The original screenplay that was written for Alien by Dan O’Bannon is going to be adapted into a comic book thanks to Dark Horse Comics. The original script ended up being re-written by David Giler and Walter Hill and that’s the script that Ridley Scott directed the film from. O’Bannon’s script told the same story, but there were a lot of different details. I’m pretty excited to learn that it will be brought to life in comic book form.

THR reports that the screenplay will be adapted into a five-part comic series titled Alien: The Original Screenplay, and it has been adapted by Cristiano Seixas and artist Guilherme Balbi. Dark Horse describes the comic as “an alternate line of events.” This is the synopsis that came along with the script, which you can read here if you want:

En route back to Earth from a far part of the galaxy, the crew of the starship SNARK intercepts a transmission in an alien language, originating from a nearby storm-shrouded planet. Mankind has waited centuries to contact another form of intelligent life in the universe — they decide to land and investigate. Their search takes them to a wrecked alien spacecraft whose doors gape open — it is dead and abandoned. Inside they find, among other strange things, the skeleton of one of the unearthly space travellers. Certain clues in the wrecked ship lead them across the hostile surface of the planet to a primitive stone pyramid, the only remnant of a vanished civilization. Beneath this pyramid they find an ancient tomb full of fantastic artifacts. Lying dormant in the tomb are centuries- old spores, which are triggered into life by the men’s presence. A parasite emerges and fastens itself to one of the men’s faces — and cannot be removed. An examination by the ship’s medical computer reveals that the creature has inserted a tube down his throat, which is depositing something inside him. Then it is discovered that the parasite’s blood is a horribly corrosive acid which eats through metal — they dare not kill it on the ship. Ultimately it is dislodged from its victim and ejected from the ship, and they blast off from the Hell-planet. However, before they can seal themselves into suspended animation for the long voyage home, a horrible little monster emerges from the victim’s body — it has been growing in him, deposited there by the parasite… and now it is loose on the ship. A series of ghastly adventures follow. They trap it in an air shaft and a man has to crawl down the shaft with a flamethrower — it tears a man’s head off and runs away with his body — a man is crushed in the air lock door and the ship loses most of its air in a terrific windstorm — another man is burned to death and then eaten by the creature — and another is woven into a cocoon as part of the alien’s bizarre life cycle. Finally there is only one man left alive, alone on the ship with the creature, and only six hours till his air runs out; which leads to a climax of horrifying, explosive jeopardy, the outcome of which determines who will reach Earth alive — man or alien.

As you can see, the lone survivor of the original script featured was a man instead of a woman. His version of the script was filled with completely different characters than what we ended up seeing in the film and here’s a breakdown of those characters:

CHAZ STANDARD, Captain; A leader and a politician. Believes that any action is better than no action. MARTIN ROBY, Executive Officer; Cautious but intelligent — a survivor. DELL BROUSSARD, Navigator, Adventurer; brash glory-hound. SANDY MELKONIS, Communications; Tech Intellectual; a romantic. CLEAVE HUNTER, Mining Engineer; High-strung; came along to make his fortune. JAY FAUST, Engine Tech; A worker. Unimaginative.

It was also noted that “The crew is unisex and all parts are interchangeable for men or women.”

Alien: The Original Screenplay will be released on April 22nd. You can check out some cover art and preview pages below.