Posts Tagged ‘Star Wars Adventures: Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes’

Reviews – The Authority #25, The Will of Darth Vader, Star Wars Invasion: Rescues #3

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

A whole lot of good reviews have been appearing recently, including some great words for Will of Darth Vader (Dark Horse’s top-selling trade for July).  Here’s a ‘best of’ to check out…

Star Wars Adventures:  The Will of Darth Vader AND Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes

“…offering two thought provoking, yet action-filled stories. Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes takes place during Luke’s training on Dagobah with Master Yoda. Taylor allows himself to have fun with Yoda as Yoda in turn has fun with Luke in the name of training. (Teachers who can get this volume away from their students will completely sympathize with Yoda’s desire to gently torment his disciple.) When Yoda sends Luke on a journey to rescue treasure from a ferocious beast, Luke at first cannot understand why his monastic mentor would suddenly be making a selfish request. But, as with all of Yoda’s teachings, there is a deeper meaning. Daxiong’s art is vivid and perfect for action scenes, though he seems unable to draw any facial expressions which would allow his characters to show emotion. Luckily Taylor’s writing is strong enough to carry the story through to a full-circle finish that is not preachy or overly pat.

From there, Taylor turns his focus onto Darth Vader, crafting a story which shows off the massive power Vader commands, while also clearly pointing out the flaws in his philosophy of servitude to the Dark Side. Vader uses a captured smuggler named Luca to get to a Rebel base hidden deep within an asteroid field, but Luca is a wisecracking man who does not lightly given into authority. The brilliance in Taylor’s story is that Luca is not a stand-in for Han Solo. He is very much his own person, a theme which is central to the point Taylor aims to make. The ending of the tale is shocking, powerful, and will force readers to think about the nature of free will.” - Graphic Novel Reporter

The Authority #25“This is Gonna Suck”

“Don’t let the title of the issue fool you. It does everything BUT suck! But rest assured, Tom Taylor finds a clever way to present the title too. I personally thought it was hilarious how he did it.  But the creative team’s not done with us yet. As the solicits reads ‘The Carrier appears to finally be approaching its ultimate destination’. Taylor not only gives us a cool little twist at the end but also leaves us with a great cliffhanger!” - Wildstorm Addiction

Star Wars Invasion: Rescues #3

“Probably one of the best issues in terms of action and moving the story along.”

“I definitely will say I liked this issue. The action was there and the story didn’t drag out but thrust us to the next level.
Overall the issue was solid and action intense. Taylor and Wilson delivered.”
- NJOE.com

Aint It Cool News Reviews Luke Skywalker And The Treasure Of The Dragonsnakes

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Thanks to the various people who emailed me today to let me know that Aint it Cool News has given Dragonsnakes what the fans are calling one of the best reviews AICN has ever given a Star Wars book.

Click the pic for the review.

I’m really happy to see so many nice things written about this book and even happier that I get to follow it up with The Will of Darth Vader, which is one of the most fun scripts I’ve written.

Stay tuned for more Star Wars news soon…

Interviews, Reviews and Podcasts.

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

With the imminent release of The Authority, the second Volume of Star Wars: Invasion and the announcement of the Rombies series, I’ve been doing a pile of interviews recently.  I thought I’d actually post some links.

First up, Colin Wilson and I were interviewed by the Comic Spot radio program about Star Wars and The Example.  You can hear all of that right here

Next up, Rombies artist Skye Ogden and I were interviewed by the awesome website Cool Shite about our upcoming Rombies series.  It’s a slightly awkward interview, as two interviewers try to interview two creatives in two different countries, but it has Zombie Gazelles and no one needs more than that.












Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes is reviewed by the EU Review here (at about 18 minutes).  The script and Daxiong’s art both come in for some high praise.  “A very good read’ that they ‘highly recommend”.

Over at Half Hour Wasted and the Legion of Dudes, an entire extended edition has been dedicated to a review of Star Wars: Invasion #4 & #5 and they like us… they really like us!  Click the pic for the podcast. 

Also just done two magazine interviews, another radio interview and three other website interviews (links when they all appear).

In the coming days, the website is being revamped – it will look pretty.  When it relaunches, I should be able to speak about a few of the ‘secret’ things that I’ve had to keep close to my chest, including ‘The Example’ film news and another great piece of news about ‘The Authority’.

Dragonsnakes In The Top Ten

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Diamond have released their list of the top 100 Graphic Novels for February and Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes is right up there in some pretty illustrious company.

fables.jpg all-star-superman.jpg

A HUGE thank you to everyone who bought the book and to everyone who’s planning to.

TOP 100 GRAPHIC NOVELS
Based on Total Unit Sales of Products Invoiced in February 2010

Rank Item Code Title Price Vendor
1 NOV090228 FABLES TP VOL 13 THE GREAT FABLES CROSSOVER (MR) $17.99 DC
2 DEC090575 KICK ASS PREM HC (MR) $24.99 MAR
3 NOV090170 ALL STAR SUPERMAN TP VOL 02 $12.99 DC
4 NOV090945 NARUTO TP VOL 47 $9.99 VIZ
5 SEP090035 STAR WARS ADV TP VOL 03 LUKE SKYWALKER TREASURE DRAGONSNAKES $7.95 DAR
6 NOV090177 GREEN LANTERN SECRET ORIGIN TP $14.99 DC
7 NOV090539 DARK TOWER FALL OF GILEAD PREM HC $24.99 MAR
8 OCT090300 HELLBLAZER PANDEMONIUM HC (MR) $24.99 DC
9 NOV090075 STAR WARS LEGACY TP VOL 08 TATOOINE $17.99 DAR
10 SEP090043 BERSERK TP VOL 33 $14.99 DAR
11 NOV090237 MADAME XANADU TP VOL 02 EXODUS NOIR (MR) $12.99 DC
12 OCT090253 STARMAN OMNIBUS HC VOL 04 $49.99 DC
13 NOV090541 DEADPOOL PREM HC VOL 03 X MARKS THE SPOT $19.99 MAR
14 DEC090611 HULK TP VOL 03 HULK NO MORE $15.99 MAR
15 OCT090299 PREACHER HC BOOK 02 (MR) $39.99 DC
16 NOV090173 DC UNIVERSE ORIGINS TP $14.99 DC
17 NOV090168 BATMAN CHRONICLES TP VOL 09 $14.99 DC
18 NOV090986 LEGEND OF ZELDA GN VOL 09 $7.99 VIZ
19 NOV090061 MESMO DELIVERY GN VOL 01 $9.99 DAR
20 DEC090684 IGNITION CITY TP VOL 01 (MR) $19.99 AVA

Star Wars Adventures Vol 3: Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes Reviews (updated)

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

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.

Another review has surfaced over at Fancore Daily

“Didn’t you always want to see more of that training, and what it takes to become a Jedi Knight? Well, then this comic was written just for you!”

“The writing, by Tom Taylor, manages to flesh out one of the greatest stories ever told on film, while not trampling all over it, and that is a feat unto itself.”

“The plot is only part of what makes this story great. What this book does better than most Star Wars comics, is that it takes you back to that familiar place, and delivers in a way that matches up to what you remember. I’m a pretty hardcore Star Wars fan…And I’m pretty harsh on Dark Horse and the comics they choose to publish sometimes. Heck, I’m hard on the entire Expanded Universe of Star Wars.  But where those comics fail, this is one of the ones that succeeds!” – FANCORE DAILY

Luke Skywalker And The Treasure Of The Dragonsnakes – Spoilerific Hint

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

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!

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

Monday, January 25th, 2010

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.

Pre-Order Star Wars Adventures: Luke Skywalker And The Treasure Of The Dragonsnakes

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

Luke Skywalker And The Treasure Of The Dragonsnakes is now available for pre-order over at Amazon and Things From Another World (and about a thousand other places).

STAR WARS ADVENTURES: LUKE SKYWALKER AND THE TREASURE OF THE DRAGONSNAKES

Tom Taylor (W) and Daxiong (A)

On sale Jan 20
FC, 80 pages
$7.95
TPB, 5 1/4″ x 7 1/2″

The movie The Empire Strikes Back shows us only a small portion of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi training under the tutelage of Master Yoda. In this story, witness a never-before-seen part of that training as Luke is given the task of finding—and retrieving—an object guarded by the deadliest creatures on the swamp world of Dagobah: the monstrous dragonsnakes!

This is the most harrowing, dangerous, and muddiest mission that Luke has ever faced!

• Luke Skywalker trains to become a Jedi Knight with Master Yoda!

• The Star Wars Adventures series are parent friendly and perfect for younger readers as well as longtime Star Wars fans.

Luke Skywalker And The Treasure Of The Dragonsnakes

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

STAR WARS ADVENTURES: LUKE SKYWALKER AND THE TREASURE OF THE DRAGONSNAKES

Written by Tom Taylor, art by Daxiong.

The movie The Empire Strikes Back shows us only a small portion of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi training under the tutelage of Master Yoda. In this story, witness a never-before-seen part of that training as Luke is given the task of finding — and retrieving — an object guarded by the deadliest creatures on the swamp world of Dagobah: the monstrous dragonsnakes! This is the most harrowing, dangerous, and muddiest mission that Luke has ever faced!

80 pages, $7.95

starwarsadventuresjpg

My first Star Wars: Adventures story, Luke Skywalker and The Treasure of The Dragonsnakes, is solicited over at Star Wars.com.  A 72 page graphic novella suitable for all ages (kinda… provided Daxiong doesn’t scare the crap out of people with his art).

This means I now have four comics coming out over October and November, with Star Wars: Invasion #4 and #5 joining this and the special Invasion #0 also coming out.  I’ve seen Colin’s art for the extra pages in Star Wars: Invasion #0 and the last page may just be my favourite of the series so far…