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 penciler Luciano Lima.
The plot follows your typical alien invasion in the wild west, an extraterrestrial species landing in Arizona intending to enslave humanity, but cowboys and native Apache have other plans.
Tropes associated with this work:
- Accidental Pervert: War Hawk comes across Verity bathing in the river while tracking a rabbit.
- Alien Invasion: The aliens came to Earth by accident as their ship was damaged and forced to crash land. After learning Earth is uncharted and unclaimed, Commander Rado Dar declared the planet is his for the taking.
- Badass Preacher: Father Breen has his moments.
- Bad Boss: Commander Rado Dar is not averse to killing his subordinates when they question his decisions, and declares that he's "not going to waste resources on incompetents", when a bunch of mooks go missing.
- Dual Wielding: Near the climax, the six-armed Gan-Alar wields a rifle in each hand.
- Goggles Do Something Unusual: The aforementioned pair of Cool Shades pinpoint weakpoints in enemies, let you see in the dark, highlight footprints, and other neat stuff.
- Lightning Lash: Verity is quite pleased to steal an alien energy-whip.
- Mayor Pain: Alan Cross is a corrupt mayor of a ghost town who tried to regain his fortune back by illegally selling lands belong to the Apaches to Patrick Breen and his settlers. He then decide to side with the aliens for his own survival. However, Cross is thrown in prison with other human prisoners, who are not happy for his treachery.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The primary alien mooks have four arms; Gan-Alar has six.
- Non-Nude Bathing: When Verity bathes in the river, she wears a nightgown.
- Outdoor Bath Peeping: After spotting Verity wading in a river, War Hawk notes that should leave, but can't bring himself to look away as she's "so wondrous".
- Race Against the Clock: The heroes has to stop Commander Dar from activating an emergency beacon that would bring his invasion fleet to reinforce his conquest in which 19th century Earth has no chance of winning against.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: After Alan Cross tells Rado Dar about the plan to blow up the beacon, Dar has him thrown in the brig with the other human prisoners. They are NOT happy with Cross...
- Sequel Hook: The humans have defeated Commander Dar and stopping him from contacting his House fleet from invading Earth. Kai, who is part of a coalition opposed to the Caste warlords, has deemed humanity worthy to join the resistance and has called her allies to come to Earth.
- Shout-Out: Verity has a name meaning "truth", a rope-like weapon and is even called "wonderous" at one point, which all combined bring Wonder Woman to mind.
- The Right of a Superior Species: The aliens, especially Rado Dar, have this viewpoint (explicitly stated to be a metaphor for Manifest Destiny and the treatment of Native Americans). There's actually a scene where Alan Cross, a white guy, screams "they don't have the right to do this to us just because they have better guns!", only to be met with a Death Glare from the Apaches.Rado Dar: You could have been part of a glorious civilization. You chose barbarism and savagery.
- Taken for Granite: Zeke defeat Rado Dar by firing his Bulkhead Repair Tool that coat Dar in a caulk-like substance which suffocate him to death. His petrified body inadvertently became a counterweight for Kai's makeshift catapult which launched a crate of explosives that destroys the beacon.
- We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill: A group of Apaches greet the aliens led by Dar, who then quickly had them shot.
- Worthy Opponent: Rado Dar declares that the humans are this, even going so far as to accept Zeke's challenge of a shoot-out.
