Ten Years Have Past
Adding to the mystery was ...
Superman's deadliest enemies had all been vanquished. From Parasite to Brainiac and Toyman, from Doomsday to Lobo to the Injustice League and Metallo. All were in "containment" of one form or another. None would ever again pose a threat to Kal-El.
The great battles were over by now - more than 20 years into Superman's career. At this point most of Superman's efforts were directed at quelling man-made and natural disasters. A formal attack against Superman had not been launched in years. Superman "sightings" were much less frequent than in the early and middle years - to the point that it was only 2 weeks after Superman's appearance at the Young Heroes event that it was noticed he hadn't been seen since then.
Lex Luthor and Superman had reconciled almost a decade before Superman's disappearance. The two became close in the ensuing years. Lex using his genius to create new technologies in part based on Kryptonian science - knowledge provided to him by Superman. Lex also found a new career - entering politics and quickly becoming a highly respected US Senator.
On the 20th anniversary of Superman's debut Lex gifted Superman with a kryptonite detector that had a unique quality - it could detect the deadly radiation through lead. Lex created a small nano-device which could be incorporated into Superman's suit. It triggered an alarm if it detected kryptonite within 100 meters - even if the kryptonite was behind lead. Luthor developed this as a double fail-safe to protect Superman as the Man of Steel had already, working with CADMUS, been able to incorporate lead nano-elements into his suit. Essentially creating a lead shield around his body when he wore the suit.
Of equal importance, Luthor's invention could be "amped up" with the ability to detect kryptonite at 40 kilometers. Indeed, in the weeks after the presentation of the gifts, Superman completed a slow, by his standards, "mapping" of Earth. Covering every square meter of the Earth's surface and using the enhanced K-detector to find any remaining kryptonite. The planet-wide survey yielded just 3 small pieces of kryptonite. The largest about the size of a golf ball. This confirmed the general belief that kryptonite was all but non-existent on Earth. Superman encased the 3 pieces of kryptonite in lead and hurled them into the sun where they would be vaporized. This left only one piece of green kryptonite on Earth - the piece Superman had given Batman early on after the two first met. Only Batman knew it's location and, aside from Superman, only Batman knew there was still one piece of the deadly element on the planet.
Almost immediately Clark Kent had secretly installed a version of Luthor's monitoring technology at all the potential intake routes to his and Lois's home. Water and sewers lines, chimney flue and air-conditioning ducts. Though his secret identity hadn't been compromised in 20 years, he had to remain vigilante and especially now with CJ in the picture. As it was, one of the more ingenious and deadly plots hatched against Superman was an Intergang plan to slowly poison Superman to death by placing a kryptonite filter over the water intake pipe to his home. To trigger the plan Intergang needed to solve the mystery of Superman's secret identity. They spent millions trying to do so and, fortunately, failed - with Superman eventually breaking up the plot and sending the perpetrators to jail.
Luthor's technology was quickly incorporated into the CADMUS satellites which monitored Earth's outer atmosphere for incoming meteors. Meant to destroy any incoming meteor on a collision course with Earth which was large enough to cause damage, the satellites also monitored meteors for kryptonite. Large or small, all kryptonite containing meteors were destroyed. With the lead enhancement, CADMUS was now able to guarantee that no more kryptonite fell to Earth.
Given all of this, the idea of foul-play being involved in the sudden disappearance was discussed but pretty much discounted early on. Planet Communications did an in-depth analysis using input from the scientific and law enforcement communities as well as from those who had personal relationships with Superman - including his physician Dr. Emil Hamilton. There had been a few claims made, in the months after Superman was last seen, that such and such group or individual had killed the unkillable man. But the claims were surprisingly few and those making the claims were all third-rate criminals or individuals looking for their 15 minutes of fame. They made their claims on blogs and over cells and all were immediately traced and checked out. The claims were proven false.
Very telling, according to the report, was that no Superman "souvenir" was ever delivered to any news or government agency. His boots, his cape, the wrist shields that controlled his suit's nano-technology or anything else. Always in the past when one of his enemies believed they had killed the Man of Steel, they would send physical "proof". Shortly after Nuclear Man defeated and apparently killed Superman in their battle over Metropolis, Superman's bloody cape was sent to the Daily Planet. After Kal's near-fatal subway battle with Metallo, the half-man, half cyborg had removed the boots, belt and red briefs from a prone Superman's green body. Thinking Kal was dead, Metallo announced his "victory" to the world by tying the boots, belt and briefs together and placing them atop the Daily Planet Globe. There had been several other similar instances over the years - but this time nothing like that had happened.
As the Planet analysis pointed out, it was not so much that a new formidable enemy could not have risen, but that the means to challenge Superman were not there. Besides kryptonite, only sonic weapons, quantum-disruptors and enhanced plasma guns could harm Superman. The operative word being harm, only the quantum disruptor was thought to perhaps be able to kill the Kryptonian, but that wasn't even certain. What was certain is that the nano-suit Superman started wearing a decade into his career had anti-quantum, sonic and plasma capabilities - basically it could neutralize such weapons. The Planet Communications' report concluded there was absolutely no evidence to suggest foul-play.
And so it was, with all his great enemies gone, with kryptonite no longer a factor, with Superman handing leadership of the JL over to Batman, for the first time in his career Superman had real peace of mind. More important, for the first time since debuting as Superman, Superman had time - for himself and for the ones he cared about. As Batman would later recount, though Superman never said so, these were the happiest years of his life.
Lois Lane-Kent, now CEO of Planet Communications & Entertainment, confirmed Batman's comments a few years later on the 5th anniversary of the disappearance. At the time she and James Olsen, chief of Planet Communications' domestic news division, had co-produced a commemorative documentary on the life and times of Superman - his career, what he had meant to Earth and how he had changed humanity. In an effort to bring closure to the mystery, the documentary ended with the observation that, just as Superman had suddenly appeared one day 32 years ago, he had just as suddenly disappeared one day 22 years later. A fitting "bookend" to the legend's life and times as the documentary noted.
In an interview just prior to release of the documentary, Lane-Kent confirmed that Superman's last few years had indeed been his happiest. And not just because he had more time to himself and his loved ones, but because the people of Metropolis had changed in a positive way and that change was spreading throughout the world. Crime rates were down dramatically, graduation rates were up equally as dramatically, charity and philanthropy were at an all-time high.
She went on to observe that, though educational and medical buildings, parks and scholarship funds had been named after Superman during the years since his disappearance, if he were to come back now his real satisfaction would come from, not what humans had built to honor him, but how they had changed in their interactions with one another and their aspirations for their shared future. It was, she said, a fulfillment of Jor-El's prophecy that "they can be a great people Kal-El, they only need someone to show them the way." Superman had been that someone.
Despite Planet Communications' efforts to temper interest in the mystery and get people to move past it, interest remained intense and only grew over the years. The legend of Superman lived on in the thousands of books written about him in the last decade - some fiction, some non-fiction, in websites and blogs - more were dedicated to Superman than to any other person or topic and in Superman "fan-films" numbering in the thousands.
The ultimate showcase for the legend, the famous "Superman Collection", had become by far the most visited exhibition in human history. This travelling "museum" had been assembled by Batman and others. It included several of Superman's nano-suits as well as the only remaining original debut suit - the one that featured the infamous red trunks. It included the largest extant set of rare Superman photos as well as copies of every print and video interview Superman had ever given. An exhibition favorite was the "Great Battles" section. Recounting in detail the legendary battles - using original video footage or simulations where video wasn't available. Just as popular was a virtual tour of The Fortress of Solitude.
Ironically, the Fortress itself had been sealed off by Batman and the JL. A controversial move as many felt it should be turned into a scientific research center and a monument to Superman. Some of Earth's greatest artists had proposed a 1000 meter high laser sculpture of Superman to rise above the Fortress. Easily seen from distant space, the light sculpture would continually change through a series of classic poses and image Superman in all his various suit incarnations. But Batman, considered Superman's closest "family", had final decision authority on questions regarding Superman's legacy and how to honor it. After the JL put Superman's 6 servor/androids into stasis, Batman had the Fortress sealed and determined it would remain so until a decade had passed with no sighting of the Man of Steel.
If there was any downside to all of this, it was that a cult of personality had built up around Superman in the last few years. Individuals "channeling" him, predicting his imminent return. Innocent at first, but 3 years ago 6 young people jumped to their deaths claiming Superman's spirit would save them. Last year the number was 20 and this year, so far, 54. Mostly young people - the phenomena was spreading beyond Metropolis. But even that couldn't take away from how Superman had transformed Metropolis and much of the world during his 22 year career.
And so it was that President Luthor's announcement of a press conference on the 10th anniversary of the disappearance electrified the world and resulted in massive speculation as everyone waited for what was now being called "the anniversary press conference".
White House, Rose Garden ... President Luthor steps to the podium ...
