Superman/Aliens

Superman vs. Aliens is an American comic book limited series about a battle between the superhero Superman and the aliens created by H. R. Giger (a.k.a. the Xenomorphs), from the Alien film series. The writers use the plot device of Superman's powers temporarily diminishing- due to him being in a location with a distinct lack of yellow sunlight that his body requires to give him his powers- to make the Xenomorphs a believable threat to the Man of Steel.

Creative team on this mini-series: Story and layout art by Dan Jurgens, with finished art by Kevin Nowlan. It was published by Dark Horse Comics in unison with DC Comics from July 1995-September 1995.

Plot

Accompanying Doctor Cheryl Kimble- head of Lexcorp'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 distress call. Making contact with the pod, Superman receives a telepathic transmission of a city that 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 pits him against an Alien, but his depleted powers allow the creature to wound him before he is rescued by Kara, 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 satellie, the chestbursters hatch from the hosts that Superman sent back, leaving Doctor Kimble determined to capture and analyse them while Lois Lane is forced to face an Alien in the hanger, 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 her and Kimble are forced together to escape the last, full-grown Alien as it begins to tear the satellite apart.

As Superman and Kara attempt to escape, both of them are captured and 'impregnated' with embryos, but this gives them an advantage; since Superman's embryo is that of an Alien Queen, the Aliens won't 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 lanaguage. 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; unfortunately, 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 just 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, however, he is left mourning the loss of Kara- the closest thing to a sister he might ever know-, 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, with art by Jon Bogdanove and Kevin Nowlan. In this sequel, Darkseid acquires several Alien eggs, subsequently sending them to New Genesis within several Parademons and unleashing them on his foes, with an embryo even infesting Orion. Learning that he will die from the embryo within him, Orion accompanies Superman on a mission to Apokalips to destroy the Alien Queen, despite the lack of sunlight on Apokalips weakening Superman's powers and Orion growing ever weaker from the embryo within him. Despite the odds, they manage to destroy the Queen. Darkseid subsequently uses his Omega Beams to destroy the embryo within Orion, claiming that Orion 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 that actually 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 paratroopers in stasis, hinting at a possible sequel.

Collections

The stories have been collected into trade paperbacks:

Superman/Aliens (144 pages, August 1996, Titan Books, ISBN 1852867043, June 1996, Dark Horse Comics, ISBN 1569711674)
Superman/Aliens 2: God War (96 pages, August 2003, Titan Books, ISBN 1840237201, July 2003, Dark Horse Comics, ISBN 1569719632)