DC Comics/Dark Horse: Aliens

Batman/Aliens #1-3

by Ian Edginton

Thirty years ago, James Cameron's Aliens introduced the world to a new kind of terror. Now, the stories that first brought the Aliens into the DC Universe are back in a horrifying collection! Following the trail of a missing person from Gotham City, Batman travels to the Amazon jungle where he first discovers the horror of the Aliens—but how can the Dark Knight stop them? A few years later, an Alien is discovered in a Gotham City construction site, and it's going to wreak havoc on Arkham Asylum! Thinking the terrifying menace gone, Batman discovers a colony of the relentless killing machines and the unstoppable race of hunters called Predators that have been hidden away on Earth for centuries. With both unearthly menaces poised to overtake the world, only the Dark Knight and Superman can stop them! Finally, the Alien terrors are aboard the Stormwatch space station, and it's up to the WildC.A.T.s to save the survivors, but can even the WildC.A.T.s win a battle with the Aliens when Stormwatch has already fallen? Collects BATMAN/ALIENS #1-2, BATMAN/ALIENS II #1-3, SUPERMAN/BATMAN VS. ALIENS/PREDATOR #1-2, WILDC.A.T.S/ALIENS #1.

Genres: Comics, Batman, Horror, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Aliens, Science Fiction

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 3, 2016

About the author

Edginton sees part of the key to his success coming from good relationships with artists, especially D'Israeli and Steve Yeowell as well as Steve Pugh and Mike Collins. He is best known for his steampunk/alternative history work (often with the artist D'Israeli) and is the co-creator of Scarlet Traces, a sequel to their adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. With 2000 AD we has written Leviathan, Stickleback and, with art by Steve Yeowell, The Red Seas as well as one-off serials such as American Gothic (2005).

His stories often have a torturous gestation. Scarlet Traces was an idea he had when first reading The War of the Worlds, its first few instalments appeared on Cool Beans website, before being serialised in the Judge Dredd Megazine. Also The Red Seas was initially going to be drawn by Phil Winslade and be the final release by Epic but Winslade was still tied up with Goddess and when ideas for replacement artists were rejected Epic was finally wound up - the series only re-emerging when Edginton was pitching ideas to Matt Smith at the start of his 2000 AD career.

With D'Israeli he has created a number of new series including Stickleback, a tale of a strange villain in an alternative Victorian London, and Gothic, which he describes as "Mary Shelley's Doc Savage". With Simon Davis he recently worked on a survival horror series, Stone Island, and he has also produced a comic version of the computer game Hellgate: London with Steve Pugh.

He is currently working on a dinosaurs and cowboys story called Sixgun Logic. Also as part of Top Cow's Pilot Season he has written an Angelus one-shot.

http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Edgi...

Reviews

[L. McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 very different properties crossover and it works very well... mostly.

What’s it about?
This collection contains 4 stories where DC superheroes fight xenomorphs from the popular sci-fi/horror series (both movies and comics) Aliens.

What I thought of these stories:
Batman/Aliens ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fantastic story of Batman and a team of people fighting aliens. The story kicks ass, the characters are interesting, the art is good, there’s a lot of action and it has a couple surprises. Also gonna add that the scene where Bruce has the dream about his parents getting killed in the alley but it was by xenomorphs might be the coolest scene I’ve ever read in a Batman comic! I would say if nothing else, find this 2 issue mini somewhere because it’s amazing.
Batman/Aliens II ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Good story with great art, interesting characters and fantastic action. They unfortunately did some cheesy, goofy stuff with the plot towards the end and in general, the ending is rushed.
Batman and Superman vs. Alien and Predator ⭐️⭐️ The only things this one has going for it are the cool action scenes (but even then they massively tone down the gore which is weird for an AVP story) and interesting characters. The art while not necessarily bad is... strange maybe? The story is terrible and makes very little sense at times like what the fuck is the dumb little robot thing that Superman keeps talking to? Oh, and what’s with Superman casually dropping Bruce’s name in front of Lois Lane? These are just a couple of examples of plot problems. Of course Batman and Superman have the most ridiculous plan ever: they’ll send the aliens and predators to space so they don’t have to kill the creatures. It’s about as stupid as it sounds. Well, guess it was a kinda strange crossover idea to begin with so...
WildC.A.T.s/Aliens ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So if you know to expect not much more than an actiony story about WildC.A.T.s fighting xenomorphs you should be able to enjoy this one. The art is pretty cool as well and it’s surprisingly unpredictable. You probably won’t give a shit about the characters unless you’re already familiar with them (which I am but many readers, probably not) and I didn’t care for the ending.

Overall:
This is a solid collection. Four strange crossover stories and only one dud is a winner to me, especially if one of the good ones is a masterpiece (the first Batman/Aliens). Pretty much if you’re a fan of both and know what to expect than I think you’ll be pleased. This is a book of action packed crossovers of 2 very different brands that seem to be popular amongst the same sort of people nonetheless and it’s fun.

4/5

[Lost Planet Airman]

Thirty-five years or more since Aliens and Predator were in the movie theaters.

Somewhere along the line, Dark Horse Comics picked up the comic book rights to the series.
After playing with those for a while, someone must have said "what about Batman? Could Batman take on these guys?" because there seems to have been a Batman vs. Predator mini-series.

Now, Batman is off to the jungle to rescue a missing scientist, only to discover special ops forces hunting a long-wrecked spaceship with a disastrous cargo.

Somewhat later, relics of an Antarctic expeditionare found sealed in a Gotham basement - with a few surprises.

In the Andes, mysterious disappearances catch they eyes of the Daily Planet, so Superman and Batman stop in, only two find bigger surprises than either anticipated.

Finally, a WILDCATS encounter with the Xenomorphs.

[Dave Farrance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahh yes!! This has been great!!

This collection contains 3 Batman vs Aliens titles, and as an added (and unexpected on my part) bonus, a short at the end of the book.

The first tale is one I’ve read before, way back. This story see’s Batman flying into a deep jungle, where he goes to look for a scientist who has gone to do research for him. He lands in the middle of the jungle and comes across a black ops style group who are sent to investigate a crashed ship. Batman and the group reluctantly team up en route to the ship, and then discover the Alien Xenomorphs together. Events go the usual way that they go when confronted with Xenomorphs and there is much bloodshed. And facehuggers. And chestbursters. And acid.
By the end, a wounded Batman heads back to the batcave and compiles his findings for future reference.

The second tale see’s Batman encountering the Xenomorphs once again, but this time he is a little better prepared. This time round, the Aliens are in Gotham, and as Batman stalks them to try and stop them, he finds they have made their way into Arkham Asylum! We only see the usual suspects very briefly (this isn’t entirely their story) but we discover that somebody has been splicing the Xenomorphs with the DNA of the likes of Joker, Two Face, even Scarecrow! So we see mad hybrids that resemble Xenomorphs and these characters! Did not see that coming!
Of course we also have a Killer Croc Xenomorph which means things could have ended up very badly for the Dark Knight, but of course our man always pulls through. Really enjoyed this one!

Then the third tale see’s Superman join the fray. Oh, and PREDATORS. I wasn’t mad keen at first as Superman has just never really resonated with me for some reason, but I do now find myself wanting to delve into Superman a bit more.
So it turns out that way back when (1000’s of years ago), Predators came to the planet because their ship malfunctioned, and it was bitterly cold so they moved into a volcano to keep warm. Of course they brought Aliens with them for company/hunting and just got on with their merry ways. But then the Predators cause a bit of mischief for themselves with some scientist explorers and both Batman and Clarke Kent are sent separately to investigate. When things start getting a bit hairy, Kent becomes Superman and then meets up with Batman who is like “Hey guy… Predators.” and then they encounter the Xenomorphs as well and they dive deeper to find out what’s going on. They make a truce with the Predators at first, then the Predators do what they do and start to kick off. Luckily Batman has learned from previous encounters with both species and cracks out his aliens defence serums that he has created - 1 that knocks out Predators, 1 that counters the Xenomorph acid. Eventually they get the beasts back onboard the Predator craft and send it back to the Predator homeworld.
Oh, and half of this story takes place inside Supermans fortress of solitude which I found very intriguing! I thought that was just some icy place he went to have a think about things, but how wrong I was! I need to investigate that further!

A great set of tales there indeed!

[Ben Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember fondly the Batman vs Predator storyline and hoped this would feel similar.

This compilation contains: Batman/Aliens - which I thought was fantastic, Batman/Aliens II - not quite as good but very enjoyable, Superman & Batman vs Aliens &Predator - this was ok, as well as the standalone WILDC.A.T.S/Aliens - as I don't really know this series, I thought was also ok.

The first Batman/Aliens starts with Batman dropping into something akin to the Schwarzenegger Predator film and I'll let you guess what happens...

The second Batman/Aliens is enjoyable too and has a mashup of various Sci-Fi ideas, so I won't give away this either.

Superman & Batman vs A&P is very cleverly set, which leads to certain apt revelations and a nice alternative take to the Dynamic Duo...

[Druss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed bag

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

For what it is worth, I talk specifically about the individual stories in this review.

In terms of the individual stories:
Batman v. Aliens 01: I know others have beat me to saying this in their reviews, but it really did feel like a riff of the first Predator movie; only you replace the Predator with aliens and toss in Batman for good measure. There were some moments that were akin to the first alien movie, too, but it was still a fun read. Batman parachutes into the jungle to look for a lost Wayne Enterprise scientist and encounters a group of either mercenaries or special forces team looking for a space ship. Batman allows the team to join him to avoid any issues in their related searches. Of course the S.F. team is picked off one-by-one, and of course they are less-than-inept (especially when compared to the Batman!). As it turns out, the team leader has nefarious plans for the aliens and tries to off the Batman, and it is only the surprise appearance of a fourth alien that saves Batman from certain death. That shot of the alligator-bred alien was AWESOME! Probably one of the best pictures in the miniseries, and it takes up two pages (that, and the earlier two-page spread of the underground complex with the waterfalls). That beastie was enormous and powerful-looking and an ugly beauty to behold! I give the artist serious kudos for that picture; it was pretty amazing. The S.F. team dies, the aliens die. Batman blows up the alien spaceship (still not sure why, as he could have removed all traces of the alien "infestation" before taking the ship back to Wayne Enterprises for future study and possibly reverse-engineered the tech as well as learned how to improve the overall human condition, or just given it to Kal-El for safekeeping and future study himself). There is a crazy moment in the story where the Batman has a nightmare in which he dreams that his parents are killed by aliens bursting out of their chests instead of by Joe Chill (or whatever the name of the robber was who killed his parents). That was an insane take (retelling) of his parents' death and actually quite clever; I would say "well-done!" for that moment in the comic as well.

The manner in which the Batman ends up killing the last two aliens is really odd, though, and really does not make any sense. We are expected to believe that there is a tube of molten hot lava that lies just beneath the surface of a structure sitting on some kind of outcropping into an underground lake. As Batman battles the alligator-alien and keeps cutting it, the acidic blood of the alien obviously melts through the rock to reveal the lava beneath. The roof of the structure collapses into the lava, bringing the alien with it and killing it. While the Batman is hanging from the ceiling, the last surviving alien attacks him and somehow, with no initial momentum or force or energy going his way, he is able to swing around this final threat and entangle it in a "bat-line" before dropping the creature into the lava as well. I didn't really believe the ending, myself, especially what with the roof of the "structure" (like some kind of giant altar that has stairs ascending to the top of the altar and the altar itself being a flat surface like a tabletop; it resembles a South American pyramid of sorts) being so thin in relation to the lava below. The ending of the story is interesting as the Batman has somehow managed to smuggle in a dead alien face-hugger so he can study it and best determine how to kill these creatures more easily should they reappear in the future. That was a pretty cool scene, too, to be honest, and it ends with him dropping the tube the dead creature is in into what is made to look like a bottomless pit (abyss?) in his cave. It is a fun story to read (especially if you can get over or flat-out ignore how easily the Batman is able to avoid getting killed while "wrestling"/grappling with the alien symbiotes), and, while it felt like a cheap ploy and maybe even lazy writing to so blatantly steal from Predator like they did, I enjoyed reading it. The artwork alternates between good, decent, and well-done, which helps move the story along.

Batman v. Aliens 02: This was an okay story. It involves some bouncing back-and-forth through time where we discover that a group of aliens is somehow living underneath the ice in Antarctica (or in a mountain buried under the ice). It is so weird - we are never told how these creatures are able to survive. Do they absorb ambient energy from their surroundings? Do they actually eat things? The movie novelizations described them in such a way as to make them sound like they are biomechanical creatures that are created for who-knows-what-purpose, but I do not ever remember reading how they survive after bursting out of an entity's chest. Perhaps something is said about it in one of the Dark Horse limited series and I missed it. In any case, there are a slew of these creatures that seem to have survived in this tunnel complex in Antarctica (I say this because the number of people in the crew that discovered the eggs does not match the number of aliens pursuing one of the final survivors in that "historical flashback). Turns out there are two human survivors and one of them returns to Gotham City, bringing some of the alien eggs back with him for continued study, which is fine (and humorously undercuts the Batman's hopes of preventing any kind of alien infestation occurring on Earth in the first limited series). The scientist dies inside his lab and the alien horrors within never appear to escape until the "present day" when some crime boss opens up the lab facility and releases an albino alien creature from within. I cannot quite figure out if this is a true alien survivor from the lab or if it is from the government-sponsored lab headed by the second survivor from the early 1900s expedition. In any case, even though it is not a "queen," it quickly finds a new lair and impregnates some humans shortly thereafter.

Batman finds this lair, and it is actually pretty interesting how he figures it out. Sometimes when I read the Batman comics, it feels like his "detective skills" are used intermittently, but in this series it actually felt like he was presented as using his skills "more than normal." In any case, Batman and the alien "battle" before the creature escapes; after it escapes, the Batman drags four hapless humans being impregnated by facehuggers out of the lair (underground chamber just down the tunnel a bit from a subway station). The humans are taken to Gotham's E.R., the symbiotes are safely removed, government agents from some secret agency appear, and the alien attacks the hospital E.R. The alien and the babies are freed, Batman is unable to catch the alien but instead hits the adult with some kind of gas in order to track it and lets it go. Which is really goofy, 'cuz you'd think they'd go on a killing spree of some kind while making their escape. He tracks them to Arkham Asylum and discovers the babies have already reached adulthood. They begin butchering various inmates but sadly do not butcher the Joker or some of Batman's other "main rogues" that really could have died a horrible death at their alien hands, as far as I am concerned. In any case, the Batman defeats (kills) the four adults and then discovers the fifth alien, the albino, being caressed by a female government agent (from earlier in the E.R.). Batman kills this final creature, she knocks the Batman out, and we get a bit of foreshadowing as we see Killer Croc unconscious and on an operating table in Arkham's E.R.

The last issue of the series goes off the rails. We learn the woman survived being implanted with an alien queen embryo came down with "dry leprosy" that prevented the embryo from reaching the point at which it would have hatched and burst from her chest. Her body adjusted to the point that she became stronger, better, faster, and smarter than practically every other normal human on the planet. She also lived a longer period of time. Because she had become some kind of human-queen alien hybrid (a la Alien IV, I guess? which came out 5-6 years before this mini-series came out) and survived, she began experimenting on mixing human DNA with alien DNA to try to create "super-soldiers" that would obey her and could be used for missions the U.S. government wanted plausible deniability for. Maybe she would not have seemed so crazy if she had not chosen to use Arkham Asylum inmates; why would you use humans who are certifiably and incurably crazy? That seems like just begging for trouble to happen. Actually, the goal of creating these human-alien hybrids is to protect humanity from the super hero community if the entire community of super-powered beings "goes bad" and turns against the human race. So her goals are justifiable and "honorable" on some level; the means by which she goes about it are portrayed as being questionable. For example, the Batman comes across four separate teams of corpses composed of some of the best, most highly trained special forces teams in the world on an oil rig right before he is attacked by the alien hybrids. This is where we get inklings that this is not just a "U.S. government-only project" but may involve at least three other nations (world powers): the United Kingdom, France, and Russia. Batman handily dispatches this unholy team of alien symbiotes composed of the genetic make-up his most celebrated foes before facing off against their human controllers. The lab and testing grounds are on an abandoned off-shore oil rig (for whatever reason other than to propel the plot along; it would have made more sense if the lab and testing ground had been built to look like an oil rig but was actually its own unique, top-secret structure. Of course, with it being offshore from Gotham, presumably, the Batman would probably have known about it, anyway, and investigated it. Then again, it could be somewhere else in the country; if so, it would have made more sense for the facility to have been a fake oil rig instead of a real one because of the very manner in which it was destroyed). Naturally, the Batman survives and all of the other humans on the rig are killed. So much for trying to save every human life, no matter how twisted or evil!

There were some "interesting moments" for me in this second series. I do not recall any humans in any of the Dark Horse "Alien" books or limited series I read ever having the alien symbiotes removed from their chest once "impregnated," no matter "how advanced" future medicine is supposed to be. Yet, the Gotham City E.R. is able to remove the four alien "babies" from their hosts without any issues; the doctor in charge of the procedure equates it to nothing more than a routine procedure that is "no worse than regular cardiothoracic surgery, apparently." That was pretty freaking hilarious to me, that our current-day medicine and surgical procedures are able to do something that is portrayed as being well-nigh impossible to do in the future. I also thought it interesting how the alien babies were portrayed more like snakes than as creatures with legs, stunted arms, and able to run. I never had the impression from the movies that they were "snake-like creatures," myself. But this allows the babies to wrap themselves around the alien adult so they can escape with the parent. Also, we never see what happens to the four facehuggers that were removed; nor do the doctors ever say how they are able to repair the genetic damage caused by the impregnating of the human hosts. In the first Alien movie, it is said that the host body is changed on some level to better allow the alien embryo to survive. No mention of that in this comic. Are we to assume that the Batman took the remains of the alien implanters from the hospital at a later point in time? Did the government confiscate them to use for future biotechnological warfare? What happened to them? We are never told, but the government agents appear onsite too fast for the Batman to have been able to dispose of them, and it seems hard to believe that the Batman could have taken them from the government without there being some kind of repercussions. In this series, the Batman has another nightmare in which he discovers Alfred, Tim, and Richard all captured by the aliens and being impregnated by facehuggers. I don't know if it was because of the artwork, but this dream was not nearly as "good" or "effective" as the dream from the first miniseries. Finally, the doctor, despite being as smart as she was, was dumb enough to approach the "killer croc" alien hybrid after admitting that it had zero genetic materials within it to be able to imprint upon her as its "queen."

The artwork was really hit-and-miss for me. Probably the "second coolest" (albeit goofiest) moment of the series was the partial-two-page spread that showed the human-alien hybrid special forces team composed of the genetic material from the Arkham inmates. The "best artwork" I would say involved the reveal of the killer croc-alien hybrid. That was about as cool as the original alligator-alien from the first series. The rest of that "fight" went downhill pretty quickly, though. That lab shot of the other specimens/hybrids was pretty crazy-cool, too. The Batman develops a suit of armor to assist him in battling the aliens more efficiently and effectively. I don't know that it really works as well as he hoped it would, to be honest, considering how the story went down. I would say it was definitely not better than the armor he developed to fight the Predators in the first series. But at least he had some armor in this case (which, while augmenting his strength, seemed to cramp his style). I think the final issue of the story was probably the worst part of the series because of how it tried to portray the governments of the world as being "evil" for trying to come up with their own "superhero deterrent" in case the heroes of the world turned against the world and "normal" humanity had to find a way to defend itself. Despite my liking how the story "twisted" on itself, I wasn't a big fan of the ending as it felt like it became rushed, and I thought it was pretty stupid that the weapons the soldiers were using did not have any kind of effect upon the croc-alien hybrid at all. That seemed beyond stupid to me; perhaps it was more an issue of their using "energy-based weapons" instead of shooting some kind of high-powered, "armor-piercing" round? The written sound effects make it seem like the guns fire projectiles, but the artwork makes it look like energy bolts or something. Granted, an armored-piercing round would not be the best kind of ammunition to use on an oil rig at sea, but still. This series, especially the final issue, felt more like a "Dark Horse miniseries" than a DC miniseries because of how it ended.

Batman/Superman/Aliens/Predator: this was an odd story. The artwork was really interesting; I thought it was pretty good, overall (at least when it focused on Superman, the Batman, and Lois; I felt it went downhill anytime it involved the aliens and the predators). The writer creates his own narrative regarding the Predator and Aliens (a tribe of Predator colonists lands on Earth 14,000+ years ago and goes deep underground into a volcano to survive because the surface is too cold). The volcano becomes active, the two species are going to be killed. It is up to Superman and the Batman (with Lois Lane’s assisting the Batman) to save both species. Well, the Batman wants to kill the aliens, at least, but Superman demands that both be saved. The issue is that the volcano becoming active is encouraging the Predators to seek new homes on the surface, which will cause problems for humanity because of what would happen next. It’s an okay story; I’m not sure how believable it is (which is funny to say, I realize, due to the nature of the story and the characters involved. But if you consider their respective universes, I am not sure how faithful they are to those universes). Still, though, the author does create some interesting discussions between Superman and the Batman regarding these alien forms of life and if they merit saving or destruction. The oddest part is that the colony ship is repaired and sent on its way to Arcturus. Hopefully nobody lives on Arcturus! (Well, the planets orbiting Arcturus, that is, hahahah!) Otherwise, two of Earth’s greatest heroes have just condemned an alien species/society/civilization on another planet to a cruel and painful death at the hands of these two species. I think the only thing that I really liked about this story in terms of the narrative were the interactions between Clark, Bruce, and Lois. There was a lot of great byplay, jokes, and interactions between the three of them. Like Lois mocking the Batman for not being aware there is no gravity inside Superman's Fortress of Solitude, that it is a weightless environment. Or earlier, when Superman saves Lois and tells her that "Batman is here, too," (in so many words), Lois's response is "the Batman?" to which Superman replies, "I'll explain later." Batman actually claims he is making a joke at one point.
Batman also has some pretty cool armor in this miniseries, too. Can't forget that. The ending where Superman and Batman are gloating over a world-government organization about to be eating humble pie while Lois is bemoaning the story she cannot tell behind them. It had a lot more humor in it than I would have expected. So it was an odd story because of the intermixed parts that did not really seem to blend that well together overall.

WildC.A.T.S./Aliens: I have read in other reviews that this is part two of a two-issue limited series; they really should have included part one. It might have helped this issue make more sense. As it was, I was not that impressed with the story or the artwork. I really do not know what else to say about it, except that the ending was actually pretty sad for me. So, on the one hand, I guess the writer did enough of a good job that I actually found myself caring about a heroic character I knew nothing about that gave up his own life to save humanity.

For my overall review of the collection itself, see DC Comics/ Dark Horse Comics vol 1

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun compilation to read as it allowed me to read some of the crossovers between DC Comics and Dark Horse. I don't know how well it as stood up to "the test of time," but it was still fun to revisit these limited series that I had read when they first came out individually. The artwork in the two Batman crossovers is pretty good; I like the art in the first miniseries more than the second. The art is across the board for me in the Superman/Batman story (involving both Predators and Aliens); some of it I liked and some of it not so much. The Wildcats/Aliens crossover artwork was probably "the worst" of the batch for me.

Honestly, Batman probably has the "best character development" in this compilation merely because of how he takes the time to study the aliens and determine not only how dangerous they are but the best way to stop them. Also, in the Superman/Batman crossover event, the page where Superman challenges Batman about his vow to never take a life and Batman's response of "never a human life!" was pretty awesome and a nice repartee on Batman's part. I also thought Superman's shocked exclamation of how Batman does come prepared and has the tools on hand to defeat/kill the aliens to be pretty funny. I mean, you'd think that as long as the two have known each other, Superman should have been expecting Batman to be able to handle the aliens. But then again, perhaps the two did not compare enough notes for Superman to realize that Batman had also encountered the aliens and had come up with the means by which to defeat them. By the same token, I think it says something about either Superman or the writers of Superman that they never have him learn from his mistakes or his experiences, that he is never quite as Batman is for the "unexpected" to occur and how to handle it. Granted, it has been long enough that I do not remember how Superman handled his encounters with the aliens; I remember he was infected in his first series and nearly died from it; his successful last-minute attempt to find a yellow sun allowed his body to reject the alien symbiote and survive. Batman is of the mind to kill the aliens, period, no questions ask. Superman, oddly enough, believes they should be allowed to survive. Just somewhere else. It wasn't that believable, to be honest, that Superman would be willing to allow the aliens to survive. At least, I didn't think so, based on how dangerous they have proven to be even to him. But perhaps that "blindness" on his part stems from his inability to be hurt by most things like mere mortals; maybe he doesn't understand how truly dangerous and deadly some organisms can be.

Lois Lane does more than “just make an appearance” and I thought she was pretty hilarious. For a good part of the initial story, she does come across more as "the comic relief" than the hard-hitting reporter that she is supposed to, though. But then the tables do seem to turn as she seems more “confident” and “pro-active” as the story progresses. I would say that the author does manage to turn the “damsel in distress” trope on its head at times with Lois, because of how she is of great benefit to Batman and even helps rescue Batman a time or two inside the Fortress. She may have started the story as a “damsel in distress” a time or two, but then she also takes charge and is able to be a free agent who can act on her own and even save “one of the guys” in the process. That was pretty cool to see, how Batman was so out of his element inside Superman's Fortress of Solitude and how Lois Lane actually proved herself to be more capable than Batman was inside the Fortress.

It is funny, but as much as I have said about Batman and Lois, I have not said that much about Superman. He was fine in this compilation. I think his involvement in the story highlights issues writers have in terms of writing stories with him. He could easily have done away with both species yet he has to limit himself in what he does to avoid breaking his personal vow not to intentionally kill any living creature. Otherwise, the story would be over pretty quick. As it is, he seems to be reduced to "the muscle" in this story and not much else, which is a bit of a shame. However, Batman's constant egging Clark on and telling Clark that he is slowing down and missing steps is pretty funny, to be honest. I guess it shows how much Batman trusts Clark and the high expectations that Bruce has for Clark that he was giving Clark so much crap like he did about how long it was taking Superman to get certain tasks accomplished. So it was kind-of odd to see Superman acting as Batman's "fall guy" for sarcastic, humorous comments, but still funny at the same time. I do think, though, that Schultz did a great job at portraying the nature of their friendship and working relationship, though, with this kind of behavior. It showed two men who were able to trust each other fully and knew each other enough to know what could and could not be said, the kinds of comments that could be made, and how seriously each took their jobs even if they come at solving a task from different perspectives; they still have the same goal in mind. Still, though, I always enjoy seeing the two of them working together, especially when they both are able to offer solutions to a problem they are trying to solve, or work together to come to an agreeable solution.

I don't really know enough about the WildCATS to be able to make any comments about them or their character portrayals. I will say this: I did like how the author took the idea that the aliens could take on some of the characteristics of their hosts and expanded upon it. One of the aliens that is encountered was birthed from a host that was telekinetic. As a result, the alien could spit fire like its host body could. That was when the WildC.A.T.S. realized that if any other heroes /superpowered beings had been host bodies as well, any aliens that reached the earth could potentially have those abilities as well and be undefeatable. That was actually a pretty cool idea and I liked how the writer developed it a bit further than I remembered or expected.

The only kind of “character development” one could say occurred with the predators was the way in which Marc Schultz wrote them and their behavior, which really did seem “out-of-character” with how they are normally portrayed. Granted, the explanation given is that they are “out of time” and “trapped in the past” when compared to the rest of their species because they never developed along the same lines as the rest of their species did. I guess they are supposed to be “more primitive” than their modern “cousins” despite the number of similarities in their behavior.

I know I said the artwork was across the board for me; most of it was pretty good, overall. None of it was “bad enough” to distract from the story being told, which is always a good thing. I would say I disliked the artwork in the final story in the compilation the most; I just was not that impressed with it. The artwork in the first two Batman stories had some really great pictures in it, to be honest, which made up for some of the artwork in the rest of the two stories that, for some reason, did not quite measure up. I would say the first Batman story had the best overall artwork and that it stayed pretty consistent throughout most of the story. The second story, the artwork was still good, overall, but the third issue did have some great pictures in it (even as “weird” as some if it was). The third story involving Superman and Batman (and even Lois Lane) and both the predator species and aliens had decent artwork, I guess. I preferred the depictions of Clark, Bruce, and Lois the most. I felt those were the most realistic depictions in the story. The artwork depicting the two alien species not so much.

Overall, it was a fun compilation to read. I do find myself missing “those days” when comic book companies would occasionally do crossover events. I usually enjoyed reading them and the storylines that were created. I had forgotten about the crossover involving the WildC.A.T.S. and aliens; it was not that memorable the first time I read it. I suppose, as I am thinking about it, the writer did do a good job of writing about a superhero team that was out-of-its-depth in the situation facing it and the team did the best it could with what was at hand; that was well done in retrospect. I think most of the artwork has held up over time, so that is good. I found myself laughing at myself that I did not notice the similarities between the stories in the comics and some of the movies involving both the Predator and Aliens species. That was pretty funny to me, that I noticed those similarities this time around. Some people are just later bloomers than others, I guess, and I am clearly a later-bloomer. In any case, I am glad that I found this compilation and picked it up to revisit these “old stories” from the 90s during the time when company crossovers were at their heyday.

This is my review of the compilation itself. For my reviews (thoughts) on the individual stories, see DC Comics / Dark Horse Comics vol 1

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman / Aliens I - 3 Stars
Basically Predator with Aliens and Batman included. It's the exact same plot and characters.

Batman / Aliens II - 3 Stars
Starts off really strong, adding some Lovecraftian elements. An old underground room in Gotham is unearthed and Xenomorphs escape. Really goes off the deep end in the third issue and just gets ridiculous. Staz Johnson provides the best art of his career.

Batman & Superman vs Aliens & Predators - 2 Stars
Some great art by Ariel Olivetti can't save this one. The story is so contrived, it pretty much ruins everything. Mark Schultz pretty much ignores anything previously established in the Alien or Predator movies so that he can force the story to go where he wants it to.

W.I.L.D.Cats / Aliens - 3 Stars
This clearly takes place right after the Stormwatch / Aliens crossover which isn't included. I found this frustrating. They are meant to be read together. The W.I.L.D.Cats team go the Stormwatch satellite to save Stormwatch for Pete's sake. I'm guessing this may be some weird rights issue between DC and Dark Horse.

[Matt Piechocinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun "What If," but even though he IS "the Batman," I don't believe he could take on a trio of Xenomorphs just running into them without prep time ... especially without a pulse rifle.

#nerd

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth it for the Batman/Aliens crossovers

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel combines 3 DC/Dark Horse Aliens crossovers books: Batman/Aliens, Batman/Aliens II and Batman and Superman Vs. Aliens And Predator. It also includes WildC.A.T.S/Aliens that had only been published as a comic, or as part of another TPB.
Batman/Aliens
The first story sees that brooding caped crusader in the middle of a jungle looking for a missing employee of Wayne Enterprises. Instead he finds a team of mercenaries and a hidden spaceship with something really nasty on board. At this point, the Xenomorphs are a completely unknown entity and none of the character knows what they're getting into. What follows is a pretty good Aliens story with Batman doing his best to survive. Although a little more violent that usual Batman fare, this is quite tame for an Aliens story, with the gore setting as quite low. Also, I know Batman's quite fast and pretty strong, but how he's able to grapple xenomorphs time and time again and come away pretty much unharmed get less believable every time (yes I know it's Batman vs. Aliens and believably is not the first thing to pick up on, but still). I did enjoy the story and the appearance of a crocodile-born xenomorph was pretty cool.

Batman/Aliens II
This one I have as a TPB so am struggling to know if I count this whole book as 1 book or 3. In this one Aliens have been brought to Gotham leaving Batman to grapple with the xenomorphs once again. This time he does have a special suit to help him not die immediately. This one's upped the gore factor a little, but also given more thought to providing a story. As usual with these things, there's a secret facility who wants to use the xenomorphs as weapons, this time by splicing their DNA with that of some of the choice residents of Arkham Asylum. Always a good idea that... This leads to a ridiculous, but very enjoyable confrontation between these hybrids and the caped human.

Superman and Batman Vs. Aliens and Predator
Despite the long title, this was quite an interesting story surrounding a long-isolated group of Predators and their traditional alien game. Following separate leads, Batman and reporters Louis and Clark meet up and do their best to salvage the situation despite Superman's unswerving intent to not take any life, even if it's a Xenomorph.
This story takes place after both heroes have had their individual stories chronicling their encounters with xenomorphs and Yautja so both know what they're up against. Having Louis Land there as well does add a fragility to the human representatives. Unfortunately, even though this is chock full of all of these elements, there wasn't a lot to the story itself and the Aliens, for the most part, were mostly just... there.

WildC.A.T.S/Aliens
Not knowing anything about WildC.A.T.S. I did struggle to care about the characters in this one. I felt that some introduction would have benefited here to bring the reader up to speed about any of the related stuff going on in this story. This was another base-under-siege story with Aliens verses a team of super heroes. Again, the characters have no idea what they're facing which did help bring up the tension. This time though, as I didn't know who anybody was, I didn't know if any of the character deaths, or discovered bodies had any significance beyond them being know by members of the super team. The really interesting premise of having xenomorphs being born of super heroes features the super attributes of their birth places was unfortunately woefully underused. Only one alien got to demonstrate its power and briefly at that. I felt that was a missed opportunity. Imagine a hoard of xenomorphs where each creature has a super power. Oh well.
It was okay for what it was but nothing to make me want to find out more about WildC.A.T.S.

[Rif A. Saurous · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover has a picture of Batman fighting an Alien, so I assumed it was Batman vs. Aliens, but in fact, this tome collects multiple Alien crossovers: Two different Batman vs. Alien storylines, Batman & Superman "vs." Alien & Predator, and WildC.A.T.S.

The two stars is for the actual quality. If I were considering quality relative to expectations, I'd probably give three stars or maybe even four.

Basically, you probably know already if you want to read this, and if you do, the Batman vs. Alien storylines are more or less as good as you would expect: Do you want to see Aliens break into Arkham Asylum and make Alien versions of Batman supervillains? Then you want to read this.

The Batman + Superman story is basically awful. "These creatures are violent, but they have a right to live. I'd better figure out how to get them home safe!"

The WildC.A.T.S. story is written by Warren Ellis, and it's a little better than you'd expect not knowing that, and about as good as you'd expect knowing it. It's apparently a sequel to another Alien story that's not included, but I had no trouble with that.

Anyways, if hearing I read this makes you want to read it because now you know it exists, then you want to read it. Otherwise no way.

[Sean Bai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the Batman vs. Aliens story in this collection. There are two separate stories that make up the bulk of this crossover collection.

The darkness of the aliens fits nicely with Batman's dark personality and make a good villain. The alien hybrids are also monstrous and drawn very well.

It took a long time to finish this comic book collection because the Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predators story was underwhelming, and was the weakest part of this collection.

That story was drawn in 2007, and they look like horrible CGI. Hand-drawing comics is much better than trying to make it look fancy. But even putting aside the artwork, the story was dull. Basically there have been some Predators living on Earth a long time, some aliens fight them, and the story is over. The aliens didn't look or feel too scary, and the Predators were different, which made sense if you read the story, but they also felt too weak to be a serious threat to Superman or Batman.

I wasn't sure how I would feel reading the WILDCATS vs. Aliens story but it actually turned out to be pretty good. The art was very gruesome and I liked the dark tone the story took.

[BrokenMnemonic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is a bit of a mixed bag. The two best stories in it for me were the first Batman vs Aliens story, and the WildCATS vs Aliens story - the latter of which is an AU work rather than one intended to fit in with the main Stormwatch comic I think, based on the deaths of several notable characters. The second Batman vs Aliens story was interesting, right up to the point where hybrid alien-villain creatures trained as special forces in a secret project appeared at which point it felt like the story was going from creepy to ... well, silly. The Superman and Batman vs Aliens and Predator story suffered from art I didn't particularly like, and a story that felt as if it was being drawn out for longer than really felt necessary, although it was interesting seeing Batman and Superman comparing notes based on their past encounters.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume doesn't collect a single Batman/Aliens storyline but actually covers a number of encounters between the characters. We get two separate instances of Batman encountering the Aliens in the wild and then a Batman/Superman story that involved both Aliens and Predators and finally a Wildcats/Aliens adventure because why not, right?

The first Batman/Aliens story was pretty strong and felt like a nice blending of the two universes. The second Batman story got a little hokey as it brought back the whole "aliens as weapons research" angle including some very strange hybrids for Batman to fight. The Batman/Superman Aliens vs Predators book was an interesting one with some of the strongest art in the collection. The Wildcats one felt like bonus filler material at the end.

[The Smoog · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first story felt a bit silly, Batman in the jungle, and the artwork just felt a little off. The second one had better art and started out pretty strong, but soon devolved into fanboy drivel. The third was just pointless, those weren’t Aliens and Predators in it, just creatures who happened to look vaguely similar (and not even that close if we’re honest). I didn’t have any idea who the bunch were in the last one (and they only seemed to want to exposit about already-dead characters with no "on-screen" time, but it was nice enough to look at, even if it did feel like half a story. The best of the bunch, though.

Overall, not worth the time unless you’re a completionist.

[Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note that this does not collect all of the Aliens DC crossovers. Superman's are in his own DC/Dark Horse collection, and Green Lantern's is in Justice League Vol. 2

The Batman ones are quite readable, but the AvP one with Batman and Superman is kind of pointless mainly because there's never any sense of actual threat -- Superman just goes around herding xenomorphs like he's corralling cattle. The WildCATS one doesn't really work as a standalone because it's very much tied to the continuity of the Wildstorm series at that point in time, but it's also quite a decent read.

[Phillip Pritchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a game of football

Two halves of very differing quality, the Batman v Aliens is a very interesting and gripping story with much superior art, better characters and a very Aliens feel.

The Batman & Superman side of the book, is just ok. I thought the art at some places was just ugly with weird pseudo 3D model looks to characters that looked really off and even for a book about this subject matter, a very out there story.

[David Veith · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Great fun if you love Aliens and/or Batman(and a few other DC characters). Grouping of Aliens in the DC world mixed in with some Predators as well for fun. Only thing I didn't care for was the graphics in the Superman comic. Not my taste. Otherwise good fun!

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of clever twists that you won't see coming at all, unbridled heroics, brilliant art that really captures the events right from the beginning, cunning edge of the seat adventure and unrelenting action!

[Sean Goh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good horrific action featuring the Dark Knight fighting some darker foes in various settings. He really is prepared for anything.

[Marc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman and Aliens. What else is there to say?

[David Cordero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice mix of heroes fighting the murderous aliens.

[Mehmet Mustafa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most 90’s shit ever

[BA · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as a guilty pleasure. Nostalgia from loving Aliens and gritty Batman comics as a kid. Man, was this stupid, especially when DC brought in Superman and the the wildcats.

[Tkaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cool to see batman vs xenomorphs, as was the story with superman. But I don't know who the wildcats are and didn't care about that story

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last story saved this from being a two-star rating.

[Adam Gutschenritter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to know that Batman is prepared to fight Xenomorphs, more fun to see their first encounter. This was a fun, if easy victory for DC, minus the first two comics.

[José Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read. Batman vs Aliens, with a touch of Superman and Predators. also a good story featuring the wildcats.

[JonFlash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story 1 & 2 are great. Batman v aliens.
Story 3 & 4 are terrible. Probably worth collecting now that Marvel owns alien, unlikely to be a reprint.