Star Wars: Blood Ties - A Tale of Jango & Boba Fett

Tom Taylor is a playwright and the writer of comics including DC/WildStorms’s The Authority and Dark Horse’s Star Wars: Invasion. Now, he’s writing the new Star Wars miniseries, Star Wars: Blood Ties – A Tale Of Jango And Boba Fett from Dark Horse. Westfield’s Roger Ash recently got in touch with Taylor to learn more about this series.

Westfield: How did the series Star Wars: Blood Ties – A Tale Of Jango And Boba Fett come about?

Tom Taylor: Randy Stradley asked me whether I was interested in writing a one-shot or a two-shot. I said ‘hell yes’. He had an idea for characters, I had an idea. Randy didn’t want to tell me his idea in case it influenced something else I had in mind. I, of course, was instantly intrigued by what Randy was holding back. It turned into one of those, “You go first.” “No, you go first”, moments.

We both went.

We both said ‘Fett’.

Randy suggested a two-shot with Jango and then Boba but wasn’t sure how it would tie together. I knew how it would tie together in an instant. I jumped up and down eagerly (I do this… I’m sad) and began writing. By the time I’d finished writing the first pass at an outline, half an hour after Randy asked the question, it was a four-issue-mini.

I sent it to Randy.

He simply said, “I love it”.

Randy loves little.

This was a good response.

Westfield: What attracts you to the characters of Jango and Boba Fett?

Taylor: The Star Wars universe is full of great family stories, and the theme of fathers and sons runs strongly throughout the core universe and the EU. Not common though, is a father son/story where both the characters are seen as ‘bad guys’.

Both of these guys come across as cold-hearted bastards in the films but these characters are more complicated than they appear. They’re not Sith. They’re not ‘evil’ and nor are they cruel. They are simply the darker side of ambiguous.

They’re fantastic characters to write. Both are no-nonsense, driven men, who are highly skilled.

With what we’re now seeing of Boba’s back-story, we know there’s a lot more to him than just ‘quiet and menacing’. His father was the most important person in the world to him. Jango’s death shaped his life.

There aren’t a lot of stories so far where the two are together. Boba is such an important character in the Star Wars Universe, I was very keen to show him with the man who influenced him most. I’m very happy I get to give this father/son team some time together.

Westfield: Does the series feature Boba Fett as adult, or is this a childhood adventure for him?

Taylor: It begins with a young Boba and Jango. There is a childhood adventure to begin with – although I wouldn’t say Boba had what we would call a ‘childhood’. Either way, Boba is then forced to grow up… very quickly.

Westfield: What can you tell us about the series and the characters involved?

Taylor: I don’t want to give too much away. However, when Count Dooku sends Jango on a mission, something unexpected happens. A moment rocks Jango to the core and the repercussions of this affect Boba’s life in the future.

There is another affected by this too…

Westfield: You’re working with artist Chris Scalf on the series. What can you say about his contribution to the book?

Taylor: If I start talking about the work of this guy, I won’t stop. Chris’ skill is absolutely plain to see but he is actually quite new to sequentials. It’s this fact that makes his work even more extraordinary. He is absolutely tearing it up in the pages I’ve seen from him so far. It’s one of the first times I’ve seen pages come in and thought ‘hmmm, maybe I could ask Randy to take out some sound effects here’. I just don’t want letters to get in the way of his art. I urge everyone to head to chrisscalf.com and check out his films where he shows his process. Simply stunning.

Westfield: Are there any other projects you’re working on that you’d like to mention?

Taylor: Absolutely.

Star Wars Invasion - Rescues

Star Wars: Invasion returns this May with a new arc called Rescues. Colin Wilson and I set up what we wanted with the last arc Refugees and visited with the big guns of the Star Wars Universe. Rescues sees our heroes, the Galfridian family, take the major roles. There are more Yuuzhan Vong, there’s more action, more intrigue, some big secrets being revealed and some bigger secrets being hinted at. It’s a dark story set in a dark time. But there is hope. Jo Chen’s covers continue to take people’s breath away.

The month of May has also seen me take over as the writer of The Authority for DC/WildStorm and I’m having an awesome time on this book. It’s been one of my favorites since before there was an Authority (back when Warren Ellis was laying the groundwork in the Stormwatch days) and I’m staggered and honored to be on the book that Warren Ellis and Brian Hitch made so famous. Our heroes are currently trapped in an enormous ship, heading to destinations unknown, and encountering all sorts of nastiness along the way. My arc began with refugees confined with vampires – it was bloody. Things get a lot worse before our final, incredible revelation.

Star Wars Adventures

Also coming up is my second Star Wars: Adventures story, The Will of Darth Vader – which is due out in August. I seriously can’t stop raving about this book. I had such a good time writing Vader. Brian Koschak, Dan Parsons and Micheal E Wiggam ensure this book looks great and, as always, Michael Heisler is the man – You hear me Mike? The. Man. There are actually two moments that I wasn’t sure would get in… but they did.

I am working on a new creator-owned series with Skye Ogden, spinning out of our one-shot Rombies – A Roman Zombies story – Friends, Romans, lend me your brains. The dead will walk again… in sandals!

The Example

Plus my ‘first comic’ The Example, Illustrated by Colin Wilson, is soon to be available in comic stores for the first time thanks to Gestalt Publishing.

Last, I have another creator-owned series called The Deep, about a multicultural family of underwater explorers who live in a submarine, coming soon.

Keep an eye on tomtaylormade.com for more.

Westfield: Any closing comments?

Taylor: Lettuce isn’t as innocent as it looks.