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STAR WARS: BLOOD TIES—BOBA FETT IS DEAD #1 (of 4)
Tom Taylor (W), Chris Scalf (A/Cover), and David Palumbo (Variant cover)
On sale Apr 25
FC, 40 pages
$3.50
Miniseries
The news spreads from one end of the galaxy to the other like wildfire: Boba Fett, the galaxy’s most feared bounty hunter, is dead.
But when members of the team that killed Fett are themselves picked off one by one, Connor Freeman—the son of one of Jango Fett’s clones—gets pulled into the action in a most unexpected way!
• Writer Tom Taylor brings Blood Ties back with Boba Fett!
• Interiors and covers by Chris Scalf!

Darth Vader is squeezing your heart with the force on the cover of Star Wars: Blood Ties – Boba Fett is Dead #3.

The time-lapse video of this cover being made by Chris Scalf can be viewed right here. It’s well worth a watch. Chris Scalf’s time-lapse videos are a kind of magic.

As brilliant as this cover is, I have to say the cover to issue #2 is my favorite. I can’t wait until people get a look at that one.

I received this in an email earlier this week from the organizer of the Stan Lee Excelsior Award.

“I am pleased to inform you that STAR WARS: BLOOD TIES has been nominated for the final shortlist of eight titles and, as such, will be winging its way into over 60 secondary school libraries across the UK!”

Forbidden Planet and Comic Book Resources started reporting it overnight and I thought this was a good note from CBR.

“Here’s what’s interesting about this shortlist: It reflects what tweens and teens are actually reading, as opposed to what the adult gatekeepers think they should be reading.”

I’ve also been invited to the Awards Ceremony in Sheffield next year. I don’t think I’ll be able to make that… but it’s very nice to be invited.

I think this is a fantastic initiative.

“The overall goal of this scheme is to encourage reading amongst teenagers. However, its secondary target is to raise the profile of graphic novels and manga amongst school librarians and teachers. This storytelling medium has been a largely underused resource within education for many years. The Stan Lee Excelsior Award attempts to highlight some of the amazing books that are out there - books that fully deserve to be in our school libraries alongside regular fiction!”

Using Graphic Novels to promote literacy is an absolute no-brainer. Providing subject matter that young people actually find engaging, obviously encourages reading. This was in my thoughts during the creation of The Deep: Here be Dragons and I’ve had a number of parents let me know that they’ve bought this book to encourage reading skills in their children.

Thank you to everyone involved in this Award. Star Wars: Blood Ties is a book that Chris Scalf and I are very proud of, and we’re both very happy to see it’s inclusion in such a worthwhile program.

Boba Fett and literacy. What a combination.

You can get Star Wars: Blood Ties through Amazon right here. And you can check out the Stan Lee Excelsior Award Nominees here – ‘Nuff said.

And here’s a picture of me and Stan from the Lucasfilm party in San Diego earlier this year.

Star Wars: Blood Ties – Boba Fett is Dead

Established Star Wars writer Tom Taylor is back with another stunning Blood Ties series to be released in April 2012.

“Boba Fett is dead. The most infamous hunter in the galaxy has been hunted. He’s lying, broken, on the desert floor. He’s more blaster-holes than man. It’s the ultimate ending. However, this is just the start of our story. With the fall of Fett broadcast across the galaxy, someone rises to avenge him. But who would care about the death of a man like Fett? Bounty hunters aren’t exactly known for their enduring, close friendships but even a man like Boba Fett has family… and now a Blood Tie demands blood.” -Tom Taylor

Yes, the artwork for ‘Star Wars: Blood Ties – Boba Fett is Dead’ has been unveiled as part of the media release. And here it is!

There was no art in the first announcement over at IGN overnight, which prompted me to do this.

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In other news, ‘The Deep: Here Be Dragons’ is sold out AGAIN on Amazon.  If you’re a fan of my Star Wars work, please do check out this book about the adventures of a multi-ethnic family of underwater explorers who live on a submarine. It’s available from the official website for $9.95, it has had rave reviews and I’m very proud of it. Cheers!

Check Out 'The Deep: Here Be Dragons'

The first Blood Ties received a lot of love from fans and critics alike and I’m constantly asked whether there will be more. Well, I can finally say ‘yes, there will be’. It’s 4.56am here in Australia and I’ve been up all night working away on issue #3.

I don’t think Dark Horse have released the cover art yet, so I’ve taken it upon myself to come up with a visual for everyone.

Star Wars Blood Ties – Boba Fett is Dead

(Please note: Not final artwork)

And don’t forget, next week sees my first work in the DC Universe as I pit the Green Lantern Corps against Sinestro and Brainiac in DCUO Legends #16.

When Colin and I were asked for a list of cover artists we’d like approached for Star Wars: Invasion, Jo Chen was at the very top of that list.

Jo has done incredible, award-winning work for all of the major comics publishers but it was her work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer that first grabbed my attention, and this piece of Buffy and Willow grabbed very hard.

We were very fortunate to have Jo with us on the first thirteen covers of Star Wars Invasion.

For a look at how Jo created the cover to Star Wars Invasion #1, click the image below.

I remember when Colin showed me the first moment of the ‘tentaclisation’ of Nina Galfridian on the Heart of Artorias. I was kinda horrified by the tentacles piercing her face.  Oddly enough, this gruesome element stayed in the book, and now it’s made it onto a cover… actually, two covers including Jo Chen’s variant from Refugees.

Click the cover for the preview.

Could this be Kaye’s last stand?

Check it out people.

Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Colin Wilson
Colorist: Wes Dzioba
Cover Artist: Chris Scalf
Release: November 16, 2011
32 pages, issue 5 of 5

Queen Nina and Princess Kaye have successfully rescued the refugees from the Battle of Shramar, but the Yuuzhan Vong invaders may still have another win for their tally. Or is there another revelation in store? Meanwhile, on Coruscant, Jedi-in-training Finn Galfridian finds that in trying to prevent an assassination, he may be complicit in one! The next revelation may be about Finn’s new mentor!

Also, today you can get issue #2 of Revelations from Dark Horse’s Digital Store for your iPad.

Click the picture to buy.

This will be the first comic I’ve written which will be properly formatted for reading on the iPad. I’m looking forward to seeing the results with a lot more of my work set to feature in this format very soon.

And, with the exclusive preview of Revelations #2 being up at CBR, that means more incredible Colin Wilson images will soon appear on the iPad like this…

So, be sure and pick up Revelations #2 and get downloading.

And please remember to pick up The Deep: Here Be Dragons if you haven’t already.  It came out last week. It’s good. People say so. And people are always right.