Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander #1

Xerxes #1 (The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander)

Written and Illustrated by Frank Miller
Colors by Alex Sinclair
Logo Design by Steve Miller
Published by Dark Horse Comics

The Wait Is Over

Twenty years after the release of Frank Miller’s opus 300, the master has returned to ancient Greece to continue the story of the god-king Xerxes. This series had been promised as a sequel to 300 but the first chapter actually takes place prior to the events of King Leonidas at Thermopylae. So Xerxes is a prequel/sequel hybrid instead.

Miller’s art is unchanged. His brilliant use of shadows, blinding colors and splatters of ink are just like the art was in 300. Miller studied the art techniques of the Greeks, Syrians, and Persians at the time of 490 BC and masterfully blends it into an epic retelling of war and honor. But visual appeal can only get you so far in a comic book.

Issue 1 of 5

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book for quite some time. But when I first read 300, in was in a collected over-sized form. Unlike a majority of trades, 300 was published in a way that looked like an over-sized square children’s picture book. That same kiddie book format is how Miller has rendered this continuing story.

Unfortunately, Dark Horse decided not to release this book in the format Miller obviously intended. All of the proportions are thrown off. It’s like when you watch an old TV show from the 70s on a big screen 2018 model television. The characters look like they are being seen through a fun house mirror.

This change in format often makes the characters on film sound funny too. Obviously, there’s no sound in Xerxes, except what is in the readers mind. However, using a rectangular standard format instead of square like with Archaia’s Mouse Guard makes for some tough reading. The word bubbles and narration are so tiny in this issue that magnifying glasses should be sold with every copy.

Ready Upon Completion

As much as I am excited that the story Frank Miller began two decades ago is finally seeing print, I am going to wait for the entire book to be collected into one volume. I have very good reason to believe that Xerxes will be released in the correct format that Miller intended as that is what Dark Horse did 20 years ago with 300. Plus with the jumping storyline throughout the Persian Wars, I think the collected volume with be easier to follow especially with such a massive cast of characters.

Frank Miller proves in this first issue that he’s still got it. I just wish that Dark Horse had as much faith in him as this reader does and would have released this issue in a 9×9 sized. The production move would have made this issue much more easier to read. And in terms of plotting, the pacing of the book would flow much more smoother, like blood from the spear of a Persian warrior.

I’ll just have to wait until later this year in collected form to finally appreciate it complete.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.