Metropolis Mailbag: Perez' Wonder Woman reference?
mirrorfalls asked:
Hey, man - I'm currently doing write-ups of George Perez's Wonder Woman run, and I'd like your help with a small continuity reference... was there some storyline in '89 where Superman went missing for, like, a really long time, and every other superhero on the Earth was questioned for it? Perez mentions such an event in WW Annual #2, and it seems too specific to be something he just made up.
Yeah! That sounds like a pretty clear reference to the Exile in Space storyline, which started in Adventures #450 and lasted until Action Comics #643, between January-July 1989. Basically, Superman felt guilty about killing Zod and his buds in Superman #22, developed a split personality for a while, and decided he was too dangerous to be around people (but aliens were okay?). It was in space that Superman found the Eradicator, which led to a whole other mess.
I had no idea other superheroes were questioned about Superman’s whereabouts (they could have just asked Prof. Hamilton). It makes sense that George Perez would include a scene like that, though, since he joined the Superman titles during the Exile (in the awesome Action Annual #2) and stayed until the end of the first Eradicator storyline. If you happen to have a scan of that scene, that would be pretty cool. Feel free to leave a link to your WW annotations!