Between Friend and Foe; Where Nightmares Begin; Whatever Happened to Sargon the Sorcerer last edited by Darkside_of_the_Sun on 09/17/19 01:29AM View full history

    3 Big First Appearances

    This issue features the first appearances of Starfire, Cyborg and Raven.

    Between Friend and Foe!

    Green Lantern relieves Superman on monitor duty. Almost immediately after Superman departs, Green Lantern receives a distress call from Archon Z'Gmora, the Green Lantern of Cygnus. After reciting his oath, while charging his power ring, Green Lantern follows Z'Gmora's distress beacon into another dimension. Z'Gmora beckons Green Lantern to come ever closer to him. Suddenly, Green Lantern hears the dying warning of the true Z'Gmora coming from another asteroid. The impostor drops the illusion of his disguise, revealing itself as N'Gon. Before Green Lantern can react he is brought down by a single optic blast. Taking Green Lantern's ring, N'Gon then assumes his appearance. With the power ring in his possession, N'Gon reflects on the circumstances that brought it to this dimension. Exposed to the radiation of a green star, N'Gon had been divided into two distinct, though identical, beings. Each hated the other. Equal in ability, N'Gon set off to amass the power to destroy his twin. To that end, N'Gon began murdering beings of power, absorbing said power, then assuming their identity to lure it's next victim to it. Rather than let it fall into N'Gon's hands, Z'Gmora destroyed his ring, thus necessitating N'Gon's need to attack a second Green Lantern. Speaking it's own dark oath, N'Gon charges the ring, in preparation of taking down it's next target, the immensely powerful Superman. Green Lantern, though, is not dead. At the last moment, Green Lantern was able to separate his astral form from his physical body. While N'Gon runs through familiarizing exercises with the power ring, Green Lantern attempts to exert his own will over the ring, to get a warning to Superman.

    The Man of Steel is just about to rescue a falling construction worker when he is forcibly drawn into N'Gon's dimension. Fooled by N'Gon's illusionary appearance as Green Lantern, Superman, though wary, is unaware of the true peril he is in. Rejoining his astral self to his physical body, Green Lantern warns Superman away from his doppelganger. Green Lantern and N'Gon each try to convince Superman that he is the true Green Lantern. Superman realizes that N'Gon is the impostor, when N'gon identifies himself by giving away Green Lantern's secret identity, an act the real Green Lantern would never do in front of a stranger, alien or otherwise. The ruse exposed, N'Gon attacks Superman. Remembering the ring's weakness to the color yellow, Superman wraps his cape around his arm, with the yellow "S" shield facing out. With Superman shielded from direct attacks, N'Gon uses the ring to create a planet-sized piece of Kryptonite, which instantly fells the Man of Steel. As Superman lays dying at N'Gon's feet, Green Lantern hurls a large stone at N'Gon's head. With N'Gon's concentration broken, the Kryptonite fades away. Superman quickly presses the attack, landing savage blows on the monstrous killer. Superman lights N'Gon up with his heat vision, before landing a blow so epic it's impact can be heard across the universe. Green Lantern reclaims his ring from the unconscious N'Gon, then imprisons the alien in a ring constructed cube. As time moves much slower in N'Gon's dimension, Superman and Green Lantern are able to get back to their world in time to save the falling construction worker, moments before he impacts the ground.

    Where Nightmares Begin!

    A hostage crisis draws Robin, the Teen Wonder to S.T.A.R. Labs, in New York City. As Robin moves in, he is suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of vertigo. When he recovers, he finds himself standing outside Titan's Tower with Wonder Girl, with no recollection as to how he arrived there. Robin also has no memory of Titan's Tower, nor of the reassembly of the Teen Titans. Upon entering, they are greeted by the Changeling, who Robin mistakenly refers to as "Beast Boy". Robin's confusion grows when he is introduced to Cyborg and Starfire, strange new members who both seem to already know him. Relief washes over the Teen Wonder at the arrival of Kid Flash, another familiar face at least. Raven arrives to inform the team of an impending crisis at S.T.A.R. Labs. Scientist Silas Stone has foolishly opened a portal to another dimension, allowing a terrifying single celled creature to emerge into the world. When the Teen Titans arrive, they find the nightmarish protoplasmic cell completely covering the roof of a skyscraper. Raven releases her soul self in an attempt to ferret out the creature's weaknesses. The creature reacts to her probing by completely encompassing her soul self. With her soul self imprisoned within the creature's being, Raven collapses. Unless her soul self is returned to her body soon, she will die. The Teen Titans attack en masse. Starfire finds that the creature is able to absorb her starbolts. Inside the skyscraper, Robin is racing up the stairs when he is, once again, overwhelmed by a bout of vertigo. He awakes to find laying on the street, his life saved by a police officer who tackled him, to keep the Teen Wonder from being hit by gunfire. Robin has returned to the scene of the hostage crisis.

    Using his rocket grappler, Robin scales the S.T.A.R. Labs building, to gain entry from the rooftop. As he attains the rooftop, Robin once more falls prey to the strange bouts of vertigo. When he recovers, he is once again threatened by the protoplasmic horror. The creature is able to redirect Starfire's starbolts into Wondergirl, through the conduit of her magic lariat. As a bear, the Changeling leaps into the protoplasmic mass, only to be forcibly changed back into his human form. Cyborg blasts the creature with his white sound projectors. Though terribly injured, the creature is still able to redirect Cyborg's sonic attack, repelling Starfire, Wondergirl, and Kid Flash. The creature vanishes from the rooftop, allowing Raven's soul self to return to her mortal form. The Teen Titans track the creature back to it's origin point, S.T.A.R. Labs. When Cyborg realizes that it is his own father who has accidentally unleashed this horror onto the world, out of spite, he refuses to help fight it. The creature attacks, immediately taking out Cyborg. The Teen Titans withdraw from the lab, save for Starfire. Once all the oxygen has been pumped out of the sealed laboratory, Starfire forces the creature back through the dimensional rift, then destroys the computer controlling the portal. With the threat ended, Robin again finds himself on the roof of S.T.A.R. Labs. Following Robin's muttered instructions to pump out the air, the police were able to drive the terrorists out of the building, and resolve the hostage crisis. Robin is just about to write off his experiences with the Teen Titans as some kind of waking nightmare when he meets Stone. Baffled as to how a man he's never met before could have been part of his dream, Robin wanders down the street, more confused than ever. Unbeknownst to the Teen Wonder, he is being observed by Raven.

    Whatever Happened to Sargon the Sorcerer?

    Invisibly, Sargon The Sorcerer watches from the crowd, as a museum curator unveils Sargon's Ruby of Life, recently donated to the museum. The curator discusses Sargon's on again/off again career as both a super-hero, and a super-villain. The curator covers Sargon's conflict with the Flash, team-up with the Justice League of America against Starbreaker, followed by another conflict, this time with Wonder Woman. Sargon questions his current retirement, as several high dollar thefts have occurred that seem to be his work. Once the museum closes, Sargon moves to reclaim the Ruby of Life, only to be ambushed and punched into unconsciousness. Sargon awakens in his own home, and discovers $350,000.00 in cash, littering his bedroom floor. Sargon gets the details of this latest theft from the local news channel. A closer look at the currency, though, leads Sargon to believe that he is, in fact, not behind the robbery. Returning to the museum, Sargon again attempts to reclaim the Ruby of Life. As soon as he lays hands upon it, though, he is felled by the Matter Master. The Matter Master takes possession of the Ruby of Life, only to be confronted by a quickly revived Sargon. In truth, the Sargon felled by the Matter Master was actually an image of Sargon, pulled from the portrait of Sargon hanging in the museum. Sargon returns the painted image of Sargon back to the canvas. The Matter Master animates an empty suit of armor, but Sargon uses the Ruby of Life to shatter it. The Matter Master causes Sargon's turban to unravel and gag the mystic, so that he can speak no further enchantments. Suddenly, another Sargon appears behind the Matter Master. Before the villain can react, Sargon snaps the Matter Master's wand in twain, before delivering the knockout punch. Sargon had actually entered the painting himself, leaving his portrait doppelganger to battle against the Matter Master until such time as Sargon could turn the tables on him. Unbeknownst to the Matter Master, Sargon actually possesses a degree of magical ability beyond what he gains from the Ruby of Life. Nothing has been as it seemed for the Matter Master, as the Ruby of Life was never actually removed from it's case.

    Notes:

    • "Between Friend and Foe!" written by Marv Wolfman, plotted and penciled by Jim Starlin, inked by Steve Mitchell, colored by Jerry Serpe and lettered by Ben Oda.
    • "Where Nightmares Begin!" a "Special Teen Titans Preview" written by Marv Wolfman, penciled by George Perez, inked by Dick Giordano, colored by Adrienne Roy and lettered by Ben Oda.
    • "Whatever Happened to Sargon the Sorcerer" written by Bob Rozakis, penciled by Jose Delbo, inked by Kim DeMulder, colored by Jerry Serpe and lettered by Ben Oda.
    • Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow, the Atom and Hawkman cameo flashbacks.
    • This issue contains the Hostess Superhero Ad, Hawkman in "She's No Angel".
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