Superman/Aliens [Paperback]

Dan Jurgens (Author), Kevin Nowlan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 23, 1996

He came to earth in a rocket, a strange visitor from another planet. Now, years later, signals from space could be the beginning of a trail to his home planet Krypton. Can anything stop a man of steel from discovering his long-lost heritage? How about the most feared and deadly species in the galaxy?

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (July 23, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569711674
• ISBN-13: 978-1569711675
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Dark Horse/DC Crossovers, January 17, 2004

By 

Michael Pappalardo (Ronkonkoma, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Superman/Aliens (Paperback)

Superman/Aliens is definitely one of the finest examples of the Dark Horse/DC versus crossovers. Combined with great story telling, great artwork, and many twists, this is one of the finer examples of crossover writing.

When a chunk of what appears to be Krypton is discovered drifting deep in outer space, Superman takes it upon himself to investigate, through means of Lex Luthor's space program, no less. What he finds there is a horror beyond all imagination...what remaining people there were are long dead...victims of monstrosities beyond the likes of which Superman has ever seen. With only one survivor there, his means of escape destroyed and his powers diminishing from being away from the yellow sun of Earth, hope fades fast for Superman and the lone survivor 'Kara'. When a shocking turn of events overtakes them both, what will happen to the man of steel in the end?

This book has many great twists in the story, and the horror of the Aliens is very real...despite all his powers, Superman is quickly becoming weak, and the Aliens are quickly becoming a match even for Superman. There is a sense of urgency and dread throughout the entire book, and the great writing will keep you glued to the pages all the way through the end. This is the best DH/DC crossover to feature Superman yet, and I highly recommend it to any fan of Superman, Aliens and DH/DC crossovers. You will not regret it!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Would the Alien have "superpowers"?, March 15, 2002

By 

TastyBabySyndrome "Matthew Lewis, author of M... ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superman/Aliens (Paperback)

At first, I wasn't really certain if an "Alien vs. Superman" title would work. I pictured the "man of steel" bumbling into the standard hive situation only to tear through those poor xenon as they tried to protect their own. That seems to be the favorite in crossovers such as this, with the superheroes simply going in a "romp" those poor unfortunates without superpowers. ( Personally, if I wanted to throw my money away, I'd do something constructive like burn it.) In this case, however, the situation was hardly in Superman's favor.
From the beginning, the creators found a way to level the playing field a bit, putting Superman on an all "too human" playing field for him to simply overwhelm. In fact, he seemed to be having problems just matching up with our beloved Aliens. The situation, as it was laid out, worked for me, too, and wasn't really too far of a stretch, either. I would go into more detail, but that's what the book is for. From there, it just got worse and worse for everyone's favorite kick-around boy, leading to Superman actually getting a bit touchy-feely with one of those wonderful throat molesters.
I liked the title alot and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the Aliens (I would say the Aliens movies, but we all know that some were a bit lacking). Buy it for your kids and give them nightmares worth remembering!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What A Tease!, March 27, 2004

By 

Edmund Lau Kok Ming (Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superman/Aliens (Paperback)

I usually avoid crossover books between companies. And I've never had much interest in "Aliens" or "Predators"... or movie tie-in comic creations for that matter. "Superman/Aliens", however, is a whole different thing altogether.

Firstly, it is a "real" Superman story set in the continuity of time when it was published. Most crossovers are too light-weight because you know that ultimately it's all "just an imaginary story" and you can always go back to your beloved character next month and nothing's changed. Not so with this book. This story matters on many levels. There were many references made to previous Superman storylines like the "Exile" story where Superman regrets having to commit murder and the "Doomsday" stories. Not surprising since this book is also by Dan Jurgens, the man responsible for guiding the Superman books for close to a decade. (Note: The only other crossover that "mattered" was "Aliens/WildC.A.T.S" wherein the whole Stormwatch team was killed and that set the ground for "The Authority" series.)

Secondly, we get a great Silver-Age concept - Superman is depowered. Before reading this, I was apprehensive. I mean, what can the Aliens do to the near-invulnerable Man of Steel anyway? I thought it was going to be a one-sided fight with the odds on Superman. Turned out it was the other way round. We have a depowered Superman against a whole horde of acid-dripping, man-eating Aliens and he's not even armed like Sigouney Weaver in the movies! The result is a great Die-Hard style story.

Thirdly, we see the return of Kara. I'm a huge fan of the original Supergirl since watching the movie as a kid. And I was devastated by her death in 1985 during the "Crisis on Infinite Earths". In fact, George Perez's drawing of that infamous cover where a teary Superman carries Kara's lifeless body in his arms is one of the images that has been forever burned into my subconscious mind. Granted, there was a Supergirl in the comics - but like all purists, the Matrix/Linda/Supergirl just wasn't the real McCoy to me! Thus, in this book, we have a Kara of Argo City who may or may not be the One...

Dan Jurgens writing is solid as usual and his artwork is even more amazing here when inked by the talented Kevin Nowlan - though I must admit that it takes some getting used to. But then, Nowlan's darker inks are perfectly suitable for this story. It's a lot more violent and bloody than the typical Superman tale and we have a Supes debating within himself the dark act of unavoidable-murder as a "final solution" - thus making a far darker Superman tale than we're used to.