Dark Horse Comics to Produce a Series Based on Dan O'Bannon's "Starbeast"

Ripley=Roby

The biggest difference, as far as I know, is that O'Bannon's script didn't have androids and a corporate conspiracy.

It would be more correct to say: "So, what exactly are the differences between O'Bannon's version and the one eventually Walter Hill & David Giler?

That is explained a little more clearly later in the article Leto.  Great point on Roby...very Ripleyish in many situations in Starbeast, example below.

I think it will be interesting to see what they do with this Version of ALIEN, it will likely be based of the O'Bannon and Shusett earlier Alien Revision after it was Starbeast (but that Story remains the same)  and prior to Hill and Giler getting involved.

So there would be some Differences and it would be Interesting to see HOW much of the Earlier Idea is Kept and HOW much stuff that Dark Horse will add/change.

It would appear they could be using their own Visual Aesthetic, and i think with a LITTLE a hint to HR Giger would save them having to deal with the HR Giger Estate.

I will say looking at the Pages shared in the OT it looks a VERY ALIEN Design which is Nice to see ;)

It will be interesting to see HOW the ALIEN CREATURES would be Depicted, and if it will take any NODS to the other (non HR Giger) Concepts... and by ALIEN Creatures i mean the Dead Pilot as well as the Starbeast Organism.

It will be interesting to see how the Starbeast if you would will be Portrayed as far as how much is shown of the Species Ritual Birthing Chamber and Indications of them ONCE being a Intelligent/Civilized of sorts Species.

So it will be interesting to see WHAT the Movie ALIEN could have ENDED UP like had it NOT had Giler and Hill have their Influence on it and also HR Giger's.

Their Contributions are what made ALIEN what it was, but Certainly the Initial Idea does come from O'Bannon and Shusett and there was some Interesting Differences with their Original Idea/Vision.

I will add that the COVER is very Interesting.... but i would also add that sometimes Covers can have little to do with what we will see. The Prometheus Fire and Stone First Issue Covers being a PRIME Example.

Regardless looking at the Cover here, what we see is a Humanoid Figure that is Sitting on a Throne that has some Very Ritual/Cultist look to it.

Looking at the Hands we can Clearly see this is NOT a Human, or at least is No Longer a Human.

The Starbeast Plot as far as a Little Background was about the Pyramid being a Ritual Temple that is Dedicated to the Procreation/Birthing Ritual of the Starbeast that were described as a Tentacled Species...

And so maybe we are NOT seeing a Throne... but some Apparatus to Incapacitate a Host!

I haven't read the scripts, but having a pyramid instead of the Derelict would be interesting to see- reminds a bit of Giger's silo. 

I would recommend them DK ;)

I think some UNUSED parts would make a Good Expansion into the Franchise... as far as take some of the UNUSED ideas and apply them to a Organism that Predates the Xenomorph and LV-223 Experiments.

HR Giger did some Good Concepts that for sure.... but i am not sure this COMIC would replicate or be influenced much on those.

The other Concepts were a bit COMICAL.... but the Sketch that O'Bannon did was interesting and i would SUSPECT that the MONSTER in this Comic Series could be more Based off O'Bannons Design.

The drafts describe a Tentacled Monster and so i think O'Bannon's design with some Tentacles could work.

I think if we look at O'Bannon's Design especially the Head, and we Merge it with this Concept for PARADISE.

Only 4 of the Upper Limbs are more Tentacles that could END with like either a Scythe like End, or Claw. With the other 2 Limbs having more of a HAND to them.

The Bottom of the Beast being like this other PARADISE Concept.

You would have something thats different that is more like a Evolution of the Ron Cobb design, merged with O'Bannon's but with some Tentacles as Described in the Draft ;)

Looking at the Cover again, then i guess we could wonder is this going to the Representation of the Space Jockey (well Dead Pilot) but it does-not look Skeletal, but then depending on the Temperature and Environment and Lack of Organic Life then a BODY should not really become a Skeleton anyway.  It should look more Mummified.  So it would be INTERESTING to see how they Portray the Dead Pilot, and Aesthetically what this RACE looks like and how Skeletal/Mummified it would appear as the Concepts Prior to Consulting HR Giger looked way more ALIEN and unlike a Humanoid at all.

But the Image on the Cover has that Ritualistic Pagan/Satanic look to it.  And so it could FIT more with some Ritual Sacrifice, its a case of is this a Sacrificed Being or some Effigy to some Entity/Species.

I wonder if we would see a Scene like Ron Cobb's drawing of the Sacrificial Chamber?

The Human Space suit design seems Similar to what we see in the COMIC.. so who knows. It surely would be Interesting to see what they draw in terms of to Illustrate the Story.

I also WONDER if in Future they could do a Comic Series on one of Jon Spaights early Alien Prequel Drafts either Alien Engineers or Alien Genesis?

I have always felt that the STARBEAST ideas could be Explored to Introduce another Species to the Franchise, one that maybe are the Enslaves or Creators of the Engineers, i mentioned this a Number of Years back prior to Alien Covenant but i am not sure it would be Fitting with the Revelation of Alien Covenant.

But None the Less maybe something ELSE could be Introduced still...  as Discussed in this Topic among others.

That Mythos behind the Species that had Created that Pyramid in the O'Bannon and Shusett Original Version of the Story.

I had always thought of how that could be Introduced in the Years following Prometheus

I even did a Poster ;)

That 4th panel on the last page... It appears they re-used one of the Prometheus Engineer pyramid concepts by David Levy.

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/ayx0L

Excellent find, thanks for sharing! I've also used our new "Front Page" feature option now available in the forums and have made a copy of this thread on the homepage - here's the link. 

Really excited for this!

Amazing find Dark Nebula.  Very nice Chris.  

Thank you to you both. I'm really excited too and even more so now after the David Levy catch.

David Levy Prometheus Concept Art

Nice Catch Dark Nebula

It seems they may take some Visual Influences from Unused Concepts, but also would have their OWN take on some Designs.  The External Shot of the Derelict Ship for Instance... It almost has that look of like a CACTUS the Scale of the Ship Internally could be HUGE.

So maybe this ALIEN SPECIES will be shown to have SHIPS that appear to be Part Organic, Part Mechanical and maybe appear to be Grown...  HOW ALIEN will the Dead Pilot be?

I then WONDER if the STARBEAST Species Pyramid and Aesthetic will be something FAR LESS Technological and more like some ANCIENT BUILDING

Maybe the Dead Pilot (Space Jockey) could have a more ALIEN look, less Human but have some HR Giger Bio-Mechanical Aesthetic?

While the STARBEAST could be Very Organic, but something thats VERY much Lovecraftian?

The creature on the cover seems to have a bird like head, which reminds me of the mural from Prometheus.

Thanks for the share Ingeniero.

You're most welcome daliens.  

This drawing below from David's studies on Planet 4 looks similar to the beast above.

"The creature on the cover seems to have a bird like head"

It kind of does, but it also seems to look like it is some kind of Mask, and like a Tunic that both have a WOODEN look to them like they are from some Satanic Ritual.

The Mural from Prometheus did remind me a little of O'Bannon's concept for the Starbeast.

 I think it would have been INTERESTING to introduce a STARBEAST into the Franchise, i had thought of a Few Ideas on how to do so, and something Aesthetically based on a Modified ULTRAMORPH could be interesting.

BigDave the electric chair comparison above is great...I missed it on the first pass and caught it while reading back over the comments.  That's so funny.

I love the Starbeast Poster too.  Good job.

"Royal" Engineer

The below images are what we looked at a while back when reviewing what I called the "Royal" above.  The image was enhanced to bring out the detail in his garments which looked royal to me.  

The Starbeast images you shared above do have similarities with the Royal Engineer beast crouched over, seemingly at the end of his arm.  For those who haven't seen egg photos below, they are from the same Prometheus art book.

Enhanced LV-223 Mural

What exactly does this depict and is the above beast in it?

The connection to the David Levy Prometheus concept art is wonderful and it would be nice to see something similar to the Levy art below as well in the comics.

The creature on the cover does look like it is sitting on a throne.

"Love the Starbeast Poster too.  Good job."

Well its only a EDIT... i took one of the Prometheus Poster designs i found on the Internet and i Cut a Xenomorph Mouth Out and Placed it over the Poster and Merge/Blended the Lines a little.

I thought it was a Interesting yet different Space Jockey Design, that reminded me a little of some of the Ultramorph Designs, so i thought what would this look like with a Ultramorph/Xenomorph Mouth.

I also think this Combined design could work for the Space Jockey if we ever revealed it was NOT a Engineer.. But i cant see that Happening.

Regarding the Fresco i always felt it reminded me of this, Prometheus Punishment Fresco

The Connection to the MURAL?  I always saw the Mural was to show this DEACON was the Perfected Result of Various Experiments they Conducted, and ONCE they had achieved this ORGANISM they Sacrificed its DNA into those URNS.

Where does the Fresco FIT?  I think this could be some Precursor to the Xenomorph/Deacon DNA..  This Organism became like a Punishment for those Engineers, but then from this Punishment/Hubris they saw it had Potential and they Re-Engineered it to Create Various Experiments of which the Mural became one of those.

Fresco = Organism they had NOT created but saw the Effects of its Life-Cycle and Infection.

Various things in Mural which include those TWO Face Huggers was the Engineers Various Experiments that related/came from Experimenting with the Fresco Organism.

Mural Organism = A Result the Engineers felt was Perfect or Desired, that was then the Basis of whats in the Black Goo in those URNS.

That was my Interpretation... prior to Alien Covenant.

I think in Context to the OT.

I am not so sure the Starbeast (in this Comic) would be revealed to be similar to any of HR Gigers designs, maybe it could have a MILD influence.... but i am expecting something that would be more LOVECRAFT.

It will be interesting to see if the Reveal would have some Inspirations from the Original Concept Works before they got HR Giger aboard.

Here was the Original Concept for what became the Space Jockey, i dont think that this Comic will be trying to COPY what we had in ALIEN, and i think its more likely they would use ORIGINAL designs or they would take Influences from the Oridginal Concepts (before HR Giger)

====Alien 1976 Draft ====

Suddenly, Melkonis lets out a grunt of shock.  Their lights have
     illuminated something unspeakably grotesque: A HUGE ALIEN SKELETON,
     SEATED IN THE CONTROL CHAIR.

     They approach the skeleton, their lights trained on it.  IT IS A
     GROTESQUE THING, BEARING NO RESEMBLANCE TO THE HUMAN FORM.

====Alien 1976 Draft ====

So ORIGINALY the DEAD Pilot was Very Alien in which that Concept Work by Ron Cobb seems to show, and i would ASSUME that the Dark Horse Comic will give us a Pilot who is VERY ALIEN and less Humanoid looking than the Space Jockey.

Looking at Ron Cobb's design i can see some similarities with some of the ART done by Artist Mavros-Thanatos

The First TWO i can see a slight similarity to Ron Cobb's Skeletal Alien.  The THIRD does have that Insect like look that Ron Cobb's design for the Starbeast had a bit.. but his design was a bit Comical.

I certainly think the HEAD of the First TWO Images if we made a AMALGAMATION of them would give us something similar to what Ron Cobb's Skeleton would like when it was ALIVE.

Looking at the Descriptions of the Starbeast in O'Bannons work then i think something like a AMALGAMATION of Image ONE and THREE of those Concepts/Art by Mavros-Thanatos would make a very ALIEN and yet Lovecratian Monster, which would suit the STARBEAST.

I cant wait to see what the Starbeast and the Alien Pilot will look like, it will be Interesting to see what Guilherme Balbi  comes up with.

"not so sure the Starbeast (in this Comic) would be revealed to be similar to any of HR Gigers designs, maybe it could have a MILD influence.... but i am expecting something that would be more LOVECRAFT."

That's my expectation too BigDave....similar to Elden below in that Giger's influence can be seen but nothing like the Xenomorph and Juggernaut appearances.

Amalgamation

"Looking at the Descriptions of the Starbeast in O'Bannons work then i think something like a AMALGAMATION of Image ONE and THREE of those Concepts/Art by Mavros-Thanatos would make a very ALIEN and yet Lovecratian Monster, which would suit the STARBEAST."

Yes it would.  And with the David Levy art influence seen in just the promotional release, then it will be very interesting to see what other source material they are inspired by.

Early Space Jockey Concept Art 

The theme of the comic's pages looks like a wonderful combination of what we have seen in the Prometheus and Alien films.  The early art shared above for the original concept Space Jockey is wonderful.  

This Ridleygram below shows some of the evolution in concepts as well as the Moebius Space Jockey further down (source).

Ridley Scott's Space Jockey

Moebius' Space Jockey

When taking the original Space Jockey concept art into consideration, I'd expect something closer to Moebius' Space Jockey opposed to Ridley Scott's concept in the new Starbeast comic.

The Moebius' Space Jockey does bare a little Resemblance to the FINAL version we see in the Movie... a little.

It looks like a Skeleton/Skull with a Elongated Mouth Portion, you could think BIRD but many Animals Skulls have that Elongated Jaw... not limited to Reptiles, Birds, but also to Certain Dogs, Certain Rodents and other Mammals inc Deer, Sheep and Cows etc.

So what the Creature was like before it was a Skeleton is any ones Guess, only that the Moebius designs does-not have a Jaw Structure/Face like a Human or even Primates.

The other Concept we had was that of Chris Foss

Which is Very Basic so its hard to work out, but i assume we have to run with the idea given to him to then draw is that we are looking at a Skeleton of a Alien Species.. and if we consider that then its NOT very detailed.

I took TWO of the Concepts from The Predator and Modified the One to give it Eyes... so i feel that the Chris Foss version if this is a SKULL could be similar to those TWO The Predator Designs when Alive.... well it is a Organism that appears to have TWO Mandibles

So who knows what our Dead Pilot would look like.

Does Guilherme Balbi  give us anything that is based off Ron Cobb's, Chris Foss or the Moebius design?

or do they come up with their OWN design?

I am not sure they would use the Ridleygram as that is basically HR Gigers Necronom V

Although as you mentioned with ELDEN from the Fire and Stone Comic... i think a bit of that Aesthetic could be Incorporated.. but then we could get something COMPLETELY different to anything we seen in the ALIEN Franchise which includes Concept Work.

This guy is huge!

Official Dark Horse page

Thank you so much for that Leto.  Awesome artwork!

Yes it is.  

The Starbeast could hold a human like a can of soda.

Interestingly, I don't see any signs of infection or chestburster. This starbeast (yeah, because his head looks like a star) looks almost alive! You might even think that he is looking at people.

Maybe it is the alien?! The shape of the head corresponds to the starbeast.

It looks very much in the style of Lovecraft.

@Leto

Thanks for the Share ;)

WOW that looks Impressive... Certainly have a Space Jockey that Matches the Intended Scale of ALIEN

So we have to WONDER what does this SCENE come from (in Comic) it clearly is the Being on the Cover.

This has to be from Issue One and so we have to Assume this is the Exploration of the Derelict Alien Ship.

However in O'Bannon's Drafts this being was Skeletal and just a Unsuspecting Victim of the STARBEAST.

This Alien Being looks kinda Organic yet Plantlike... by that it looks like Aesthetically its like something of a Off Spring of Kroot from Guardians of the Galaxy and the Pumpkinhead Monster ;)

Could it be some kind of SPACE SUIT?

What is interesting is there are NO signs of a Chest Buster Hole... and the Head/Helmet does have a STAR SHAPE.. does this imply this is the Starbeast?

I guess it depends on HOW CLOSE they stick to O'Bannon's Story and WHERE the Location of this 20ft being is.. (Derelict Cactus like Ship or a Pyramid Complex).

Cant wait to see more ;)

I will add that it seems they are coming up with their OWN kind of Designs for the Ships and Monsters etc... maybe some will take a little NOD to some Used /Unused works from the Franchise but it seems they are using their OWN imagination to give us some NEW Designs..

It will be interesting to see how these Progress ;)

They say "An all new Alien with an all new Alien!" Everything will be new, as if Giger and Scott influence never existed. I hope it will be a worthy new Alien, although by the tree looking beast I have some doubts about it.

Certainly... i think they will give us something different, that would NOT be based on HR Gigers influence, we can see this from the Design of the Derelict Ship. 

The Organism in the CHAIR is interesting as this does-not match the description of the Starbeast or Dead Pilot from O'Bannon's Original Story, and it does-not match any of the Concepts either.

So Aesthetically it looks like they will be giving us NEW/FRESH designs.

What seems MOST interesting to me is that looking at the Comic Pages we have been shown..  is the Dialog and Scenes seem to be the Exploration of the SNARK Crew to Locate the Source of the ALIEN Signal which is the Derelict Ship.

So the NEXT SCENE is when they have CLIMBED up to the CONTROL ROOM of the ALIEN SHIP.

The Comic Cover and Image that Leto had shared, do we ASSUME this is the Control Room?  In effect our Space Jockey?

However this does-not look like its DEAD well not Skeletal, but then if its some kind of SUIT or some Organism that is Plant-like (Treeman) then i guess it could look like a WITHERED kind of TREE.

So i think they for Certain are giving us CREATURES that look different to described and designs as far as the DRAFT and Concepts... we we could be in for a SURPRISE when we get to see the Parasitic Organism.

Can we assume they will KEEP to the Life-Cycle of the Starbeast?  So we would have some Egg/Spore Stage, a Face Hugger like Stage, Chest Buster and Adult?

Or maybe they will CHANGE some of the Story/Plot too?

I guess Time will Tell ;)