Invasion! was a three-issue comics crossover event published in late 1988-early 1989 by DC Comics. It was plotted by Keith Giffen, and ties up a great many plotlines from various Giffen-created DC series, including Omega Men, Justice League International, and The Legion of Super-Heroes.
The series was scripted by Bill Mantlo; it was his first work for DC after a long career at Marvel Comics. Pencils were by Todd McFarlane, Bart Sears, and Giffen himself; inks were by Joe Rubinstein, P. Craig Russell, Tom Christopher, Dick Giordano and Al Gordon.
The Alien Alliance
The alien coalition consisted of the following races:
Dominators: the driving force behind the Alliance and the invasion of Earth, and consequently the Alliance's de facto leaders
Khunds: a brutish race of humanoid warriors
Thanagarians: Hawkman's people, now living under a fascist police state
Gil'Dishpan: an aquatic race of conquerors that live within hovering, armed and armored cybernetic shells
Durlans: a race of shapeshifters (see Chameleon Boy)
Warlords of Okaara: a race of warmasters from the Vega star system
Citadelians: the twisted clone-race that comprised the armies of the Vega system empire known as The Citadel
Daxamites: the seemingly mild-mannered humanoids who acquire Kryptonian-type abilities under a yellow sun but are vulnerable when exposed to lead
Psions: yet another species from the Vega system, a reptilian race of amoral scientists, the result of ancient experiments in genetic engineering by beings who would one day become the Guardians of the Universe
Assembling this Alliance was a major diplomatic victory for the Dominators, considering the animosities many of the members shared for one another (particularly the three races of the Vega system). As it worked out, the Dominators provided the overall strategy for the Invasion, with input from each member world; the Khunds acted as the shock troops for the first wave of attack that overran Australia; and then each member world was tasked with invading or subverting a particular sphere of influence.
The Warlords of Okaara launched a major attack on European Russia. They battled Firestorm and the combined Soviet metahuman forces, led by the Rocket Red Brigade.
The Durlans infiltrated Cuba, kidnapping and then replacing Fidel Castro and leading members of the Cuban government and army. They were unmasked by the Flash and Manhunter.
The Gil'Dishpan established a major underwater base of operations within the Arctic Ocean, fighting the Doom Patrol, the Sea Devils, and military forces from Atlantis.
The Khund spread out over many islands in Oceania, fighting both the United States Marine Corps and a number of heroes, including Power Girl, Firestorm, Firehawk, and the fifth Starman.
The Psions conducted secret experiments on humans in Gotham City.
The Alliance also launched a raid on Wonder Woman's home of Paradise Island.
Additionally, some members of the Alliance were tasked with specific areas of responsibility and played little part in the military operations side. The Citadelians were given charge of administering the Alliance's vast Gulag of potential opponents and experimental subjects; the Psions were charged with (or left alone to) conducting biological research on humans; and the Daxamites were largely an observer group, providing medical and scientific assistance to the Alliance.
Synopsis
The emotionless, calculating Dominators have put together an Alliance to invade Earth and eliminate the threat posed by their unpredictable "metahumans." (Secretly, the Dominators wish to harness this and breed their own army of metahumans, but this goal is kept secret from the rest of the Alliance, and from their own junior cadres.) After purging the galaxy of numerous potential threats to their plan - assassinating many former members of the disbanded Green Lantern Corps, and attacking the Omega Men - the Alliance launches a massive attack on Earth, overrunning Australia and establishing there a base from which to conquer the rest of the planet. The Alliance tenders an offer to spare the human race provided that the world's governments surrender their metahumans, but the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly rejects this offer, and Superman leads a counterattack against the main Alliance base.
The counterattack is temporarily disrupted by the Daxamite observers, who become the equal of Superman and temporarily defeat him, but fall prey to Earth's atmospheric differences from their own world. After Superman helps save them, they decide to withdraw from the Alliance and help defend Earth, and a force of thousands of Daxamites enters the Sol system and become supercharged by yellow starlight. This, combined with key defeats in various theaters, and a full-scale and uncontrollable riot aboard the Alliance Gulag, leads to a quick collapse for the Alliance and individual surrenders by each former member.
The coda to this, however, proved just as disruptive: a young Dominator, aspiring to prominence among his people, managed to isolate the human gene that made a person able to survive otherwise lethal episodes and develop superhuman powers. On his own initiative, he developed and deployed the Gene Bomb, a device that bathed the Earth in a weird energy and affected every metahuman exposed in malignant ways, causing them to lose control of their powers and eventually fall into a coma and die. Since the point of the invasion was to harness these beings, not eradicate them, the Dominator was imprisoned by his own government, but prior to execution a group of heroes unaffected by the gene bomb, led by the Martian Manhunter, managed to steal data from his mind crucial to reversing the effects of the gene bomb and restore most metahumans back to health.
Impact
Cover to Power of the Atom #7 by Roger Stern, which was an Invasion! crossoverInvasion! was DC's big crossover event for 1988. It crossed over into 30 other DC comics and also featured guest appearances from other DC Universe staples such as Adam Strange, the planet Thanagar, and one-time Justice League of America sidekick Snapper Carr and his team the Blasters.
The invasion of Earth and the Gene Bomb had some long-lasting effects on the DC Universe. In particular, the recently relaunched Doom Patrol, a combination of the '60s, '70s, and brand new members, lost two team members and fell apart. This was done to give new writer Grant Morrison a clean slate to revamp the book, which he did to a startling degree beginning with his Crawling From the Wreckage storyline starting in Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #19. Morrison used the Invasion fallout for a pair of Animal Man stories, including the acclaimed "The Death of the Red Mask". Also, the Gulag storyline introduced the character of Vril Dox II and the organization called L.E.G.I.O.N., which received its own title soon after Invasion! ended. The Gene Bomb was also responsible for giving powers of mind control to Maxwell Lord.
The greatest impact of Invasion was its introduction of the metagene as the explanation within the DC Universe as to how some people gain superhuman abilities.
The Flash's father, Rudolph West, (a Manhunter agent) appeared to die in an explosion in Cuba defending the land during Invasion #2.
Unusual for the time, the three issues were published as perfect-bound comics, each the length of two usual comics - a throwback to the "80-page giants" of the Silver Age.
Tie-In Issues
Adventures of Superman #449, 450
Animal Man #6
Captain Atom #24, 25 (Vol.2)
Checkmate! #11, 12
Detective Comics #595
The Doom Patrol #17, 18 (Vol.2)
Firestorm #80, 81 (Vol.2)
The Flash #20, 21 (Vol.2)
Justice League International #22, 23
Manhunter #8, 9
The New Guardians #6, 7
The Power of the Atom #7, 8
The Spectre #23 (Vol.2)
Starman #5, 6
Superman #26, 27
Swamp Thing #81 (Vol.2)
Wonder Woman #25, 26 (Vol.2)