demands that the "perfect" woman be found to be his wife, and he finds her in Esther of Judea, who promises all her love to the king if he will free her people. There is ambiguity as to what happens next: Xerxes either orders Zion burned to ash, "freeing" the Jewish people to wander homeless, or else he halts the campaign of genocide commenced by his father and saves the Jews from annihilation, who declare a national holiday (Purim) in his honor.[20]

After his ignominious defeat in Greece, Xerxes returns to Persia, but his plans for his empire are cut short by his assassination in 465 BC. Again, there is ambiguity about the exact manner of his assassination: whether he was struck down in battle, or quietly poisoned.[21]

Chapter Four

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336 BC: under Darius III, the Persian Empire is larger and mightier than ever before. But Alexander the Great conquers all of Greece and invades Persia, defeating Darius' army at Issus in 333 BC. Darius flees the battle and his wife and children are taken hostage by Alexander, who orders their lives spared.[22]

Chapter Five

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331 BC: Incensed by Alexander's refusal to return his wife and family, Darius confronts the Greeks again, at Gaugamela. Again, the Persians are defeated and Darius flees to Babylon, while the Greeks sack Susa and Persepolis. Darius is finally assassinated in 330 BC by his cousin Bessus. Alexander himself oversees Darius' funeral, saluting him as a worthy rival, while anticipating his own plans to conquer the entire known world, believing that nothing is impossible.[23]

Film adaptations

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300: Rise of an Empire

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Main article: 300: Rise of an Empire

In June 2008, producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari, and Bernie Goldmann revealed that work had begun on a sequel to the 2006 film 300.[24][25][26] Based on the then-unpublished Xerxes, the film 300: Rise of an Empire, directed by Noam Murro, was released on March 7, 2014.[27]

Blood and Ashes

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In May 2021, 300 director Zack Snyder revealed that, during COVID-19 lockdown, he had written a third 300 film subtitled Blood and Ashes, adapting the Alexander the Great segments of Xerxes, but Warner Bros. Pictures was not interested in it.[28][29] In December 2023, Snyder revealed that he had regained the rights for Blood and Ashes from Warner Bros., and was planning to develop the film in the future.[30]

References

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  1. ^ Billington, Alex (June 1, 2010). "First Look: Fresh Art from Frank Miller's Xerxes Graphic Novel". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  2. ^ Chitwood, Adam (January 3, 2011). "Frank Miller talks Extensively About 300 Follow-Up Xerxes". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  3. ^ Burlingame, Russ (July 7, 2017). "First Look at Frank Miller's 300 Prequel Series Starring Xerxes, Announces Comic Con Signing". ComicBook.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  4. ^ Holub, Christian (July 7, 2017). "Check out this exclusive sneak peek at Frank Miller's 300 prequel". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  5. ^ Foxe, Steve (February 22, 2018). "Sneak Another Peek at Frank Miller's Epic 300 Companion Xerxes". Paste Magazine. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  6. ^ Aguilar, Matthew (March 14, 2018). "Exclusive: Dark Horse Reveals Convention Exclusive Xerxes And Black Hammer Variant Covers At C2E2". ComicBook.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  7. ^ Pinion, Kyle (July 7, 2017). "Frank Miller's 300 prequel is coming from Dark Horse in 2018". Comics Beat. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  8. ^ Johnston, Rich (January 16, 2018). "Finally – Frank Miller's 300 Prequel, Xerxes, from Dark Horse Comics in April 2018". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  9. ^ Pulliam-Moore, Charles (January 17, 2018). "Alexander the Great and Xerxes Will Clash in Frank Miller's Long-Awaited 300 Prequel". Gizmodo. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  10. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (January 17, 2018). "Frank Miller's 300 Prequel Comic Arriving in April 2018". IGN. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  11. ^ Ching, Albert (February 20, 2018). "Interview: Frank Miller Returns to the World of 300 with Xerxes". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  12. ^ Riesman, Abraham Josephine (April 4, 2018). "Why Frank Miller Is Revisiting the World of 300 With His New Xerxes". Vulture. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  13. ^ Davison, Joshua (January 18, 2018). "All Hail Xerxes – The Return of Frank Miller to 300: Dark Horse April 2018 Solicits". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  14. ^ "Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander #1 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  15. ^ Beat Staff (April 3, 2018). "Review: Frank Miller's Xerxes #1 Returns Readers to the Greco-Persian Wars". Comics Beat. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  16. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (April 4, 2018). "Frank Miller's 300 Prequel Delivers More of the Same (Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander #1 Review)". IGN. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  17. ^ Johnson, Jim (April 4, 2018). "Xerxes #1 is the 300 Follow-Up Frank Miller Fans Have Waited For". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  18. ^ Davison, Joshua (April 5, 2018). "Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander #1 Review – That's a Really Long Name". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  19. ^ Davison, Joshua (May 4, 2018). "Xerxes #2 Review: A Dull Story and Unappealing Art". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  20. ^ Arvedon, Jon (June 1, 2018). "Exclusive: Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius & the Rise of Alexander #3". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  21. ^ Davison, Joshua (June 11, 2018). "Xerxes #3 Review: Better, but It's Still Not Good". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  22. ^ Adams, Tim (June 16, 2018). "Exclusive: Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius & the Rise of Alexander #4". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  23. ^ Foxe, Steve (May 22, 2018). "Behold the Cover for Frank Miller's Epic Xerxes Conclusion". Paste Magazine. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  24. ^ Frosty (June 25, 2008). "Producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann Exclusive Video Interview". Collider. Archived from the original on June 28, 2008. Retrieved June 26, 2008.
  25. ^ Garrett, Diane (June 29, 2008). "New 300 rallies troops". Variety. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved June 30, 2008.
  26. ^ Fleming, Mike (June 27, 2011). "'Xerxes' Pic Down To Noam Murro And Jaume Collett-Serra For '300' Spin-off". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  27. ^ "'300' The Prequel: Meet The New Xerxes". Moviepilot. February 8, 2012. Archived from the original on February 12, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  28. ^ Sharf, Zack (May 17, 2021). "Zack Snyder Says Warner Bros. Passed on His Third '300' Movie, an Alexander the Great Romance". IndieWire. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  29. ^ Barfield, Charles (May 17, 2021). "Zack Snyder Wrote The "Final Chapter" Of '300' During Lockdown But WB Passed On It". The Playlist. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  30. ^ Kit, Borys (December 1, 2023). "Zack Snyder Regains Rights to 'Blood and Ashes,' Script Originally Pitched as a '300' Sequel (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
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