Review: XERXES: The Fall of the House of Darius #1

XERXES: THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF DARIUS AND THE RISE OF ALEXANDER #1 (OF 5)
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Frank Miller
ART: Frank Miller
COLORS: Alex Sinclair
EDITOR: Freddye Miller
MISC. ART: Paula Andrade
COVER: Frank Miller
36pp, Color, $4.99 (April 2018)

Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander is a five-issue miniseries written and drawn by Frank Miller with colors by Alex Sinclair.  Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander is a companion series to Miller's 1998, five-issue miniseries, 300.

Historically inspired, 300 is Frank Miller’s fictional retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae and the events leading up to it.  Miller tells the story from the perspective of a fictional version of the king, Leonidas of Sparta.  Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander (Xerxes, for short) focuses on Persian King Xerxes, who sets out to conquer the world to avenge his father, Darius's defeat.  Xerxes, a “god king,” wants to create an empire unlike anything the world has ever seen, but soon faces his adversaries, The Greeks' own “god king,” Alexander the Great.

Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander #1 opens in 499 B.C. with the sacking of a city which turns into a grudge on the part of emperor of the Persian Empire, Darius.  490 B.C., the Persians return with a vengeance, but this time they will face Themistokles and the forces of Athens.  Later, General Miltiades leads the Greeks in an epic battle at Marathon.  Will Greek “democracy” survive Persian “tyranny?”

I find Xerxes to be far less racist than 300, with its historically simplistic and strident “war of civilizations.”  Frank Miller has been one of the most influential creators of American comic books over the last four decades.  Publishers fawn over him and throw money at him, yet you would not know it by Miller's publicly displayed persecution complex.  Comic book stores generally stock his publications in copious amounts.  Miller writes and draws practically anything he wants, yet he complains about the censorship of his work, which has happened... when?

300 was the creative culmination of a prince of the realm so blessed with privilege that such an embarrassment of riches made him think that he was THE persecuted comic book creator of the late twentieth century.  Yet 300, with its beautiful color renderings by Miller's then-wife, Lynn Varley, was a huge success in a decade, the 1990s, that saw Frank Miller reach his high-point as a comic book artist, illustrator, and graphics artist.

Xerxes #1 recalls the graphical design and graphics tour de force of both 300 and Miller's Sin City (also published by Dark Horse).  That is on display in the costumes (especially the uniforms of the Persian archers), in the weapons and tools (Greek blades and shields), and in the staging of action sequences (when the Persians climb Hephaistos).  Xerxes #1 is a graphics, design, and illustrative, visual feast for the comic book reading eyes and imagination.

The more you can set aside and ignore the Greek democracy vs. Persian tyranny tripe, the more you can enjoy Xerxes #1.  Xerxes' soliloquies about Greek democracy ring as hollow as Obi-Wan Kenobi telling Anakin Skywalker that his (Kenobi's) allegiance is to democracy and to the Republic before their epic duel to the death or grievous bodily injury (in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith).

Alex Sinclair, known for coloring Jim Lee and Scott Williams' comic book art at DC Comics and for coloring Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson's art on Dark Knight III: The Master Race, is Xerxes' colorist.  Sinclair is one of the best colorist of this still young twenty-first century, but he does not hold a proverbial candle to Lynn Varley.

I would not call Xerxes publication late, not by two decades or by ten years.  Still, without Varley's colors, Xerxes does come across as something, if not late, then, too long in coming to be relevant to anything.  Maybe not having Lynn Varley could discourage comparing Xerxes to 300, which is a good thing.  300 came at the end of Frank Miller's peak period, and it is best not to think about what was anymore.  Xerxes is good enough and helps us accept what is, now.

7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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