Frank Miller has turned in the first issue of his 300 prequel Xerxes to Dark Horse Comics, which will publish the six issue series in 2011.  The company plans to announce the launch date at New York Comic Con this October, a spokesperson told ICv2.

Dark Horse will publish the first in a series of Xerxes lithographs in October.  The 14” x 36” litho will be published in two editions, a $25 regular edition and a $100 signed and numbered edition, limited to 100 copies.

The storyline begins ten years before the events in 300, according to an interview Miller gave the LA Times’ Geoff Boucher, and is told from the viewpoint of the Athenians, rather than the Spartans as 300 was.  The primary Athenian character is Themistocles, who builds the Greek navy and battles Xerxes’ navy in a massive battle in the climax to the story. 

Boucher quotes both 300 director Zack Snyder and producer Thomas Tull of Legendary Pictures as expressing interest in a film version of Xerxes if the story fulfills its promise.  The film version of 300 grossed over $456 million at the box office and spawned several imitators.