Hi Max, I like the first image. The second looks a little overworked. You might like to pay a bit more attention to focus as the image looks a little soft.
You don't mention much about the equipment used or the image details. Always a help when commenting on what might make it better.
I agree with Doug. First image is more natural looking compared to the second. Overdoing it distracts from the image and doesn't do the image justice. Colours look nice though.
Maybe you right about the focus, but the problem I think is the mount and the scope. The setup was a 150mm f/5 reflector over the Minitower mount (altazimutal) because of this i have a little of field rotation and the telescope have coma too.