Going Freelance

When James first woke up, he realized his memories weren't congruent.

He had the memories of a 21-year-old university student. This student had been studying at the University of Southern California. He had only been at this university for about 2 years, but already he had gained the reputation of someone very talented.

According to his memories, it was 1977 and his name was the same, except for his last name, which was now James Harper.

Anyways, James Harper was deciding on which art he was going to pursue as a career. It was between directing and animation.

Both of his professors were encouraging him that he had a bright future and to decide quickly so he can develop himself even more.

James was finally going to decide on one as soon as he got back to his dorm, but as he was walking back he heard a couple fighting on the 3rd floor. James stopped to listen in, but then he felt a hard metal object hit him on the head.

He later found out that it was the art project of the man living in that dorm, and he was planning to hand it in the next morning for an important project grade...

He had been working on it all night, but apparently, the woman misunderstood him to be cheating on her and she threw it out the window in a fit of rage.

James just happened to be a bad recipient of this and it sent him to the underworld until the other James came back in time to inhabit his body.

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But, as we get back to the current James, he is putting the finishing touches on a comic book he has been writing.

It's the comic adaptation of a movie called "Alien."

James became a fan of this series as the director was someone he worked with before in his past life. This experience had piqued James' interest in the Alien franchise and he decided to read the comics, finding a new appreciation for it.

All James had to do now was copy the comics that had already been refined over the years. Although this was simple, James didn't just want to deliver this comic to some comic company, he wanted to adapt it into a movie in the next few years. James also wasn't sure if they had capable printers to handle the delicate line work and shading needed to fully demonstrate the glory of the 21st century.

What James then decided to do was find the original creator, Dan O'Bannon. James was hoping to be able to collaborate with him to find a studio, thinking that together they could convince them to help fund the film. James tried to find him on campus, but he had already graduated by 1970.

Luckily, James found a professor who knew his address, and thankfully, he wasn't far from campus. Dan had moved close to the university and would sometimes help student edit their own films.

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When James had finished volume 1 of Alien, he came to visit Dan and appear to ask him for advice.

*Knock Knock*

"Come in!"

As soon as James knocked on the door, an excited but haggard-looking Dan opened the door and dragged him inside.

"Woah!"

"Hi, there! My name is Dan, I'm a freelance director who sometimes helps poor students like yourself discover their dreams! Whatchu got there? A comic? You want some advice, no problem, I've got just got a small fee...."

"Umm, yeah, I'm not exactly a poor student, but yes, I have come looking for help--"

"SHHH! I'm focusing."

"..."

"Is this a comic? I mean, it is great, it is, but 'Alien,'? I don't know, seems a little sketchy so far, but yeah, there is some definite promise here. I mean, I've been working on my sort of Alien theme for a while now, but not as good as this. Well, I wouldn't say that, it's not too bad if I say so myself, probably gonna be the next big thing, but WOW! You are a really good drawer, you know?"

"Yeah, thank you, actually I heard you help students, and that you'd been working to get a movie about an alien theme, and thought my idea and yours were similar, so maybe we could help each other ou-"

"-Wait, one second, let me finish this first."

"..."