Xena: Warrior Princess (comics)
Xena: Warrior Princess is a series of comic books based on the television series of the . 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. 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". All publishers used cover rations involving photo covers, with stills from the television series, and drawn/inked/colored art covers. Publishers. Topps Comics. 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: Fan Art - Battle On. A series of 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. Dark Horse's "Xena" series ran for 14 issues from 1999 to 2000; writers involved included John Wagner and Ian Edginton. Comics featuring Xena were also run in "Dark Horse Presents Annual" 1999, "Dark Horse Jr.", and  2000, "Girls Rule!". The series was incompletely collected into a series of three trade paperbacks. Dynamite Entertainment. Dynamite started publishing "Xena" comics in 2006 with a four issue mini-series and an annual titled "Xena". 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. 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. Dark Horse Comics. The first 10 issues have been collected into trade paperbacks (TPB): Dynamite Comics. John Layman's first "Army of Darkness" crossover was also collected.