Whatever Happened To The Man of Steel?
President Luthor had called a major news conference for the coming Friday. Coincidentally Friday was the 10 year anniversary of the disappearance of Superman. Speculation was that this timing was not coincidental. Especially as President Luthor had promised early in his first term to use all resources available to him as President to try to track down the truth as to what had become of Superman, Kal-El, Last Son of Krypton, adopted son of Earth.
Superman's disappearance a decade earlier had quickly become the greatest mystery of all time. As with the Kennedy assassination in the previous century, conspiracy theories abounded. And more than a few had made millions off what had basically become a cottage industry - books, documentaries and on and on devoted to the "true story" of what happened. Each year, on the anniversary of Superman's last known appearance, more than a few new books would come out with yet more "true" stories" But the real truth was no one knew what had become of the Man of Tomorrow.
Headlines at the time asked: "Where Is Superman?", "Man of Steel Abandons Earth Again", "Superman Dead?, "Superman Flees to Fortress with Love Child!", "Has Superman Lost His Powers?", "Scandal That Forced Superman Out of Heroics Business!" - and on and on.
All anyone could do is guess, and it was the wildest of wildest guesses. There had been no great battle or threat prior to Superman's disappearance. The last sighting had been Superman appearing before a group called "Young Heroes". An organization Superman founded for teens who had done something heroic. The last photos of him were from that event as he signed autographs on photos he took with each honoree. Nothing appeared unusual or out of normal with Superman during the event.
Superman flew away from the event - towards central Metropolis as reported by now retired Police Commissioner Maggie Sawyer who had walked Superman out of the event venue. That was the last time Superman was ever seen.
This despite the largest man-hunt (really Superman hunt) in history. All governments and the UN coordinated in the 6 month effort. Every inch of the Earth's surface was scanned and analyzed using the latest satellite photo technology that could detect something half the size of one of Superman's boots. The one thing the satellites could not detect was Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Only the JL knew its location and Batman and Wonder Woman were delegated to go to the Fortress in the hopes of finding Superman. But they found nothing - Superman wasn't there. The Fortress was untouched and offered no clues as to what might have happened.
Adding to the mystery ...
