Hey man, awesome work, both in concept and production.
Your first try was alright, but the second rendition really blows the first away.
I only have 2 suggestions, you might want to fiddle with the lighting on the "smoke" it looks kind of weird.
The second thing is the dithering on the sky, the way you have colored it gives it tons of motion and texture, but in your reference the sky is just a series of easy gradients.
I did a brief edit to show some easier gradients, I don't think their perfect, by any means, but they illustrate my point.
