Posts Tagged ‘Wolfgang Bylsma’

My San Diego Comic-Con Schedule

Monday, July 18th, 2011

In about eight hours, the San Diego adventure begins for 2011.

And, because it’s yet another way to put off my packing, I’m posting my schedule for the Con.

With the dual releases of The Deep and Rombies #1, I will be spending most of the con at the Gestalt Comics booth – booth 4500 and 4501. I will be signing every day at 2pm (except Friday – Friday is Star Wars day) but I’ll probably be hanging out there a fair bit aside from my official signing. This year Gestalt are incredibly well represented, and the booth will be full of great Australian creators (and just damn fine people) in Ben Templesmith, Nicola Scott, Justin Randall, Andrew Constant, Christian Read, Emily Smith, Rombies artist and Gestalt Art Director, Skye Ogden and, of course, the head huncho, Wolfgang Bylsma.
The full signing schedule for Gestalt is right here – http://www.gestaltcomics.com/newsworthy/2011/07/


THE DEEP: HERE BE DRAGONS
Tom Taylor & James Brouwer
ROMBIES #1Tom Taylor &
Skye Ogden

And on Friday, July 22, 1 p.m.–2 p.m., Room 7AB. I will be part of…

The SDCC – Star Wars Panel!

“In celebration of what seems like a lifetime of collaboration between Star Wars and Dark Horse Comics, we’re unleashing a panel of Star Wars comics giants just for you, the fan!

Share favorite moments in Star Wars comics with our resident Jedi, Randy Stradley, and a host of Star Wars guests from comics and beyond, including Mick Harrison (Dark Times—in his first public appearance!), Dark Horse editor Dave Marshall, writers Scott Allie (Jedi: The Dark Side), John Jackson Miller (Knight Errant), and Tom Taylor (Invasion), as well as Dave Filoni (director of The Clone Wars TV show), artists the Fillbach brothers (The Clone Wars comics), Leland Y. Chee (Lucasfilm’s “Keeper of the Holocron”), author Timothy Zahn (Choices of One), Shelly Shapiro (editor at large, Del Rey), and more.

Plus, there will be an exclusive Knight Errant print for attendees and a chance to win a custom stormtrooper helmet illustrated by Chris Scalf (Blood Ties)!

Oh yeah, and you certainly won’t want to miss the exciting news about the future of Star Wars digital comics . . .”

After this panel, myself and many other Star Wars creators will be signing at the Dark Horse booth. Feel free to bring along anything you’d like me scrawl on.

Also, check the brilliant Chris Scalf stormtrooper helmet you can win.

Torn by Andrew Constant, Nicola Scott & Joh James
THE DEEP: HERE BE DRAGONS
Tom Taylor & James Brouwer
TORN
Andrew Constant, Nicola Scott & Joh James
ELDRITCH KID: WHISKY & HATE
Christian Read & Michael Maier
ROMBIES #1Tom Taylor &
Skye Ogden

Goodbye 2010 and thanks to a lot of people.

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

Happy New Year, everyone!

The ‘End of Year Comic Awards‘ over at NFAMOUS.NET have given ‘Best Miniseries’ to Star Wars: Blood Ties, which was also nominated for ‘Best Limited Series or One Shot’ over at COMICBOOKED.COM “…this piece is truly perfect. Perfect in art, perfect in literature, and perfect in Star Wars. Also, Boba Fett takes down a rancor.” – COMICBOOKED.COM

‘The best Damn Comics of 2010′ over at the ‘The Daily Cross Hatch’ also saw The Example get some love.

A huge year of writing comics has come to an end and I decided to do a bit of a review… then I changed my mind and just made a collage – a visual representation of how much sleep I missed last year.

Yep, all of these books came out in 2010 – that’s two for every month.

A huge thanks to all of the people I was lucky enough to work with in 2010

Thanks to all of the artists – Colin Wilson, Chris Scalf, Al Barrionuevo, Mike S Miller, Skye Ogden, Daxiong, Brian Koschak, James Brouwer, Wes Dzioba, Mike Heisler and Em Smith.

To my wonderful editors – Randy Stradley, Jim Chadwick, Wolfgang Bylsma, Freddye Lins, Kristy Quinn, Gary Edwards, Shannon Eric Denton and Ben Abernathy.

To the ridiculous wealth of cover artists – Jo Chen, Dave Gibbons, Kevin Nowlan, Philip Tan, Pete Woods,  Howard Porter, Chris Sprouse, Tim Seeley, Sean McNally and Jeremy Raapack.

And of course, an enormous thank you to every single person who read my books in 2010.  THANK YOU!

This year is already looking enormous, with a pile of work due for publication and some hints of more big gigs in the pipeline – 2011 preview post coming soon…

The Example and Rombies #0 Go Back To Press!

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

This Wednesday sees the direct-market release of Rombies #0 and The Example. The release date for The Example and Rombies #0 has actually had to be pushed to this Wednesday as both books have had to go back for a second printing!  Yes, both books are sold out and are going back to press.

A huge congratulations to Wolfgang Bylsma, Colin Wilson, Skye Ogden and Gestalt Publishing.  It’s awesome to see these Australian-made books cracking the international market and kicking head.

So remember, wherever you are in the world this Wednesday (Thursday in Australia), head into a comic store and pick up a copy of Rombies and The Example.  If they don’t have any copies, rant at them.  If an Australian comic store hasn’t ordered any copies, stage a sit-in protest.

A comic store would be a great place for a sit-in protest; you could read comics while calmly demonstrating your outrage.

Praise for Rombies

A large part of the book’s success stems from the stellar artwork of Skye Ogden. Working in a slightly cartoony style, Ogden’s art is lively and leaps off the page without sacrificing a stunning attention to detail. The Coliseum and its gladiators are beautifully rendered, featuring exquisite period design elements and decorative flairs. His figures are robust and expressive, the pencils impeccably inked with a nice heavy line that lends each character weight and solidity. It’s a unique style, wonderfully matched to Tom Taylor’s crisp, fast-paced script.  Like his collaborator’s artwork, Taylor’s script achieves a fine balance between levity and real emotional moments… Taylor delivers a rousing, fun story even if it’s steeped in half-devoured corpses and rivers of blood.” – Broken Frontier

“Did I get what I expected out of this book? No, I got a hell of a lot more. I loved the animated style artwork, and hey how can you not love a zombie lion? The story was done right. It didn’t go where I thought it would, which is a good thing. It’s not a B-movie story that is told here. It is an action pack death fest. I will say this, if Romero directed Gladiator this is what it would have looked like. Check this one out, it is highly enjoyable and I think a must read for zombie fans. 4 stars”ComicMonsters.com

And The Example

“This Schrödinger’s Cat scenario is explored comprehensively via Taylor’s rhythmic dialogue. Sam and Chris riposte to and fro with the sort of casual offhandedness afforded to transient relationships. It’s almost flirtatious, but never dull, and the naturalness of their humour contrasts beautifully with the silent menace of the briefcase… a burst of applause to all concerned, and a note to other creators and publishers out there – this is an example worth following.” - (Cool) Shite

Rombies – Preview And Website.

Monday, June 7th, 2010

Heaps going on this week, including Authority and Star Wars, but first up… Rombies!

The Rombies one-shot and The Example are both being offered through Diamond this August – meaning I now have five comics coming into comic stores in August… and that’s even with Invasion skipping that month.

Rombies has been flying along.  I’m really happy with the last script I turned in and Skye is about to rip into the series proper.  All of this momentum has seen a fair bit of pimping by Gestalt Publishing.

Rombies now has an official website – ROMBIES.COM – which currently has a violently-brilliant new image by Skye Ogden to check out.

Comics website ‘Broken Frontier’ have written a great article about the series and included a 6 page preview (7, considering one is a double page splash) of Rombies.

Skye and I have also done several interviews which should also appear soon.

Changing Ways

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Justin Randall and I have crossed paths a number of times.  They’ve always been strange, but fun, encounters.

The last time we were together, we were in a car late at night.  We were being driven around Perth by our friend, and the head of Gestalt Publishing, Wolfgang Bylsma.  I was in the front passenger seat, Randall was in the back seat behind me.  He was, oddly, quite convinced that we were being followed by helicopters.  Then he announced a spider had fallen out of his nose and was in the car with us… I still don’t know if this was true.

Randall is perhaps best known for his work on 30 Days of Night and Silent Hill.  However, as of last week he will be best known for his creator-owned book Changing Ways.  I was thrilled and honoured to be asked to write the forward to, what I believe, is probably the best piece of work to be published in the medium in this country – Yep, this thing of great production quality, beauty and fear came out of Australia.   It is now in stores.  If your local comic book store doesn’t have it, threaten them.

Check out the full trailer below.  Warning: It’s violent and creepy.

From my forward…

“Changing Ways grabbed me by the eyeballs and wouldn’t let go until it was done. The art demands you stop and admire every extraordinarily rendered panel, while the tension of this perfectly-paced thriller forces you to turn the page.” – Me.

From Colin

“Dark, moody, menacing.  Good comics stories do this stuff really well, and Changing Ways is excellent! - Colin Wilson

From Templesmith

“It’s like a punch to the scrotum with the aftertaste of a tickling feather. Changing Ways is a hard road, full of broken glass and broken dreams. Too cool to say no to.” - Ben Templesmith

The Authority Announcement – New Look Website

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

An announcement this big had to come with a shiny, new look, and I’m happy to say it does.  The website has been transformed and it is now the perfect place to announce that I am no longer just a ‘fill-in’ writer on The Authority. According to my editor extraordinaire, Jim Chadwick, I am now allowed to share this news with the world.

I’ve clearly been doing something right and the good people over at Wildstorm have asked me to stick around and finish the whole story arc.  I couldn’t be happier about this.  I’m still staggered and honored to be working on this title and I’m enjoying the hell out of it.  This should be pretty clear when my run begins on May 5 with issue #22 and The Authority tackle Vampires… in space!

Written by TOM TAYLOR • Art by MIKE S. MILLER • Cover by PHILIP TAN

With the on-board rebellions subdued and attacks from the stowaways repelled, The Authority can once again focus on the nature of their voyage. Is the Carrier leading them to its home – or does it have some other, more sinister agenda? While passing through a vast graveyard of discarded spacecraft, the latest Century Baby detects a faint sign of life. The High goes off on a rescue mission, but what he brings back on board eclipses any danger they’ve faced so far.

  • Wildstorm Universe
  • 32pg.
  • Color
  • $2.99 US

On Sale June 2, 2010

I also wanted to say a huge thank you to the wonderful Wolfgang Bylsma, Skye Ogden and Jake Gonzales who have worked tirelessly to create this new look to the website.  Smell your screen, it still has that new website scent… SMELL IT!

Speaking of new, I’ve begun work on another new comics project which will be announced next month.

And, staying on the ‘new’, my wife is currently four days overdue with our second child… so this may be my last update for a while.

Announced – Rombies – The Series!

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

So, last week was huge.

After happily announcing that I was the new writer of The Authority on Wednesday, I was then flown to Perth on the Thursday (Thursday morning… I don’t do morning) by Gestalt Publishing for Gestaltapalooza!

Comic Book Jesus posted about the night right here.

And the night was capped off with the announcement that our one-shot ‘Rombies‘ was just a teaser.  Yep, Rombies is set to be a series!  The Dead will walk again… in sandals.

rombies

The depth and breadth of the story Skye Ogden and I have planned was not even hinted at in the first publication.  This story is tied to real-life historical events and crosses the path of real-life historical figures.  It weaves through theologies and empires and leaves no one untouched, be they citizen, soldier or senator.

It will be fun.

A great celebration of the first five years of Gestalt also included a sneak peek of the incredible ‘Changing Ways‘ by one of the fine artists working on my upcoming Brief Cases, Justin Randall.  Gestalt asked if I could provide a pull-quote for this incredible book.  Which meant that I got to read an advance copy.

“Changing Ways grabbed me by the eyeballs and wouldn’t let go until it was done. The art demands you stop and admire every extraordinary rendered panel while the tension of this perfectly-paced thriller forces you to turn the page. Justin Randall balances beauty and terror on a rusty razor’s edge.” – Tom Taylor, writer of Star Wars: Invasion and The Authority.

Friends, Romans, Lend Me Your Brains. Tom Taylor – Skye Ogden – Rombies.

Monday, September 21st, 2009

Coming soon from Gestalt Publishing… ‘Rombies’!

rombies

Skye Ogden, the creator of the gorgeous ‘Vowels’ (Chapter 1 of which can be read right here), has an epic story in his mind.  And that story is set to escape his brain with the first installment of ‘Rombies’.

I would normally run a mile from a zombie story… and run a mile from zombies.  However, after being asked whether I’d like to write the first instalment of this Roman zombies book, I woke one morning with horrible, horrible visions of a zombie infested Colosseum and, naturally, I wanted to share these horrible visions with the world.

Rombies is coming soon from Gestalt Publishing and three preview pages can be read right here.

rombies_6rombies_7rombies_8

“Ogden is an enormously stylish artist” – Publisher’s Weekly

New Reviews Of The Example And Flinch

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Some truly great reviews have appeared recently for The Example and Flinch – both available through Gestalt Publishing, good book stores, comic book stores and Amazon.

The brilliant site (Cool) Shite has a very thorough review of The Example.

This Schrödinger’s Cat scenario is explored comprehensively via Taylor’s rhythmic dialogue. Sam and Chris riposte to and fro with the sort of casual offhandedness afforded to transient relationships. It’s almost flirtatious, but never dull, and the naturalness of their humour contrasts beautifully with the silent menace of the briefcase… a burst of applause to all concerned, and a note to other creators and publishers out there – this is an example worth following. - (Cool) Shite

And Comic Book Jesus have reviewed Flinch.  Bobby N’s ‘Withheld’ is highlighted as are both of my contributions.

“Other standouts would be Tom Taylor’s work in 96, 000m with artist Tom Bonin. It’s only 6 pages, and opens with two men in a submersible craft on  a deep sea mission. The ending is bold and made me laugh because it came from nowhere and really works. Taylor’s other story, with his Star Wars: Invasion collaborator Colin Wilson is a sci-fi tale called White Dove III. Like Bobby. N, Taylor expands a simple premise in to a powerful story.” - Comic Book Jesus

So, head expanded, I go back to another new Star Wars project and something else completely new – ‘The Deep’… coming soon.

San Diego – Signings, Meetings And Another Announcement.

Monday, July 20th, 2009

Yep, in a little over 6 hours I will be picking Colin Wilson up from his place and driving to the airport.  3 hours after that we will be on a flight to Los Angeles, smiling serenely at each other despite the terror of being miles up in the air.  About 15 hours after that we will be in LA and about to get in a Mustang with Wayne Nichols.  We will then begin our road-trip down (or up… I don’t do geography) to San Diego in preparation for the San Diego Comic Convention.

We then set up in a house not far away from the convention centre with, head of Gestalt Publishing, Wolfgang Bylsma.  Then we crash out for hours before breakfast with Nicola Scott and Craig Court, dinner with Randy Stradley and piles of other catch ups that I’m really looking forward to.

Exciting stuff.

If you’re attending SDCC, Colin and I will be signing at the Dark Horse Booth on Friday the 24th from 3 til 4 and on Sunday the 26th from 11 til 12.  We will also be hanging around for the most part, so feel free to hand us a copy of whatever (preferably our work) to be signed.  Colin will also be available for commissions – get in early though, he’s a popular guy and he only has one life… that I know of.

I’ve also just found out that a little something else I’ve been working on will be seen for the first time at SDCC.  I look forward to posting an image when I can.