Star Wars: Invasion Returns!

Just announced at Star Wars.com -  Star Wars: Invasion returns in May!

Star Wars: Invasion — Rescues #1 (of 6) Written by Tom Taylor; Art by Colin Wilson; Colors by Wes Dzioba; Cover by Jo Chen On Sale May 26. 40 pages.

The Yuuzhan Vong invasion spreads death and destruction across the galaxy, leaving behind ravaged worlds with little hope of survival . . . Artorias, the homeworld of the Galfridian family lay in the path of the Yuuzhan Vong armada — and now, though separated, Finn, Kaye, Nina, and Caled work to fight the invaders with the hope that one day they will again be together on their peaceful planet.

Finn studies at the Jedi temple with Luke Skywalker and the grown Jedi children of Han Solo and Princess Leia! Kaye and Nina use a Yuuzhan Vong slave ship to attack their former captors! Caled raises forces on Artorias — not knowing the danger from one of his trusted allies!

Star Wars Adventures Vol 3: Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes Review

So far, Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes seems to be ticking boxes for everyone and the first, quite kick-ass, review has surfaced over at NJOE.com

“Tom did a great job of capturing the feeling of Luke and Yoda, it felt like the characters I have seen on the screen for the last 30 years, nothing felt forced with their dialogue.”

“There’s danger, excitement, humor, and a good dose of Luke’s determination all brought to the forefront with this story.  I highly recommend this digest if you want to see more of what Luke endured on Dagobah and what helped shape him into the Jedi he became.  Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes is an excellent story and a great way to kick off the thirtieth anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back.” - NJOE.com

Click the image below for the full review.

Luke Skywalker And The Treasure Of The Dragonsnakes - Spoilerific Hint

Wednesday the 3rd of February sees the worldwide release of Star Wars Adventures: Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes.

As readers may know, this book is set on Dagobah during Empire Strikes Back but surely the movie covered everything… right?  Nope.  A big question has been constantly asked about the movie and the answer could lie in the pages of this book.  As a teaser to the release, I’ve sent a cryptic message to theforce.net about Yoda and R2 D2 which you can read right here - “Yoda and R2 D2 speak on Dagobah! Tom Taylor makes an announcement…”

If that’s not enough to get you excited, Daxiong’s art is incredible and this book is still about Yoda training Luke Skywalker!  Release your inner fanboy/fangirl - pick this up!

Bruce Willis And I Hang Out On The Cover Of Arcana #1

Today sees the worldwide release of the first Arcana Magazine.  I’m not entirely sure why, but an interview with me turned into the feature article (and hogged the cover) of this new magazine devoted entirely to comic books.

Although the magazine is published by a Canadian company, it is the brainchild of Kris Bather and Dave Lapsley who are both based in Perth.  It’s always nice to see fellow Australians making great things and Arcana is a very nice looking publication, with an overall design more suited to skate mags than ‘book publishing’.  Click the picture for a preview.

Go support two Australians and buy this magazine… who knows when I’ll appear on a cover with Bruce Willis again.

Two Plays. Two Countries. One Week.

A big theatre week sees my short play Falling Praying on at Newtown Theatre in Sydney this weekend (part of the Short and Sweet festival) and The Example become the first of my plays to reach New Zealand, running from the 26th til the 30th of January at The Herald Theatre, The Edge, in Auckland.

Cheers to Falling Praying director, Sharlene Zeederberg (who has been trying to get me on the phone for two weeks - sorry Sharlene, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks!) and The Example director, Tainui Tukiwaho.  Break some legs, guys.

‘The Will of Darth Vader’ Announced In Star Wars: Insider Magazine

I live a working life of secrecy.  One of my secrets has been announced this week.  My next Star Wars: Adventures story is “The Will of Darth Vader”.  I haven’t seen a cover image posted anywhere (so I won’t post it yet) but this was seriously one of the most fun scripts I’ve ever written.

I went into Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes with some trepidation.  Writing an untold story of Yoda, Luke and Artoo set during Empire Strikes Back was a real honour and a responsibility I didn’t take lightly.  I agonised over every word in that book and hopefully people will dig it.  Daxiong’s beautifully drawn Yoda is worth the cost of admission alone.

With the script to The Will of Darth Vader I was able to let loose, have fun, and show piles of destruction.  Oh… and I was given the chance to write Darth Vader - the greatest villain of all time!!

I’m actually interviewed in two separate articles in this month’s Star Wars: Insider magazine; an article about the future of Star Wars: Invasion and an article about Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes - which is due out on the 3rd of February.

It’s a big week, with Star Wars: Insider one of two internationally released magazines I’m interviewed in.  There are also a pile of other things happening which I’ll be posting about later.

Star Wars: Invasion Nominated For A Diamond Gem Award!

I’ve just found out that Star Wars: Invasion #0 has been nominated for a 2009 Gem Award!  We were nominated in the “Comic Book of the Year Over $3.00″ category.  Very cool, especially looking at the incredible company we find ourselves in.

2009 Comic Book of the Year Over $3.00

• Amazing Spider-Man #583 Obama Variant (Marvel)
• Blackest Night #1 (DC)
• Image United #1 (Image)
• Irredeemable #1 (BOOM!)
• Star Wars: Invasion #0 (Dark Horse)

Invasion #0 really is the true beginning of our series, so I hope this nomination encourages more people to pick it up.

Speaking of Invasion, Dark Horse now has a desktop wallpaper for download at their site.  Click the pic for the link.

A4 to A3 - The Short Film Is Complete.

Last week (before the madness that is Christmas took over) Bravada Films and Producer Joe Main invited me along to an advance screening of A4 to A3 - the film.

Simon Barlow and I have been writing and performing music together for over a decade now.  A4 2 A3 is a short musical comedy about love in a photocopy store that Simon and I wrote a long time ago.   We wrote this whole thing in a few hours… over a few years.  The theatre version took home the People’s Choice Award in the inaugural Short, Sweet and Song festival, after which it was optioned by the lead actor in the musical, Joe Main.  Joe then asked me to write the screenplay for its film adaptation.

Joe Main, who is soon to appear in the feature films ‘Ektopos’ and ‘Centre Place‘, has poured a lot into this film.  No expense has been spared and the quality of the film surprised and delighted Simon and I when we saw it (yes, ‘delighted’… not sure I’ve ever used that word).  The director, Dean Codrington, has done an incredible job with the film, adding some great moments while also remaining faithful to the screenplay.

As a writer, my job entails pouring all of my heart and energy into something and then saying goodbye to it.  I’m well practiced at politely lying to people, while smiling through gritted teeth, about how much I enjoyed their butchering of my work… but I seriously couldn’t stop grinning when I saw this.  Thanks and congratulations to all involved.

A4 to A3 is hopefully about to start a fairly hectic film festival season.  I’m sure it will get a lot of those words inside leaves next to its name.

Star Wars: Invasion Volume 1 - Refugees

Oooooooh…

STAR WARS: INVASION VOLUME 1—REFUGEES
Tom Taylor (W), Colin Wilson (A), Wes Dzioba (C), and Jo Chen (Cover)
On sale May 12
FC, 144 pages
$18.99
TPB, 7″ x 10″

Twenty-five years after the Battle of Yavin, Luke Skywalker and the galaxy are facing their first real threat since the Sith were defeated: an invasion of hostile warriors from another galaxy—the Yuuzhan Vong!

The peaceful planet of Artorias is in the path of the alien armada. Finn Galfridian, his spunky sister Kaye, and their parents find themselves separated and fighting for their lives when the surprise invasion occurs. But their ordeal is just beginning . . .

• Collects Star Wars: Invasion #1–#5 and #0.

• This new series ties in to—and fits between—the nineteen novels of Del Rey’s New Jedi Order series.

• Features some of the first visual representations of this turbulent era of the Star Wars saga, including Han and Leia’s Jedi children!

All Roads Lead To Rombies - Pre-Order At Gestalt and Amazon

Rombies will officially eat your brains on December 15 but the one-shot is already available for Pre Order over at the Gestalt Publishing site and at Amazon.com

Gestalt are having a sale at the moment so you can get quite a sizable discount if you order through them.

The artist, Skye Ogden, has also posted a nice look at his process in creating three pages from the book.

Click the image below for a look at Skye’s process.