Invasion! (DC Comics)



Invasion! was a three-part Crisis Crossover miniseries published by DC Comics in 1988. (It should not be confused with the TV series of the same name, or any other invasion-themed series.)

An alien race called The Dominators discovers that Earth's superhumans get their powers from a 'meta-gene' and decide to capture them all to be used as living weapons with which to conquer the universe. Realizing that they cannot beat the heroes by themselves, they convince several other races from around The DC Universe to aid them under the pretense that the "metahumans" were too dangerous to be allowed to exist (and taking advantage of the fact that the Green Lantern Corps had, at the time, been reduced to only a handful.)

The combined might of the alien armada seemed invincible but thanks to a Heel Face Turn by one of its own member races, it was routed. But a second threat happened when a Dominator scientist detonated a "meta-gene bomb" whose radiation rendered most of Earth's metahumans helpless. Another switching of sides -by, ironically, that same scientist- helped save them.

The series L.E.G.I.O.N. (about a mercenary group that protected the galaxy in the Corps' absence) was spun off from the crossover. It also launched the series of Justice League Europe and the Daxamite superhero Valor (also known as Mon-El). (A team called The Blasters was introduced by the crossover and given a one-shot special, but never had its own series.)

Tropes:

 * Aliens in Cardiff: The alien armada begins its attack by... taking over Australia.
 * Probably so they could show massive destruction without actually damaging any famous landmark.
 * That seems a little prejudiced; Australia does have famous landmarks, you know.
 * Captain Ersatz: The Khunds are pretty much Klingons.
 * The Durlans are Skrulls.
 * Easily-Thwarted Alien Invasion: Earlier attempts by various races. This one came closer to succeeding however.
 * Fantastic Racism: Part of the reason for the alliance was... that aliens don't like how we look.
 * The Daxamites and Thanagarians resembled Earth's humans, but they had no genetic variance eg. they all look alike.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: One of the Daxamite observers for the alien Alliance, who died of lead poisoning so he could reach a transmitter to tell his homeworld to throw in on Earth's side. (At the time, the Daxamite was the father of Lar Gand, a.k.a. Mon-El; this has probably been retconned.)
 * Irony: Several things.
 * The invaders had no idea that the superhumans were going to be used against them once captured.
 * The Daxamites helping route the invasion.
 * A Dominator helping save Earth's heroes (after almost killing them.)
 * Meta Origin: The meta-gene, present in some but not all humans. It grants superpowers when exposed to dangerous forces. Note that not all superheroes got their powers from it, just the majority.
 * The "Blasters" team were the survivors of a group of 100 random humans kidnapped to demonstrate the theory. The Dominator running the experiment expected that if they were all attacked by a firing-squad barrage, one of them would spontaneously develop powers that would allow him to survive. Instead, seven people did, including (unknown to them) former Justice League sidekick Snapper Carr.
 * The Daxamite gain powers on Earth similar to Superman's, apparently being distant cousins of Kryptonians. However they were also vulnerable to lead-based pollution, and only survived because Earth's heroes saved them.
 * Some people actually gained powers (or had them altered) as a result of the meta-bomb, most notably Justice League manager Maxwell Lord. Several of the new members of Doom Patrol introduced during the Grant Morrison run were also said to have got their powers from the meta-bomb.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: The Dominators. Not that most of their allies realized it.
 * Parody: At the time, Marvel's X Men were situated in Australia. So they had an issue where they stopped a thinly-disguised version of DC's invasion.
 * Rubber Forehead Aliens: Most of the alien races.
 * The Daxamites and Thanagarians are Human Aliens instead.
 * Space Police: The Green Lantern Corps, the L.E.G.I.O.N.
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Lead, for the Daxamites.
 * You Have Failed Me: The Dominator Leaders had not told their scientist what the real purpose of their mission was. So they rewarded his invention with torture, which led to his Heel Face Turn.
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle: The invading alliance seems to be defeated by the second issue... oh, wait, gene bomb.