Superman Family #194 is an issue of the series Superman Family (Volume 1) with a cover date of April, 1979.
Synopsis for Superboy: "When the Sorcerer Strikes!"
Superboy helps Prof. Lewis Lang bring the cocoon of an "Undying One" back from China, and finds himself in conflict with his childhood friend Gary the Witch-Boy -- now Garok, a sorcerer.
Appearing in Superboy: "When the Sorcerer Strikes!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Lana Lang
- Professor Lang
- Pete Ross
- Ma Kent
- Pa Kent
- Chief Parker (Mentioned only)
Antagonists:
- A griffin
- An Undying One
Other Characters:
- Gary, the Witch-Boy (First appearance as Garok) (Final appearance)
- Aged Master
- Steve Pelner (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Synopsis for Nightwing and Flamebird: "Showdown"
Nightwing and Flamebird discover that the Crime-Lord of Kandor is secretly Jur-Ll, a criminal version of Jor-El from the Krypton of another universe, and that he intends to use the Sun-Stone to enlarge himself and to destroy Kandor.
Appearing in Nightwing and Flamebird: "Showdown"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Crime-Lord (Revealed as Jur-Ll) (Dies)
Other Characters:
Locations:
Synopsis for Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane: "Armageddon Arrives Today!"
Superman, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, the Newsboy Legion, Speedy, Tina Ames, the Golden Guardian, Dubbilex, and the DNA Project scientists join forces against Adam, cloned from the cells of the Guardian and Dubbilex, and his clone armies.
Appearing in Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane: "Armageddon Arrives Today!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Adam
- Clones
- Justice League Miniature Clones
- Green Lantern Clone
- Black Canary Clone
- Flash Clone
- Wonder Woman Clone
- Superman Clone
- Hawkman Clone
- Green Arrow Clone
- Justice League Miniature Clones
- The Master
Other Characters:
Locations:
Synopsis for Supergirl: "Nightmare in New Athens"
Supergirl is arriving at New Athens Experimental School and finds a group of students dressed as prison inmates and guardians fighting each other. Supergirl separates both groups and demands an explanation. A student explains they're taking part in Professor Martin's sociology experiment where the campus is turned into a mock prison with all students labeled either "prisoner" or "guard". Martin turns up all of sudden, complaining angrily about Supergirl disrupting her experiment. Supergirl points out those students might have seriously injured each other but she is ignored, so she leaves. Martin notes she is angry with him and feels pleased.
Meanwhile on Midvale, Snapper Carr has managed to rebuild a Superboy Robot, making it pollution-resistant. As Snapper falls asleep, the robot is possessed by a bodiless entity who is plotting revenge against Supergirl and has been previously sending mind-controlled pawns after her.
Back on New Athens, the conflicts caused by Martin's experiment are escalating, so Supergirl decides to put a stop to it. Supergirl goes to confront Martin and she is punched out of his class. It turns out Martin developed some years ago an energy harness to syphon off hatred and turn it into physical power. Then he came up with the idea of getting Supergirl to hate him in order to become as powerful as her.
Supergirl can't apparently overpower him due because of her own contempt fueling his strength, but all of sudden she stands still and smiling, and Martin loses his powers. Supergirl knocks him out easily and destroys his harness. She lands on the campus to check that the students are back to normal, and before putting Martin away she reveals she hypnotized herself into believing she was playing meteor-catch with her cousin. With no hatred to feed on, Martin was rendered powerless.
That night, in S.T.A.R. Labs, the possessed Superboy Robot breaks out of the laboratory.
Appearing in Supergirl: "Nightmare in New Athens"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Professor Martin
- Lesla-Lar (As a spirit)
- The Visitors
- Elastic Crook (Flashback only)
- Electric Man (Flashback only)
- Invisible Rogue (Flashback only)
- Klax-Ar (Flashback only)
- Gravitron Man (Flashback only)
- Gravity Lord (Flashback only)
- The Visitors
Other Characters:
- Bert Fisher
- Juliet
- Mark
- Rick Hodgins
- Dean Elizabeth Lyman (Mentioned only)
- JLA (Mentioned only)
- Superman (Flashback only)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- Wraparound cover.
- "Showdown" is reprinted in:
- Jur-Ll's home universe is not identified in this story, but it is revealed to be Earth-Three in Absolute Crisis on Infinite Earths (2006).
- "Armageddon Arrives Today!": The shadowed figure who arrives at Project Cadmus in the last panel is The Master (as revealed in Superboy (Volume 2) #49).
Trivia
- "Nightmare in New Athens" is a commentary on the Stanford prison experiment, conducted seven years before the publication of this issue.
See Also
Recommended Reading
Links and References
The events from this issue or series involve a Multiversal Crossover between Pre-Crisis worlds and characters. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Pre-Crisis Multiverse Crossover category.
See also Post-Crisis Multiverse Crossovers.