Xenobrood is a fictional

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

team in the

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 ...

universe. They first appeared in ''Xenobrood'' #0 (October

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

). The series was created by Doug Moench and Tomm Coker.

Publication history

''Xenobrood'' #0 was launched as part of DC Comics' '' Zero Hour'' event. This was the only mini series marketed from that event as all the other series were regular series.

Fictional history

The Xenobrood are four superbeings processed from thousand year old alien crystals discovered by

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Zecharia Leight on a dig in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

near the

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

border. Leight discovers several

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...

ian

cuneiform Cuneiform is a Logogram, logo-Syllabary, syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform script ...

tablets and a chrome cylinder in archaeological strata dated to the 4th millennium BCE. He takes the Sumerian cylinder to both

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and S.T.A.R. Labs, neither organization was able to analyze it. He ends up taking the cylinder to Creighton Engineering, and their " Laser Enhanced Spectrographic Analysis" process was able to uncover the fact that the cylinder surface was etched with a

holographic Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interfe ...

record that displays Sumerian glyphs. Leight later discovers that the cylinder contained four

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

sized

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

s, the crystals rapidly develop into "four lumps of super-dense protoplasm" when submerged in seawater and exposed to sunlight. With the help of Lorna Copely owner and founder of Genetrix Inc. Zecharia is able to grow all four forms to maturity. The four awaken fully clothed, mentally mature and self-aware thanks to a psionic link and "download" from Leight's mind. The four declare the "cerebral data transfer" from Leight's mind to be complete, but a lot of data was already pre-programmed into their

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

. The members of the Xenobrood were supposedly created as "organic robots", drone servants used as miners by an alien race named the Vimanians who had made contact with the ancient Sumerians. With

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 ...

's help, the Xenobrood, Leight and Copely explore an ancient, abandoned alien laboratory base, and defeat a three-eyed, white-haired Vimanian named Lord Vimana, and the members of his "Vimanian Bestiary". Lord Vimana is the last true survivor of the Vimanian overlords who created the Xenobrood, he is served by an army of human clones. The members of his Bestiary are four organic crystal drones named Kohli (

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

), Gargol (

Gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed Grotesque (architecture), grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from ...

), Tauran (

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

), and Mahduse ( Medusa).

Origin of the Metagene

According to the cuneiform tablets translated by Doctor Leight and his associates, the Vimanians supposedly interfered with

human evolution ''Homo sapiens'' is a distinct species of the hominid family of primates, which also includes all the great apes. Over their evolutionary history, humans gradually developed traits such as Human skeletal changes due to bipedalism, bipedalism, de ...

. By having their early worker drones mate with ''

Australopithecus afarensis ''Australopithecus afarensis'' is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived from about 3.9–2.9 million years ago (mya) in the Pliocene of East Africa. The first fossils were discovered in the 1930s, but major fossil finds would not ta ...

'', and later ''

Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...

'', the Vimanians intended to jumpstart the human evolutionary process, thereby creating an entire race of super powered slaves. Much later the

White Martians The White Martians are one of four fictional extraterrestrial races native to Mars in the DC Comics' shared universe. White Martians, also known as Pale Martians, appear in the DC Comics, comics of the DC Universe, chiefly ''Justice League, JLA'' ...

would experiment on ''

Homo sapiens Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

'' who had possibly inherited the metagene left by the Vimanans.

Powers and abilities

* According to Superman and Doctor Light, the extra chromosome possessed by members of the Xenobrood is the source of their superhuman abilities. * The four drones have bodies that are both crystalline and organic, or as they are later referred to as "organic crystal".''Xenobrood'' #5 (March 1995) * All four members of the Xenobrood have Rh negative blood that is still somehow compatible with humans. * The drones were created for manual labor, specifically the mining of

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

and

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

ores. This is supposedly reflected in the abilities they each exhibit.''Xenobrood'' #3 (January 1995)

Members

* Astra - female in blue costume who can possess people. Used to search for pockets of ore. * Blip - green costumed female who can teleport anyone and anything anywhere. Used to transport ore and rubble. * Thrasher - hulking brute in brown costume with super strength. Used to pulverize stone. * Zapatak - purple costumed team leader, fires energy bolts. Used to melt ore.

References

{{Reflist

External links

DCU Guide Xenobrood entry

Comicvine: Xenobrood
1994 comics debuts DC Comics titles DC Comics superhero teams DC Comics aliens DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes