One of the helpful things about working on the Xena Virtual Season was getting feedback from people different than me, which is helpful if you want to appeal to a larger audience. In my case, a cis het male, it’s essential when writing for Xena. Was this exposure enough? No. It’s never enough in an ever-changing world. I made sure I got such feedback on my current project as well. This is why I supported larger writer rooms for SAG negotiations: a single writer can do a lot, but in a popular medium like television it’s impossible for one person to do it all without  diverse input.

My time on the Xena Virtual Season 7 was an inspiring one. Though I did not write any stand -alone eps, I brainstormed a lot of episode ideas. I had enough to nearly fill an entire season.  My own favorite, slated for season 8, was an arc involving Eve & the Elijian church. It was to culminate in a musical comedy set in Antioch, vs the Roman army. It was beyond my skill to write it, at the time, however. There was still much I needed to learn about the show, & with the series release on dvd scheduled the following year, 2003, I’d soon have the opportunity to catch up & see what I missed.

The final ep of the Xena Virtual Season, War Cries, was the only one I wrote for: the script was powerful, but the ending needed altering to match the 1st ep of season 8. Since season 7 began with a ritual (to bring Xena back), it made sense to end it with a ritual. I had done a lot of research into South America’s Amazon tribes, & took a shot at depicting how the ancient Chibcha might have resolved Gab’s spiritual dilemma of killing an innocent man. I mention before using Shakira for inspiration, but for this episode, I listened to the elegiac soundtrack to The Mission by Ennio Morricone,  which uses the same panpipe sound to tell a story of loss & redemption, also set in historical South America.

Between the 2nd & 3rd parts of the Go West Young Warrior trilogy, there was a comedy ep, Mayan Madness, for the #Xena Virtual Season. The title is a play on March Madness, a slang term for the American college basketball playoffs (in March), & since it’s often said that the Mayans invented basketball, we get to see Xena & Gab shoot the hoops in ancient Maya. They must win a lopsided match  against them in a game of Pok Ta Pok in order to save the lives of the 2 young Mayan boys seen on the right. In reality, the game was probably more like racquetball, & was played by men, women & children, but it was also thought to be used in rituals of human  sacrifice, as seen here.

My portrayal is anachronistic, as they are wearing modern style jerseys with numbers, both Western Arabic & Mayan, indicated with bars & dots (for numbers, I just used the age of the actors). Here, #Xena is settling a dispute with the referee by putting the pinch on him. Despite its comic look, I did a ton of research, & I can’t emphasize enough the potential of depicting Mayan culture in comic book form. If I could do this scene over (& I’m tempted to), I would show more of the game itself, give some sense of its action, & use the actual rules. 

I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me to have Xena & Gab passing the ball with their hips, as originally played! This was my last published drawing for the XWPVS, but I did do concept sketches for the finale.

The main antagonist of Go West Young Warrior Part 2 (& Part 3) of the #Xena Virtual Season 7 is its queen of the South American Amazons, Guila. She was well written, formidable & and good rival for Gabrielle’s queen status. I pictured her resembling Patricia Velasquez (“The Mummy”), who’s a native of this region, & works on behalf of indigenous rights in Venezuela. This is a very early concept sketch (you can tell because I’m still going with the topless concept), but 3 elements of this costume are part of the final design: her loincloth, her feather headdress, & a 3-pronged dagger with supernatural powers.  I didn’t design the dagger, but I chose the headdress, which I based on designs of the region, & it reminded me of Anthony Hopkins’ costume in Titus. Both of them inspired the Roman antagonist in my current project.

This is an early concept sketch for #Xena’s South American costume for the Xena Virtual Season 7 ep, Go West Young Warrior Part 2. This costume went through many changes. She would retain the asymmetrical macaw flowers in her hair, but gain painted  animal designs, bright jade & turquoise ornaments,& the strips of her leathers would be replaced by a few skimpy colorful straps. Her hair had red clay highlights, partly to minimize the effects of the hot sun. I’m tempted to create a new drawing of the final version at some point, since I don’t want to repost  others’ work without permission, since it’s quite striking. Unfortunately, I did not have time to submit drawings for this ep at the time, though I did provide research.

Here’s a slightly later concept sketch of Gabrielle from Go West Young Warrior Part 2 (of the #Xena Virtual Season 7). She’s had a makeover by the South American Amazons to make her more relatable to them. Those long hanging black feathers are macaw, I believe, & she wears feathered wings similar to her Valkyrie look in a prior ep.

She has white clay-based makeup to protect her skin from the tropical sun, & the black stripes are in honor of the jaguar, native to the region. She also wears a caiman skin top. Much of this was kept except for the white makeup.