Last year, Dark Horse Comics released one of the best Boba Fett stories ever told, in Star Wars: Blood Ties. Written by Tom Taylor (Star Wars: Invasion) and illustrated by Chris Scalf (Star Wars: Purge), Blood Ties was virtually a complete critical success. Now The Sci-Fi Block catches up with Taylor to discuss Blood Ties, Invasion, writing Boba Fett, and what might be in the future for the writer.

The Sci-Fi Block: So Tom, you just started writing Star Wars comics about three years ago, and already you’ve put out two full volumes of Star Wars: Invasion (including Rescues), you’ve done two Star Wars Adventures books, and Dark Horse have released your newest series, Star Wars: Blood Ties. Are you just insanely busy suddenly adding all these comics to your workload?

Tom Taylor: Yes. But the good kind of busy: "writing comics" busy, not "rushing from gig to gig eating fire and juggling knives for various agencies" busy -- which is as busy I’ve been before. Like any work, there are times when it’s a hard slog and things get very hard, but then you just have to pick up the nearest blunt object, smash yourself in the face, and remind yourself that you’re writing Jedi and superheroes for a living.

SFB: Even before you began writing comics, you wrote for a variety of mediums, but if I’m not mistaken, the theater has been your primary focus. Do you find that your experience writing specifically for that format has been in any way complementary to comic book writing, or is it just a new style for you to learn?

Taylor: First up, I’d say reading comics gave me the skills I needed to write good theater. Then, writing theater and the success that came with that helped me become a better and more confident comic book writer. There is no doubt that my days spent as a playwright helped me with what I’m doing now. I learned what I feel an audience wants through my theater work and also through my work as a professional juggler. I learned that every story should be a thriller. People have to want to turn the page. They have to want to keep watching, or reading or listening. And for me, every story needs to be entertaining. Or what’s the point?

Theater is also far more confined than comics (you can’t blow up planets on stage very easily), and having to work within those constraints means you have to work harder to hold an audience. I am a huge fan of great, rhythmic dialogue, and theater helped me find my rhythm.

SFB: The Star Wars: Invasion books are, of course, focused on the Yuuzhan Vong invasion story that was first told in the New Jedi Order novels. What is it about the Vong invasion that you find interesting and worthy of further exploration?

Taylor: Everyone knows Star Wars. It’s Jedi versus Sith. It’s pure good versus a corrupting evil. But the Yuuzhan Vong are a whole different type of evil. This isn’t a corrupt, subtle, controlling evil like the Sith. This is merciless genocide on a galactic scale. It’s completely different. And it’s very exciting.

SFB: You told Comic Book Resources a while back that Luke Skywalker is one of your top two favorite characters ever (the other being Superman), so you obviously enjoy writing him. Of course, his role in Invasion and Invasion: Rescues is mostly peripheral. As a Luke Skywalker fan, do you find it difficult to keep him confined to a supporting role in this story?

Taylor: Yep, Luke Skywalker and Superman are my heroes without a doubt. Luke will get a big (but very quick) moment in the upcoming Revelations arc, but Invasion isn’t his story. However, there were nineteen New Jedi Order books to show Luke’s story, and, for me, Invasion exists to show more than the books were able. I want to know and show what happened a long time ago to the rest of the galaxy far, far away.

Also, I did get to write Luke in the graphic novella, Star Wars: Adventures -- Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes. I didn’t just get to write him; I got to tell an untold story of Luke and Yoda on Dagobah -- this fulfills all fanboy dreams.

SFB: On to Star Wars: Blood Ties. First of all, congratulations on the frankly awesome reviews you’ve gotten for this series. There’s been quite a bit of exploration of Boba Fett’s past lately, specifically in Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars, but a lot of fans find the mystery of the character to account for a lot of his allure. I noticed that in Blood Ties, specifically issue #1, you did some things that allowed you to maintain some degree of his mysteriousness even while you told this story of his past, like not showing exactly how he was able to succeed in the opening task Jango gives him. Did you find yourself wary of revealing too much about Boba Fett, or was it all fair game?

Taylor: I was given a lot of freedom on this book, but you’re only given freedom if you’re doing the right thing. As a writer, you need to respect the characters as much as the readers and you need to have some idea of what makes individual characters tick for people. In contrast to the strong characterization of other characters in the original movies, Boba Fett is instantly intriguing because he stays this mysterious, menacing, bounty hunter. Stripping away too much of this mystery would strip away the very thing that makes the character so appealing. This was the whole reason for the rather large twist at the end, which I won’t spoil here for anyone who hasn’t read it (if you haven’t read it, the collected edition will be out in May.)

Mystery is important. Likewise, staying true to the character is important. You can’t have Fett breaking down crying while having a tea party with his stuffed toy, Mr. Fluffles.

SFB: Chris Scalf is the artist on Star Wars: Blood Ties, and he does some truly amazing work. What’s it like working with him?

Taylor: Chris's work is simply stunning; he is a truly gifted artist who inspires a lot of people. If you don’t believe me, check out the amount of hits he has on his YouTube channel. He’s also a fantastic guy.

While it’s easy to have the really close relationship I have with Star Wars: Invasion artist Colin Wilson (very easy, as he lives five minutes from my house), it’s harder to have a close working relationship with someone on the other side of the world. Yet, Chris and I stay in almost constant contact. I work very late, and I’m still awake in Australia when he starts work in the States, so we tend to email each other back and forth over and over during these times. Like me, he has bursts of thrilling creative energy and big ideas. When you get these, it’s fantastic to be able to bounce off of someone and have someone else excited with you. It keeps the ball rolling and the momentum going. Chris and I have many, many plans. We will make beautiful comics together. The world will shake.

SFB: Are you going to be working on the subsequent Blood Ties character arcs, or is Dark Horse going to jump around on writers for this?

Taylor: I’m pretty sure there won’t be another writer, I will say that, but the future of Blood Ties is still a little up in the air at the moment. However, I would absolutely love to write the next arc, especially given all the people who’ve contacted me about the first volume and, as you’ve mentioned, the great reviews and coverage it received -- including some wonderful words from this very site. If I can make it happen, I will. We’ll just have to see what the future holds.

SFB: Well, congratulations on a great miniseries. What's up next in the Star Wars universe for you?

Taylor: I’m not entirely sure what I’m allowed to say at the moment, but I am working away on the next Invasion arc, which begins in July with covers by Blood Ties artist Chris Scalf. I have to say that Colin Wilson’s work on this next arc is really blowing the editors and me away. It’s just incredible.

SFB: And finally, do you have anything you wanna plug, whether it’s related to comics, Star Wars, or anything else you’re working on?

Taylor: Don’t mind if I do. I have a pile of things coming up this year on top of Star Wars. Coming very soon we have Rombies, a Roman Zombies series -- "Friends, Romans, lend me your brains." And, if anyone would like to be in the series, they can go and post a photo of themselves on the Be A Rombies Extra page on Facebook, and genius artist Skye Ogden may just draw you into ancient Rome. Rombies is coming out from Gestalt Publishing very soon, as is my graphic novel The Deep, the adventures of a multicultural family of underwater explorers who live on a submarine. I'm incredibly excited about The Deep, and I’m happy to show you the cover art here for the very first time. The artist, James Brouwer, is simply incredible, and he will be one of the most sought after artists on the face of the Earth when this book comes out. But you can’t have him, Earth! I have other plans for him.

Chris Scalf and I are also in the process of getting a few things happening which I can't talk about yet -- stupid secrets. And, speaking of secrets, I’ve done a couple of issues of something for DC which ... I also can’t talk about yet. Ask me back next month. I release most of my secrets, not my darkest ones, on my website over at Tom Taylor Made. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter. 140 character secrets coming your way.

SFB: Oh, and I have to ask one more thing. Now, be honest. We’ve seen Star Wars stories told in movies, novels, comics, TV shows, and video games. That accounts for virtually every storytelling medium I can think of except for one -- theater. You’re secretly working on a Star Wars play, aren’t you?

Taylor: Play? No. Musical!! Love and Lightsabers in a Galaxy Far, Far Away.

If you haven't read Blood Ties, be sure to check out our reviews of issues 1, 2, 3, and 4. Also see below for cover art for Taylor's The Deep (first time revealed!) and Rombies: