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Editorial Review Product Description
The Old West: an era when all a man could depend on was his horse and his six-gun, and settlers and Indians fought it out for territory on the last American frontier. That wild frontier just went out of this world. Invaders from another planet have touched down just outside of Dodge City, with plans for all mankind. Now cowboys and Indians alike must put aside their differences long enough to drive the aliens off the sovereign soil of planet Earth. ... Read more Customer Reviews (3) 
Cowboys, Indians... and aliens
Cowboys... and aliens. It sounds like a really, really stupid movie pitch.
But instead Scott Mitchell Rosenberg "Cowboys & Aliens" is a pretty fun graphic novel -- it has a simple but entertaining premise, lots of glowy splotchy action scenes, and some likable characters (on the human side). Its main downside is that it slaps you in the face with a hamhanded "evil aliens = European settlers" message that knocks you sideways.
The year is 1873, and there's a battle going on between the Apache warriors and a pair of hired guns protecting a wagon train. Then... suddenly a vast spaceship crashes nearby, and the aliens inside kill the Apaches who try to greet them. The cruel Commander Dar decides to conquer this world for himself, and quickly takes over the nearest Army fort.
So now the settlers, the cowboys and the Indians are being attacked by technologically advanced aliens who already outnumber them. Now these former enemies have to join forces to defeat Dar and his soldiers, or ALL of humanity will be in danger (especially when that space fleet shows up to finish the job!).
Yeah, "Cowboys and Aliens" sounds like a really terrible movie blockbuster. In fact, I think they're making it into a movie, which may or may not be insanely awesome (it's Jon Favreau, so it could be either). But as a graphic novel, it's pretty fun as a story -- lots of splashy action scenes (with glowy green weapons and flying death chariots!), and a wildly complex climax that belies its simple concept. T
Problem? The first five pages beat us over the head with "Evil Invading Aliens = Evil Invading Settlers"... which is kind of sabotaged since we see that most of the settlers (like that poor priest) don't have any "divine providence" delusions.
In fact, the characters are all (except for Dar and his thugs) pretty likable. In between fight scenes, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg reminds us that the HUMAN ex-enemies are not that different,as they pray for Apaches and cowboys alike to succeed, and a cowgirl even has a cute little romance brewing with an Apache warrior. Awwww, true love among the alien invasions.
"Cowboys and Aliens" sounds silly, but handles itself so smoothly that you never really have a chance to go, "Wait, what?" Fun, action-packed and thoroughly enjoyable.
Entertaining - light-weight, but well told
It's a story told a million times - primitive "savages" facing annihilation at the hands of a more advanced civilization that wants what they have. But, this time it's different, right? While Apaches and settlers fight over who owns a choice bit of land, both sides are shocked when a giant...thing falls out of the sky. The Caste has discovered the Earth, and they are determined to take its resources - natural and human! The only chance humanity has is to stand together, but that's a hard thing to imagine in 1873!
I must say that I found this to be an entertaining book. The illustration work is very good, but the story is somewhat light-weight, the book apparently being too short to give the story the depth it deserves. But, that said, it is an interesting story, well told in such a short space. I also found the illustration work to be very good. So, overall, I must say that I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to you.
Cowboys & Aliens
Howdy.Welcome to Silver City, Arizona--the time is a few minutes to alien invasion, 1873.That's right...alien invasion.And the cavalry won't be coming; the garrison at Fort Larrabie has already been obliterated by a small army of huge, armored, scaly, horned marauding extraterrestrials packin' heat like the Old West has never seen.Commander Dar of the House of Dar has crash-landed on Earth, and never one to let an opportunity slip by, he's decided to turn the crash-landing into a first-strike on a planet ripe for the picking.
What these aliens don't count on is an ad-hoc cavalry of sorts forming to stop them from signaling an entire armada of House Of Dar warships to come sunder and plunder (=Bad.Humans not slaughtered would obviously become slaves to the invaders since they already have slaves of conquered races helping them).The story is all action as a group of cowboys, led by partners in adventure Zeke and Miss Verity, make an uncomfortable alliance with some Apaches, most notably War Hawk and plucky young No-Name.Well, not all action.There's romance too, as Zeke starts to fall for an emerald-skinned viper-eyed female alien named Kai, former slave of mighty Dar who decides to defect to Earth and aid Zeke and co.s hopeless-seeming resistance.And War Hawk soon has a bit of a thingfor Verity, verily, and I plum reckon she's of a mind to reciprocate.
The humans pull some really cool tricks to throw off Dar's plans to summon immanent subjugation of all things Terrestrial, including using some of the aliens' advanced technology against them--although that's not a weapon Zeke keeps trying to use, it's actually a repair tool.But hey, whatever works in a clinch.And can you think of a better action scene than angry Apaches attacking over-confident aliens?
But Zeke's clever plan to claim Silver City back from the otherworldly marauders begins to fall apart when a weaselly little scoundrel of a human decides to switch sides to save his own skin, and tip Commander Dar off.
I enjoyed this SF/Western mishmash, though the art veers from eye-catching to flat throughout.The denouement involving cowboys and Apaches talking about future cooperation doesn't exactly remind me of the real world, but other than that this was a bit of a hoot--believable dialogue, likeable heroes, villains you just want to kick off the planet, and some lively action scenes that got me cheering for the guys in the white hats and the feathers.
Very entertaining.
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