Dynamite Entertainment 2018
Written by Meredith Finch
Illustrated by Vicente Cifuentes
Coloured by Triona Farrell
Lettered by Cardinal Rae
The path to redemption is never easy, and the journey of a warrior princess seeking to wash the blood of innocents from her hands is no exception. Xena travels to Athens, to plead for redemption in the temple of Eleos. But some things can never be forgiven and the shadows of past sins are long. Will Xena find redemption or betrayal waiting for her in the temple of the gods? The power, the passion, the danger… her courage would change the world.
Well it would seem that Meredith wants to start from the beginning of Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship. As this issue is all about their first meeting. After her run on Wonder Woman I’m not sure if I am all that excited to see Meredith try and “redo” Xena. I did enjoy the last arc of Xena here at Dynamite and I’m always willing to give this a go for a few issues so I can properly judge whether I like it or not. While I do appreciate how they meet in this version and what Meredith seems to be doing with it and where it appears to be going.
While this is very much something that long time Xena fans are going to read over anyone else so it’s going to be a hard lot to please. Still the way this book opens is nicely done as it’s Ancient Greece on the road to Athens that seems to be a well traversed. Gabrielle is on this road and it is she we first me and while I don’t remember her being this well trained a fighter in the beginning her playful attitude and her feisty nature play well with one another.
Also one needs to pay attention to that which starts with the opening and goes right on through to the ending. Meredith does a nice job in setting up the danger that awaits Xena and the reason behind it here. Though to be honest if I were going to start a series fresh I probably would’ve started with that event and moved forward from there. Still depending on how this goes and if Xena talks to the chatty Gabrielle we can still see that in flashbacks. It is a prominent theme that should play out over the course of Meredith’s run on this so I guess we’ll see how it all comes out and together.
Big fan, first time caller, of Vincente’s work here. I love his linework, attention to detail in the biggest to the smallest of things. The way he uses page layouts so that we see the angles and perspective in each panel showcases his superb eye for storytelling. That he isn’t afraid to fill in the panels and utilise backgrounds the way he does is marvellous and really does help to expand the moment, scope of the story and the world around them. Triona’s colouring his work make the pair a force to be reckoned with because this is some darn beautiful work.
Meredith does a great job on the structure of this book and how it flows. I like the way everything moves, the transitions and the way the characters meet and interact with each other. The characterisation is nicely done and we see the familiar aspects of them but it still feels fresh. Personally after reading through this I think it’s well done and pretty strong and if you come at it with an open mind then you are really going to enjoy this.