''Superman vs. Predator'' is an

intercompany crossover In comic books, an intercompany crossover (also called cross-company or company crossover) is a comic or series of comics in which characters, that at the time of publication are the property or licensed property of one publisher, meet character ...

pitting

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

icon Superman against the

Predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

creature first seen in the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

John McTiernan John Campbell McTiernan Jr. (born January 8, 1951) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his action films, especially ''Predator'' (1987), '' Die Hard'' (1988), and ''The Hunt for Red October'' (1990). His later well-known films incl ...

film ''

'' starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Background (Superman)

The character of Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster during the time of the Great Depression. The "Boy Scout," whose real identity is Clark Kent, is an alien sent to Earth following the explosion of his home planet, Krypton. When Kent eventually becomes his Superman persona, he is known for his unrelenting quest to rid the world of evil and wrongdoers, saving anyone he can in the process. His history has immortalized him as one of the most popular comic book heroes of all time.

Background (Predator)

The character of Predator, also known as The Predator or Yautja, is a science-fiction/horror antagonist originating from the 1987 film ''Predator''. The Predator is a race of alien species who travel across the galaxy in certain times of the year to conduct hunts on fellow species they see as competition. Since his debut, Predator has become a pop culture icon, crossing over into comic books. The company of Dark Horse Comics owns the publishing rights of the character in comic book format and have released 41 unique tales thus far, not including the various number of crossovers, collected editions and reprints.

Behind the Scenes

In the time leading up to the ''Superman vs. Predator'' crossover, companies DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics had already established a healthy partnership, beginning with their first joint comic book series, 1991's ''

Batman Versus Predator ''Batman Versus Predator'' is a comic book crossover featuring a duel between Batman and members of the titular extraterrestrial race from the ''Predator'' film franchise. It was written by Dave Gibbons with art by Andy and Adam Kubert, and was ...

''. This crossover was shortly followed by DC Comics pitting Superman against Dark Horse Comics characters Aliens, the same species from the science-fiction film series. The plan from both companies was to eventually have Superman and The Predator fight each other, which came to fruition in the year 2000.

Plot

S.T.A.R. Labs Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories (S.T.A.R. Labs) is a fictional scientific research facility and organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It first appeared in ''Superman'' #246 (December 1 ...

expedition uncovers an ancient derelict spacecraft in the jungles of Central America. Superman investigates the ship and is afflicted by an alien virus causing his powers to fluctuate wildly. The group is captured by a band of mercenaries working for a clandestine scientist. He plans to use the alien technology to facilitate selective global genocide based on genetic sequencing, but he didn't count on one thing - the meanest alien hunter in the galaxy! The Predator senses Superman is a worthy opponent and begins stalking him while concurrently seeking to reclaim the stolen technology appropriated by the scientist. It's a race against time for Superman to save countless millions of lives.

Collected editions

The series has been collected as a trade paperback: *''Superman vs. Predator'' (by

David Michelinie David Michelinie (; born May 6, 1948) is an American comic book writer best known for scripting Marvel Comics' '' The Amazing Spider-Man'' and '' Iron Man'' and the DC Comics feature Superman in ''Action Comics''. Among the characters he create ...

and

Alex Maleev Alex Maleev ( Bulgarian: Алекс Малеев) is a Bulgarian comic book illustrator, best known for the Marvel Comics' series '' Daredevil'' (vol. 2) with frequent collaborator Brian Michael Bendis. Career Coming from a fine arts background, ...

, DC Comics, 3-issue mini-series, 2000, tpb, 2001, )

Other Crossovers

Since the character of The Predator clashed with Superman, the alien hunter experienced other comic book crossovers. This included fighting the JLA in ''JLA versus Predator'' and when he shared the spotlight with the Aliens against the World's Finest in '' Superman and Batman versus Aliens and Predator''.

References

External links

DC page
2000 comics debuts Comics by David Michelinie Crossover comics DC Comics limited series Dark Horse Comics limited series Intercompany crossovers Predator (franchise) comics Superman titles {{DarkHorse-Comics-stub