In 1997, Platinum Studios co-founder and chairman Scott Mitchell Rosenberg came up with a unique genre-mash concept. What if classic Western tropes were infused with a gritty alien invasion storyline? 

This idea birthed the graphic novel "Cowboys & Aliens," where gunslingers Zeke Jackson and Verity Jones witness the crash-landing of an alien spaceship during a caravan ambush. The aliens that disembark the ship are not the friendly, benevolent type -- this is a race bent on invading and conquering Earth by destroying everything they set their sights on. Now, it is up to the cowboys to work together with the local natives to defeat the aliens at all costs, even if it means adapting to their superior, futuristic weapons to nudge the odds in their favor.

Although the one-sheet for Rosenberg's graphic novel was always geared toward a big-budget film adaptation, it wasn't until 2011 that the Jon Favreau-helmed "Cowboys & Aliens" was released,...