Dan O'Bannon. Writer: Alien. Dan O'Bannon was inspired at an early age by EC Comics like Tales from the Crypt and old horror films that he saw in St. Louis. He even wrote a few stories for Heavy Metal magazine (which also showed up in the film).O'Bannon got his start when he and John Carpenter collaborated on the cult sci-fi film Dark Star (1974). After a failed attempt to make...