Pat Lee, who revitalized the Transformers comic book franchise at Dreamwave Productions, returns to comics with Widow Warriors, a new series from Dynamite Entertainment.  Written by Lloyd Chao and based on the popular Chinese legend “Women Warriors of the Yang Family,” Widow Warriors takes place during the reign of Emperor Song Ren Zhong (AD 1022-1064) as a powerful barbarian tribe is attacking the Empire’s western frontiers. 

 

When the widows of a brave clan of soldiers (the Yang) fail to convince the Emperor to send troops to avenge the deaths of their husbands at the hands of the barbarians, the women, who are trained warriors themselves, head to the western frontier to avenge their men folk and save the Empire.

 

Lee, who is returning to drawing comics after a hiatus of several years, is enthused about the potential of his new series: “The original story is so rich with historical characters that it was a real challenge to filter it down into an American comic format.   I wanted to blend my comic style with the richness we find in historic Asian art and culture, and we are pretty happy with the end result.  We are going to turn Widow Warriors into a film next, and I think a lot of the panels already have a cinematic feel to them.”