''Batman/Aliens'' is a crossover between the Batman and Aliens

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

franchises. It was published in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. A

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

was released in 2003.

''Batman/Aliens''

Batman parachutes into the jungle near the Guatemala and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

borderline, investigating the disappearance of a

Wayne Enterprises Wayne Enterprises, Inc., also known as WayneCorp and Wayne Industries, is a wealthy fictional company appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Wayne Enterprises is a large, gr ...

geologist. He encounters an American Special Ops team hunting a target, and both are set upon by the Aliens. Several members of the team are killed, but along the way Batman becomes familiar with the Aliens' life cycle, and collects two facehuggers in specimen jars. The team leader sacrifices himself to blow up a nest of the Aliens, leaving only Batman and two members of the team alive, making their way to the team's evacuation point. One of the survivors, an intensely ambitious woman named Hyatt, leaves her teammate to be killed by one of the last Aliens and ambushes Batman, holding him at gunpoint while she relieves him of the lost geologist's voice recorder and one of the specimen jars. She says that the Aliens are an incredibly potent weapon if properly used, and bringing the information about them back to the U.S. government will make her career. She is so fixated on Batman that she fails to notice a gargantuan Alien hybrid - the result of an Alien embryo being implanted into a crocodile - rise behind her. The hybrid kills Hyatt, but Batman kills the creature by tying its legs and tipping it into the mouth of an active

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

. Alone, he escapes from the jungle. In the

Batcave The Batcave is a subterranean location appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the headquarters of the superhero Batman, whose secret identity is Bruce Wayne and his partners, consisting of caves beneath his personal r ...

, Bruce Wayne listens to the geologist's last message to his family, cut off as the man is attacked by an Alien. Bruce decides to drop the specimen jars containing the facehuggers into the cave's depths and tell no one about them. The Aliens are much too dangerous, he believes, "not because of what they are, but because of what ''we'' are". This story was spun off of a two-part short story featured in ''

Dark Horse Presents ''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by American company Dark Horse Comics from 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was published on MySpace, r ...

'' #101-102 entitled ''Aliens: Incubation''. The events that Batman discovers on the geologist's recordings are fully depicted in this short story.

''Batman/Aliens II''

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

, an explorer discovered something frozen in the ice in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

, and he brought it home to

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

. In the present day, a construction crew breaks open the basement of a derelict building, and find the explorer's remains, realizing that he sealed himself inside his lab with what killed him - the Alien that attacks the construction workers then escapes into the city. After a desperate struggle throughout Gotham, Batman is able to kill the alien, find its nest, and arrange for three victims to have the embryos extracted before they can hatch. He insists that the dead Alien and embryos be destroyed, but instead they are confiscated by Dr. Fortune, an army scientist, ignoring Batman's warnings. When the Aliens attack Arkham Asylum, Batman is able to fight them off using Mister Freeze's gun and a suit of powered armor, but he is subsequently captured by Fortune. Awakening on Fortune's base on a disused oil rig, Batman finds himself confronted by Alien/human hybrids created from DNA samples extracted from the Arkham inmates ( Joker,

Two-Face Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bob Kane and first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). As one of Batman's ...

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...

, Mr. Freeze, and Poison Ivy). Fortune has already tested their abilities against special forces operatives from all major nations. Despite the odds against him, Batman is able to defeat the hybrids by using his knowledge of the original Aliens' abilities and the emotional foibles of their human donors, allowing him to trap them all in an area of the rig after he triggers an explosion. Confronting Fortune, Batman learns that she plans to use the Alien/supervillain hybrids to keep the superheroes in check, as various governments fear what will happen if the superheroes ever go rogue. Fortune also reveals that she was a member of the original explorer's expedition in 1927, and has been "host" to an Alien queen embryo since then. A form of dry leprosy she contracted before being implanted prevented the queen from hatching, while allowing her to use some of its abilities and extending her lifespan. She believes that she can successfully "harness" the Arkham inmates' extraordinary abilities for her hybrids without their insanity, and that the hybrids' Alien natures make them naturally loyal to her as the "queen." However, when she reveals her latest hybrid, created with DNA from Killer Croc, Batman warns her that Croc is already too animalistic and vicious to feel any loyalty towards her. She defies his warning by standing before the hybrid and trying to issue a command to it. It responds by tearing her head off. Batman escapes the rig after triggering an explosion that destroys the platform and all the remaining hybrids. He reflects that he will have to watch his step, as Fortune was being backed by some very powerful, influential people, though Batman has no idea who they might be.

Collected editions

The stories have been collected into

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

: * ''Batman/Aliens'' (by

Ron Marz Ron Marz (born November 17, 1965) is an American comic book writer, known for his work on titles such as ''Batman/Aliens'', '' DC vs. Marvel'', '' Green Lantern'', '' Silver Surfer'', and '' Witchblade''. Career Marz is known for his work on '' ...

and

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...

, 128 pages, 1998, Titan Books, , Dark Horse, ) * ''Batman/Aliens II'' (by

Ian Edginton Ian Edginton is a British comic book writer, known for his work on such titles as ''X-Force'', '' Scarlet Traces'', '' H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds'' and ''Leviathan''. Career Ian Edginton is known for his steampunk/ alternate history wor ...

and Staz Johnson, 160 pages, 2003, Titan Books, , DC, ) * ''DC Comics/Dark Horse: Aliens'' (by

, James Hodgkins, Staz Johnson, Kevin Nowlan,

Chris Sprouse Chris Sprouse (born July 30, 1966) is an Americans, American comics artist. Sprouse has worked for multiple publishers and has won two Eisner Awards for his work on ''Tom Strong'', a series he created with writer Alan Moore. Early life Chris Spro ...

, 400 Pages, 2016, DC Comics/Dark Horse, )

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Batman Aliens Alien (franchise) comics 1998 comics debuts 2003 comics debuts Crossover comics Dark Horse Comics limited series Batman storylines Intercompany crossovers Comics about cloning Biological weapons in popular culture

''Batman/Aliens''

''Batman/Aliens II''

Collected editions

See also

References