Superman Vs. Aliens
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''Superman/Aliens'' is an
American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...
limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...
about a battle between the superhero
Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
and the Xenomorphs from the ''Alien'' film series. The writers use the
plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief ...
of Superman's powers temporarily diminishing-due to him being in a location with a lack of sunlight that his body requires to give him his powers-to make the Xenomorphs a believable threat to him. Creative team on this miniseries: story and layout art by
Dan Jurgens Dan Jurgens (; born June 27, 1959) is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC Comics, DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday (DC Comics), Doomsday, Hank H ...
, with finished art by
Kevin Nowlan Kevin Nowlan (born 1958) is an American comics artist who works as a penciler, inker, colorist, and letterer. He has been called "one of the few artists who can be called 'artists's artist'", a master of the various disciplines of comic produc ...
. It was published by
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
in unison with
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
from July to September 1995.


Plot

Accompanying Cheryl Kimble—the head of
Lexcorp Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...
's space division—on the investigation of an incoming probe as part of Lexcorp's attempts to improve its public image, Clark is shocked to discover that the pod's transmissions are a
Kryptonian Kryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race within the DC Comics universe that originated on the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman. The stories also use "Kryptonian" as an adjective to ref ...
distress call. Making contact with the pod, Superman receives a
telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
transmission from Argo City, which survived the destruction of its planet and is now running out of resources. Taking a ship to investigate the city—which is located far from any sun, causing his powers to fade the longer he remains—Superman discovers a small group of unconscious survivors and sends them back to the Lexcorp satellite in his ship. Further exploration puts him against an Alien, but his depleted powers allow the creature to wound him before he is rescued by
Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in ...
, another survivor of the city, who explains that the Aliens came from an abandoned freighter containing an Alien Queen that crashed on Argo years ago. Back on the Lexcorp satellite, the chestbursters (immature Xenomorphs) hatch from the hosts that Superman sent back, leaving Doctor Kimble determined to capture and analyse them while
Lois Lane Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning ...
is forced to face an Alien in the hangar, only just managing to force the Alien into space by opening the airlock while she hides in the ship. As Kimble witnesses two of the remaining chestbursters "hatch", Lois torches the infants with a spray can and a match, but she and Kimble are forced together to escape the last, full-grown Alien as it tears the satellite apart. As Superman and Kara attempt to escape, both of them are captured and "impregnated" with
embryo An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sp ...
s, but this gives them an advantage; since Superman's embryo is that of an Alien Queen, the Aliens will not risk harming him. As they escape, Superman learns that Kara is not from Krypton, but from Odiline, the planet where the Cleric—-the being who originally gave Superman the Eradicator-—laid the bodies of his Kryptonian followers to rest after their demise, with Odiline growing to revere Kryptonians as their spiritual protectors, adopting much of their customs and language. Reaching the freighter that brought the Aliens to Argo originally, the two discover escape pods and transporter booths, but the pods launch mechanisms are jammed; the only way to launch them is to destroy the ship. While Superman preps the coordinates, Kara sets the core to overload before returning to a transporter booth, but crucial seconds are lost when Superman uses the booth to teleport the embryo out of her, with Kara being forced out of the booth by an Alien attack moments before the ship is destroyed and the pod launched. Arriving back in Earth's solar system, Superman's powers are restored in time to stop the chestburster from emerging, allowing him to "crush" it and regurgitate out of his system before catching the falling satellite, Kimble subsequently killing the last Alien. As Superman departs, he mourns Kara, unaware that she made it to a pod before Argo's destruction and remains lost in space.


Superman/Aliens 2: God War

In 2002, a sequel was published called ''Superman/Aliens 2: God War''. It was written by
Chuck Dixon Charles Dixon (born April 14, 1954) is an American comic book writer, best known for his work on the Marvel Comics character the Punisher and on the DC Comics characters Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in the 1990s and early 2000s. Early life D ...
, with art by
Jon Bogdanove Jon Bogdanove is an American comics artist and writer. He is best known for his work on '' Power Pack'' and '' Superman: The Man of Steel'', as well as for creating the character Steel with writer Louise Simonson in 1993. Career Comics After a ...
and
Kevin Nowlan Kevin Nowlan (born 1958) is an American comics artist who works as a penciler, inker, colorist, and letterer. He has been called "one of the few artists who can be called 'artists's artist'", a master of the various disciplines of comic produc ...
.


Plot

Darkseid Darkseid () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer-artist Jack Kirby, the character first made a cameo appearance in ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' #134 (December 1970), before being fully in ...
acquires several Alien eggs and sends them to attack
New Genesis The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...
alongside his
Parademon List of alien races in DC Comics is a list of fictional extraterrestrial races that have appeared in comic book titles published by DC Comics, as well as properties from other media that are listed below, with brief descriptions and accompanying ...
s. Superman is visiting New Genesis at the time, and is able to advise his friends among the New Gods what to expect, but he is not able to stop an embryo from infesting Orion. Learning that he will die from the embryo within him, Orion accompanies Superman on a mission to
Apokolips Apokolips is a fictional planet that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The planet is ruled by Darkseid, established in Jack Kirby's Fourth World series, and is integral to many stories in the DC Universe. Apokolips is co ...
to destroy the Alien Queen, despite the lack of sunlight on Apokolips weakening him. Despite the odds, they manage to destroy the Queen. Darkseid uses his Omega Beams to destroy the embryo within Orion, claiming that he may be Darkseid's enemy, but he is also his son and it would be unfitting for him to die in such a dishonorable manner. After Superman and Orion's departure, however, Darkseid reveals to
DeSaad DeSaad (also spelled Desaad) is a supervillain, appearing in books published by DC Comics. He is one of the followers of Darkseid from the planet Apokolips in Fourth World (comics), Jack Kirby's Fourth World meta-series. As DeSaad serves as Darks ...
that Orion being infested was the central focus of his plan; with Orion having been given some evidence that Darkseid may still think of him as a son, his loyalties to New Genesis may become divided at some crucial future date. As the comic ends, Darkseid and DeSaad look in at a room filled with facehugger-infected Parademons in stasis, hinting at a possible sequel.


Collected editions

The stories have been collected into
trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...
: * ''Superman/Aliens'' (144 pages, August 1996,
Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cine ...
, , June 1996,
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
, ) * ''Superman/Aliens 2: God War'' (96 pages, August 2003,
Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of the British entertainment company Titan Entertainment, which was established as Titan Books in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cine ...
, , July 2003,
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
, )


See also

* '' Superman and Batman versus Aliens and Predator''


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Superman Aliens 1995 comics debuts 1995 comics endings 2002 comics debuts 2002 comics endings Alien (franchise) comics Comics by Dan Jurgens Crossover comics Intercompany crossovers ja:スーパーマン対エイリアン