Dark Horse Comics has announced a launch date for Frank Miller’s long-promised 300 prequel, Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and the Rise of Alexander, on April 4.

The series follows King Xerxes as he leads the Persian army against the Greeks to avenge his father Darius’ defeat. But then he comes up against Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great.  The five-issue series will include 30+ places of story in each issue, as well as wrap-around covers.  The first issue launches on April 4, for $4.99.

The series was originally announced in 2009 (see "'300' Tie-in Is 'Xerxes'"), but progress was slow due to Miller’s many Hollywood commitments, including a movie based on the Xerxes project (see "Frank Miller's '300' Sequel"), and work on The Dark Knight III: The Master Race for DC Comics.  Last year, Dark Horse confirmed Miller was working on the project  (see "Dark Horse Announces Frank Miller's 'Xerxes' (Again)").