'Xena: Penance' by Meredith Finch with art by Vicente Cifuentes is a graphic novel based on the hit television show.

In short, this is the story (or a story) of when Xena met Gabrielle. In this version, Gabrielle is a country girl travelling to the big city of Athens when she gets harassed by some soldiers. Xena steps in to help and then it's reciprocated back. A familiar villain of the show makes an appearance.

There is a version of Xena here that I wished had been explored just a bit more: the world-weary mercenary who now wants peace and forgiveness. Maybe that gets touched on more in the next volume. The art is really very good and I enjoyed reading it for the art more than the story.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Dynamite Entertainment, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

A nice book with an interesting plot and an engaging story. I liked the characters and the graphics and the beautifully drawn scenes.

This is a fairly average retelling of a few early Xena moments put together. I'm not really a fan of how shallow the characterization is here. While the art is pretty smooth, some of it is annoyingly gratuitous. The only character who came off with any depth was Callisto, oddly enough. We're missing Gabby's warmth and Xena's humor. It ust isn't the same if you don't establish their bond first.

A terrific book for fans of this cult favorite! On par with Red Sonja and any of the Conan tales. Xena is an exciting and dark tale of lust and battle. Great artwork and great story!

Liked the art and the story of Xena and Gabriella first meeting.

Thank you to the publisher for extending an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

W.T.F.

I don't know anything about Meredith Finch, but, after reading this-- she really doesn't seem to understand the complexities of Xena: Warrior Princess.

This, I guess, is a comic reboot by Dynamite and is an entirely toothless one. FOr one thing, one of the reasons Xena was amazing was because of the first scenes/first season and how it set up the rest of the series. Take the Gabrielle saving Xena scene. In the show it was impactful, Gabrielle stood up to Xena's Mom, who was going to stand by and let the people of Amphipolis kill her daughter. Here in the comic, they played it for laughs, and not that funny of a laugh either.

The show was also so good at the slow build up of Xena and Gabrielle's personalities as well. Like, Gabrielle is annoying on the show, but, she also has this deep well of wisdom. Xena has an edge on TV, and so can --act-- like a bitch, but, she also had all this underlying compassion on the show. Here Gabrielle is just annoying and Xena is just a bitch.

And, ugh, Xena going to a goddess, any goddess for forgiveness? Never. Never never.

I get it I think. Finch wanted to make Xena her own probably, or maybe it was on orders from above, but, if this had been a new character it would have been an interesting TPB, but, this is supposed to be Xena. Even now, she stands for something. The change her character made in the world is still being felt.

This here, this was an Elseworlds Xena, or an even better description would be a cliff notes Xena. *sigh*

Oh, and WTF was up with the cape???

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Dynamite.

This was a nice intro to Xena, the artwork was your classic comic style, it was very enjoyable and the colors were beautiful. I liked the story well enough but it didn't really seem to go anywhere. I loved Xena but her and every other female in this comic's clothes were very skimpy. I liked the comic but it wasn't super great. I rated this 3 stars.
FTC DISCLAIMER: I received this book in exchange for an honest review

The art was incredibly beautiful and made this graphic novel a lot more enjoyable. It was great going back to a world where I hadn't been since I was a child and I recommend it to everyone who used to watch Xena: Warrior Princess.

An interesting Xena adventure which explains how Xena and Gabrielle began traveling together. There is nice motivation and adventure with each managing to add to the storyline without dominating the action. The artwork is well done and provides the right atmosphere for the period. Makes me almost with I had watched the television show more. I will be on the lookout for other volumes.

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this volume.

My review appears on Weekend Notes. Many thanks to the publishers for sharing the galley of this one. As a Xena fan I couldn't resist it.

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

For fans of the original series like myself, this volume definitely is both exciting and intriguing. This is a retelling of the classic Xena narrative genesis, where we meet both her longtime partner Gabrielle and her longstanding nemesis Callisto. The art is pretty impressive, and while the writing is sound, hopefully it will improve more as the series progresses. There is a lot to work with from the original source material, so let’s see if this writer will draw from there intelligently, bridging Xena into the current graphic novel culture fit for more sophisticated storytelling and female character development.

I always had a little knowledge of who Xena was. I never have read anything or seen anything that has involved Xena before. I’m not sure what drawn me to pick up this graphic novel, but I have to assume to see what Xena was all about.

Reading the graphic novel was pretty much interesting, but I didn’t really find anything exciting for me. It was pretty cool and kept up with the story and action, but maybe I didn’t have enough knowledge of Xena and the world to be kept interested in the story being told.

However, if there is someone who is a big fan of Xena, I would have no doubt that this graphic novel would be good and way more interesting to them.

This story was pretty straightforward - Xena, on the way to Athens, saves Gabrielle and the two of them travel together, while Xena has an enemy lying in wait for her. This enemy has arisen from Xena's warlord past; now reformed she feels guilty over her actions, and is trying to do better. The villain and the action is predictable, to be honest, which is what disappointed me in this story. The artwork is decent, but I have issue with character and costume design. How, in the year of our lord 2018, are we still drawing female warriors in unrealistic clothing? Granted, this is fantasy, but then tell me how the magic of high heeled boots for fighting in Ancient Greece came about? Overall, perhaps this would appeal to Xena fans, as nostalgia, but as a newbie, you would probably get bored pretty fast.

Thanks to net galley.com, author Meredith Finch and Diamond Book Distributors for the advance PDF copy for my honest review.

I used too watch the Xena Warrior Princess show, after I came home from work in the wee hours of the morning and liked the description for Xena: Penance. Figured why not give it a try.

Always liked the characters of Xena and Gabrielle, Finch brings them both to life and really liked the graphics in this one. Liked the storyline in this one, definitely will keep reading future Xena release by the author and publisher.

For whatever reason, Dynamite has rebooted Xena for this series. Dynamite almost seems to take a perverse joy in making it difficult for readers to follow the continuity of their characters. That being said, this is how Xena and Gabrielle met. Finch does a very good job of making Gabrielle funny and entertaining as the comic foil of the book. I'm sure this is something fans of Xena will enjoy.

I was really thrilled when i see this graphic novel. I loved the tv show. I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel too.

Xena, the Warrior Princess, has left her life of war and violence behind. She has dismissed her army, and seeks forgiveness for the destruction and death she caused in the path. She comes across a villager in need, Gabrielle, being attacked by a former member of her own army. The ex-warrior, Jax, makes it clear that he has not forgiven Xena for dropping the army.The writing was great, and the art was classic and clear. I am intrigued about Xena's past, and would definitely be interested in more of this seris

Xena: Penance didn't work for me. The book is true to the 90s television series, but the imagery frustrated me. In an age of women's liberation, many of the panels struck me as tone deaf and I I found myself disappointed to discover numerous pinup poses and breasts barely constrained by too tight and functionally inappropriate garb.

So, that was a nice stroll down memory lane. Really enjoyed the Hercules/Xena shows back in the day and this graphic novel adaptation is slight rehash of how Xena & Gabrielle first meet. Overall I enjoyed it - both art-wise and dialogue-wise! A good addition to any Xena fan's collection.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Growing up, I was a big fan of Xena (the TV show) and this was a nice reminder of those times. The comic was not bad but also it wasn't amazing. :) But i did enjoy it!