Bloodlines (comics)

"Bloodlines" is a 1993 comic book story arc published by DC Comics. It was an intracompany crossover that ran through DC's superhero annuals and concluded with a two-issue Bloodbath miniseries written by Dan Raspler. The antagonists were a race of monstrous dragon-like aliens who killed humans for their spinal fluid. A small fraction of the parasite's victims survived and become super-heroes via their ordeal. This plot device introduced a wave of "New Blood" superheroes into the DC Universe. Seven DC Comics series were spun out of the event: Blood Pack, Razorsharp and the Psyba-Rats, Hitman, Anima, Loose Cannon, Argus and Gunfire.

The villains of the crossover were the formerly imprisoned survivors of a race of alien parasites named Angon, Gemir, Glonth, Lissik, Pritor, Venev, and Slodd that could shapeshift into humanoid forms. They commonly kill others by feeding on their spinal fluid, which can awaken superhuman powers in the recipient.

Each of the annuals involved in the crossover used this plot device to introduce a new super-powered character to the DC Universe. The Bloodlines crossover event spanned 23 of DC's regular titles and wrapped up in the two-part miniseries Bloodbath, in which the alien parasites sacrificed themselves to birth a gigantic alien known as the Taker. Many long-term heroes were absorbed into the monster, only to be saved by the heroes the parasites had created.

This series spun off into the Blood Pack miniseries. Gunfire also had a short-lived series. Some of the characters introduced in Bloodlines were killed in Infinite Crisis.

The only New Blood character to succeed as an independent property was Hitman, who first appeared in 1993's Demon Annual and went on to star in a solo ongoing series from 1996 to 2001 written by Garth Ennis and drawn by John McCrea.

Hitman and Hitman/JLA both acted as sequels to Bloodlines. The first had the CIA trying to duplicate the power-giving effects of the parasites. The second, set chronologically earlier, had a separate breed of Bloodlines parasites. Hitman/JLA also had a scene showing the White House taking the Bloodlines parasites as so big a threat that they were willing to launch nuclear missiles at the Justice League to prevent the parasites from reaching Earth again.

A new group of parasitic aliens from the same universe infiltrated a space shuttle returning to earth. When the JLA sent Green Lantern to investigate, his ring's readings showed that these parasites had genetic similarities with the Bloodlines parasites. These aliens, however, were much smaller and permanently attached themselves to their human hosts. They controlled their hosts' minds, could communicate telepathically, and gave each non-superpowered host a superpower. These new parasites managed to take control of, or incapacitate, the Justice League on the moon. In order to stop them from reaching Earth, Hitman had to kill or maim several of the astronaut hosts. While some members of the JLA felt that this was murder, others recognized that Hitman stopped the invasion in the only way that he could.

Another parasite, alone, is found by the Outsiders in a Gotham City club, being held captive, and admission charged for those wishing to gain superpowers. As the parasites only activate the metagene in a number of humans, most customers do not survive the ordeal. Although the ending of Batman and the Outsiders #10 had the parasite flying off into the night with Batman on its back trying to bring it down, the story was interrupted by the Batman R.I.P. event, leaving the parasite's story unresolved.