Tag: tom taylor

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EUbits: To Crucible or not to Crucible?

Crucible The upcoming post-Fate of the Jedi is on everyone’s mind. Roqoo Depot’s Skuldren takes a look at Scoundrel’s Luck, the 1990 WEG gaming adventure that author Troy Denning hinted holds a clue to the book’s villain. Meanwhile, Nanci at Tosche Station – not exactly Denning’s chief cheerleader – implores burned fans to give Crucible a chance.

I myself remain rather ambivalent on the book, but I can pretty much guarantee I’ll read it. Or try to, anyway, which is more than I can say for the other SDCC announcements.

The blogside, pro edition. Over at the Star Wars Blog, Leland Chee explains the Holocron, while Jonathan Rinzler introduces himself and writes about interviewing George Lucas. And this morning, Pablo Hidalgo gives us a tour of the new Insider

Nonfiction. The new book by super-collectors Gus Lopez and Duncan Jenkins, Gus and Duncan’s Guide to Star Wars Prototypes, will be available in August.

Interviews. John Jackson Miller chats with the Wisconsin State Journal about Star Wars and his new book.

Chat. There’ll be a Twitter chat with Tom Taylor on Thursday.

Charity. EUCantina is selling t-shirts for their A Force for Childhood Literacy program.

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EUbits: Mercy Kill in drips and dabbles

Excerpts. It’s easy to miss, but if you head over to the Random House page for X-Wing: Mercy Kill, there are 32 pages from the book available. (Click on the cover.) It includes the dramatis personae that caused such a furor when the ARCs went out as well as the first pages of 22 chapters. Weird, yes? (via)

The blogside. Joysweeper at Scans Daily takes a look at Luke Skywalker’s worst comic outfits. She’s not kidding; there’s a mesh shirt. Oh, Marvel. Also: An interview with costumer Victoria Schmidt; convention tall tales; and a review of Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight.

Upcoming. Rebelscum has covers and summaries for two upcoming comic collections – Dawn Of The Jedi: Force Storm and new Clone Wars omnibus, The Republic Falls – as well as the next arc of Agent Of The Empire.

Awards. Tom Taylor’s Blood Ties has won the The Stan Lee Excelsior Award, which encourages kids to read comics and graphic novels.

Behind the scenes. The Young to Publishing Group has four keys to success in licensed publishing, which features several familiar names.

Endnotes. I’ve run out of things to say about the things, so just let it be known that Jason Fry has posted part 14 and part 15 of his guide to everything Essential Guide to Warfare.

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EUbits: Everybody loves pilots


Spotlight. Essential Guide to Warfare co-author Paul Urquhart takes a look at ‘the best star-pilots in the galaxy’. But what we’re really talking about here is the art by Frank-Joseph “Mazzic” Frelier, which includes what I think is out first look at Syal Antilles.

In other Warfare-related matters, there have been three more installments of endnotes since we last checked in: 9, 10 and 11.

Awards. John Jackson Miller’s Knight Errant is a Scribe Award nominee for Best Original Novel in the Speculative Fiction category. The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers are also naming Expanded Universe alumni Kevin J. Anderson as the year’s Grandmaster. Other familiar names among the nominees include Mike Stackpole (for his Conan the Barbarian adaption) and A.C. Crispin for her Pirates of the Caribbean novel.

Interviews. Lots of them! In the world of podcasts, we have Aaron Allston over at Tosche Station Radio and Mike Stackpole at Star Wars Book Report. If you can stomach the ForceCast, they had Leland Chee on, plus there’s a new Jedi Journals. If it’s text you prefer, Tom Taylor talks Darth Maul at CBR.

Teases. A bounty hunter short story by a new-to-Star Wars author will be gracing the pages of Insider #136. Karen Miller’s Myri Antilles story will be in the next issue, #135.

Now hiring… NJOE, EUCantina and Knights Archive are looking for some dedicated fans to join their respective sites. (Rather limited) internet fame! Glamour! No money! But possibly drinks at CVI!

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EUbits: EUC’s #SWEU t-shirts benefit Reading is Fundamental

For a good cause. EUCantina is selling #SWEU t-shirts with all the profits going to CJ’s favorite charity, Reading is Fundamental. There’s far more than tees in the store, and $3 of each purchase will go towards the charity. (Which really needs all the help it can get right now.)

UPDATE: There are tees for #ZahnSolo as well.

The blogside. Galactic Drift makes a point about poorly crafted villians, something some of us saw as a major problem in Fate of the Jedi. Meanwhile, Tosche Station collected folks dream Star Wars novels.

Interviews. Tom Taylor talked to Big Shiny Robot, Rebelscum and CNN.

Background. Even more Essential Guide to Warfare endnotes from Jason Fry. Speaking of, Jacob, one of Jawajames’ friends, recorded Fry’s author talk and more at one of the San Diego “Attack of the Authors” tour stops. (You did watch James’ interview, right?)

Reviews. James takes a look at Dawn of the Jedi #3 and Crimson Empire III: Empire Lost #6.

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EUbits: What a long, hard Fate it’s been

The blogside. Over at Tosche Station, Brian has a two-part retrospective of Fate of the Jedi. The series has garnered some mixed reviews, but overall I have to agree with some of Brian on this one, particularly regarding Luke/the Jedi, the arc-welding in Abeloth’s backstory, and the overall issues with Denning. Brian’s also revised his review of Apocalypse.

Warfare fallout. Jason Fry has posted his endnotes for The Essential Guide to Warfare in three parts, while his co-author Paul Urquhart writes (naturally) about the wackier side of the book at Suvudu.

Interviews. EU Cantina talks to comic writer Tom Taylor about his upcoming Darth Maul mini-series, Invasion, and Boba Fett is Dead. Meanwhile, Newsarama has John Ostrander to discuss Dawn of the Jedi in some detail.

Whoops! I caught the release date change for Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories last week, but not that it had changed formats from paperback to trade paperback. Guess someone likes the Sith…

WTF of the week. Kevin J. Anderson invented the Killiks. Of course he did.

Reviews. James enjoys the unexpected trickery in Knights of the Old Republic – War #4 and is satisfied (sort of) by the big ending of Agent of the Empire – Iron Eclipse #5.

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Things to Do With Dengar When You’re Dead: Best #StarWars and #SWEU tweets for the past week

Welcome to a new feature! As fannish pros and fans alike are so active on Twitter, I thought we’d expose our readers to a little bit of what goes on there. This week: Some tidbits on The Essential Guide to Warfare, a few Fate of the Jedi snarks, and, of course, #ZahnSolo!

Continue reading “Things to Do With Dengar When You’re Dead: Best #StarWars and #SWEU tweets for the past week”

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Best of Star Wars in 2011: Comics

2011 brought us a plethora of Star Wars comics from Dark Horse. With 44 individual comic issues and 17 books (digests, trade paperbacks and omnibus collections), there was a lot for everyone, with nearly every era getting some stories. As part of Dark Horse’s 25th anniversary, the Star Wars lineup added some new titles (Jedi – The Dark Side, Darth Vader and the Lost Command, and Agent of the Empire), brought back some old favorites (Crimson Empire III) and finished up the Cade Skywalker storyline with the end of Legacy: War. Darth Vader and the Lost Command was Dark Horse’s bestselling Star Wars title of the year, which earned it a special hard-cover trade edition. While Haden Blackman’s tale of Vader on a mission filled with betrayal is a great story, I think there was another story that topped it to be the year’s best.

Continue reading “Best of Star Wars in 2011: Comics”

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NYCC: More info revealed about new Star Wars comics

Earlier we announced that Dark Horse Comics had unveiled several new Star Wars titles for 2012 at New York Comic-Con. Now that the official press releases have gone out, here’s some more info about each new story.

  • Knights of the Old Republic: War – Zayne Carrick has been drafted in war between Revan and the Republic against the Mandalorians. Starting in January, this story written by John Jackson Miller will continue the adventures from his Knights of the Old Republic series, but Dark Horse assures us that it is also a great entry point into Star Wars comics. Rebelscum.com has a sample page.
  • Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison – Haden Blackman returns to write this five issue story about Darth Vader, starting in May. As Vader gets used to his role in serving the Emperor, there’s an assassination plot afoot! Blackman talked with Newsarama about the story involving the Dark Lord of the Sith and Moff Trachta, as well as getting into Vader’s head.
  • Blood Ties: Boba Fett is Dead – Tom Taylor describes this new Blood Ties story (coming in April) with: “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.”
  • Dawn of the Jedi – John Ostrander and Jan Duursema delve into the origins of the Jedi in this brand new series, set 25,000 years before the movies. We’ve already heard a bit about it from interviews, but here’s the official blurb. Issue #0 and Issue #1 (Starting the Force Storm arc) both come out in February.
  • Knight Errant: Escape – The next story arc in the adventures of Kerra Holt, one-woman Jedi wrecking crew in Sith space starts up in June for a five-issue run. Although with a title like Escape, I wonder if John Jackson Miller will have Kerra fighting for her life more than fighting to liberate worlds from the Sith warlords.

Looks like we are going to have a very cool 2012 for Star Wars comics!

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New Ostrander series deals with origin of the Jedi

Dawn Of The Jedi “will start at the beginning of the Star Wars timeline with the very beginning of the Jedi Knights, in a time before light sabres when they only fought with swords,” Bleeding Cool reports.

There are more details, including an interview with Ostrander and Jan Duursema, on Comic Book Resources.

Also coming are a new Knights of the Old Republic series, War! starring Zayne Carrick and written by John Jackson Miller. There’s also a Darth Vader mini and something called “Boba Fett Is Dead.” I expect we’ll hear more about all this as NYCC continues.