Spotlight: COWBOYS & ALIENS – The Comic That Inspired the Movie

Tomorrow morning Daniel Craig will wake up in 1873 not knowing who he is or why he has an extremely powerful gauntlet on his wrist. A gauntlet with origins well beyond that broad Arizona sky. And here he thought the Apache were his biggest concern. That's Cowboys & Aliens from Iron Man director Jon Favreau. I'll have a complete review for your tomorrow.

But you might be interested in the comic roots of Cowboys & Aliens and a decidedly different angle on the summer blockbuster's story of stars and spurs. Luckily the complete graphic novel is available on Graphicly for the web and mobile devices and a bonus-packed app designed specifically for Barnes & Nobles' Nook e-reader. 
 

In Cowboys & Aliens by Fred Van Lente, Andrew Foley and Luciano Lima, Zeke Jackson and Verity Jones are hired guns beset by frontier violence. When the wagon train they're hired to protect is attacked by a group of Apache, the last place they expect to find salvation is from above. Then, no one in 1873 (or 2011 for that matter) expects to see an interstellar vehicle hurtling out of the clouds and ripping into the desert landscape like God's own spade. But that's just what happens. When the dust clears, a shock troop of burly green warriors emerge down a catwalk. When the Apache investigate, calling out first in their own tongue and then in the language of the white interlopers, they are met only with unearthly arrows of flame.

The aliens are equal opportunity killers and they go on to slaughter the men of a nearby military outpost. Zeke and Verity witness the devastation and it is soon up to these lost souls of the desert to rally the white settlers and cowboys with the local Indians in order to hault the mutual threat of intergalactic conquerors. Throw in some gravity defying mounts and a truly star-crossed love affair, and you've got yourself the surliest smackdown this side of the San Pedro. 
 

What's more, downloading the OGN through Graphicly or as an app for the Nook, you're privy to some great extra features like video clips and introductions as well as character bios and sketch galleries. The Nook version even features an alien language translator, should First Contact be made in the parking lot outside Ruby Tuesday's. So check out Cowboys & Aliens in theaters this weekend and explore more of the story on the web, your iPad, iPhone, Android device, or Nook.