Cowboys & Aliens (comics)

Cowboys & Aliens
Publisher	Platinum Studios Comics/HarperCollins
Date	December, 2006
Series	Cowboys & Aliens
Creative team
Writer(s)	Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, Fred Van Lente & Andrew Foley
Artist(s)	Dennis Calero & Luciano Lima
Penciller(s)	J. Wilson & Silvio Spotti & Luciano Kars & Magic Eye Studios
Original publication
Language	English
ISBN	978-1582407241
Chronology
Followed by	Cowboys and Aliens: Worlds at War

Cowboys & Aliens is a 100-page Platinum Studios 2006 graphic novel created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and written by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley, with illustrator Dennis Calero and penciler Luciano Lima.

Publication history

See also: Cowboys & Aliens (film)#Development

Plot synopsis

In 1873, gunslingers Zeke Jackson and Verity Jones are hired to protect a caravan that is heading to Silver City, Arizona, to work at a silver mine. They are ambushed by Apache Indians in the desert and the two groups witness the crash-landing of an alien spaceship. Its inhabitants, led by Commander Rado Dar, exterminate some of the Indians, allowing Zeke and Verity to escape, as the aliens set out to conquer the planet Earth. While the aliens regroup and destroy a nearby fort, Zeke and Verity arrive at Silver City with the settlers, only to discover that, aside from a handyman named Alan Cross (the original founder and mayor of the city), most of the town's inhabitants left after it was discovered that the silver mines were empty.

The cowboys are attacked by aliens riding in flying motorcycle-like vehicles and are chased to a cliff, where they are rescued by Apache Indians led by Chief Medicine Crow and the warrior Warhawk, who ambush the aliens. The two groups decide to join forces in order to defeat the aliens, and scavenge the fallen ones for weapons. Zeke steals a microwave-emitting pistol, Verity steals an energy whip, Warhawk steals X-Ray goggles and the other Indians steal explosives that they attach to their arrows. A blacksmith uses the scraps of the motorcycles to forge anti-gravity horseshoes that allow the Indians to ride on flying horses.

The humans also receive the assistance of Commander Dar's assistant, Ra Chak Kai, who has switched sides and falls in love with Zeke. She reveals that the aliens (who call themselves The Caste) have taken over Silver City and are building a communication device that will allow them to call in troops from their homeworld to enslave the entire Earth. Verity and Warhawk also fall in love. Cross offers to lead a decoy group on a frontal attack against the aliens, allowing a second group led by Zeke to infiltrate the city through the empty silver mines and attack. Cross betrays them, in hopes of being spared by the aliens. The humans are captured, including Cross, who, despite his treachery, is thrown in with the other human prisoners and is killed by Verity. The captured humans are set for execution at dawn, just as the beacon is about to send its transmission, but the rest of the Indians arrive on their flying horses and defeat most of the aliens. Zeke and Kai kill Commander Dar while Verity and Warhawk deal with his second-in-command and destroying the aliens' communications tower. As the humans celebrate their victory, Kai is secretly revealed to be part of a race of shapeshifting aliens that have organized a resistance against the Caste warlords. For their bravery, the humans are added to the list of races with the strength needed to stand against the Caste.

Film adaptation

Main article: Cowboys & Aliens

Jon Favreau directed the screen adaptation from Universal and DreamWorks of the comic, starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Noah Ringer, Paul Dano, Ana de la Reguera, and Clancy Brown. The film was produced by Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, and Platinum Studios's CEO and creator of the graphic novel, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg. Zeke Johnson's name was changed to Jake Lonergan in the film.

The film was released on July 29, 2011.^[1]

Webcomic sequel

Cowboys and Aliens: Worlds at War (or Cowboys & Aliens II)^[2] is a 2007 online-only extension of the graphic novel. It is written by Alana Joli Abbott.

See also

Novels portal

• Gunplay (2008)
• Science fiction Western
• Weird West
• List of Native American superheroes

Notes

1. ^ Cowboys & Aliens. comingsoon.net. accessed July 30,2 011.
2. ^ Cowboys and Aliens: Worlds at War/Cowboys & Aliens II webcomic

References

• Cowboys & Aliens at the Comic Book DB

External links

• Official website
• Cowboys & Aliens info at Blue Corn Comics
• Cowboys & Aliens News at Comics2Film
• Cowboys & Aliens at the Internet Movie Database
• Local graphic novelist generating big buzz, Edmonton Sun, September 7, 2009
• Noah Ringer casted in Cowboys & Aliens? - Variety