Posted in: Comics | Tagged: army of darkness, Comics, dynamite, entertainment, scott lobdell, xena

Writer's Commentary – Scott Lobdell On Army Of Darkness / Xena: Forever… And A Day Conclusion

Published Thu, 23 Mar 2017 12:30:37 -0500

With the final issue of the book, Army of Darkness/Xena: Forever … And a Day, on sale now from Dynamite, writer Scott Lobdell gives us his final thoughts on the series… Cover by Moritat and interiors by Diego Galindo.

Can I tell you the funnest part about writing comic books?

The drop-dead funnest part is that you can do anything.

Any thing!

Anything you can think of — anything you can convince an editor to buy into and encourage an artist to draw… and there it is!

Got a favorite television show, like "Xena, The Warrior Princess"?

Have a favorite cult horror comedy classic like "Army of Darkness"?

Have a publisher just crazy enough — just daring enough — to stitch the two properties together like some pulpy Frankenstein's Monster?

Well, here we are!

When [editor] Anthony Marques first asked me to write a Xena/Ash crossover, I started wracking my brain: there has been so many Xena stories set in so many different times in her life, where could I possibly start to chose which one of those eras would host the story?

I've always been partial to Pirate Xena, when Xena History tells us she was at one of the most dangerous and vicious times in her life (prior to meeting Hercules, Gabrielle and beginning her road to redemption) — how fun would that be?

But then there was her World War II adventures as the mousy descendent of Xena, the brilliant Melinda Pappas from the much heralded "Xena Scrolls" episode.

As I was deciding, it suddenly occurred to me: In this story, she's teaming up with a guy who has battled ancient (by our standards) evil already, a guy nicknamed "The Warrior Who Walks Through Time." So why do I have to pick a time at all?

Why can't … I tell a story that touches on all the great eras in Xena's life?

And if I'm going to tell a time travel story that teams Xena and Ash … then why not use my love of comic book's elastic storytelling strengths to tell a story that starts at the Beginning of Time itself right up until nearly 50 years into the future?!

So that's how I came to tell the story of Steve — the guy who got to the Garden of Eden not long before Adam and Eve arrived. At first, he was glad for the company … but when love reared its head, well, we all know how complicated even the easiest relationships can get!

Steve began a quest for vengeance that took centuries of planning … and would have gotten away with "if not for those meddling kids!"

Unfortunately for him, those "meddling kids" were named Xena, Ash and Gabrielle!

Will "Forever … And a Day" go done in the annuls of TV/movie/comic book history? Who can say?!

I only know I had a blast!