Action Comics Annual #2
Action Comics Annual #2 is the genesis point for one of the post-Crisis Superman era's most enduring concepts: the Eradicator, a 200,000-year-old Kryptonian artifact that would eventually grow into a sentient humanoid being and serve as one of the four 'Supermen' during the landmark 'Reign of the Supermen' arc following the Death of Superman. Beyond that single invention, the issue is the pivot chapter of the 'Superman: Exile' saga, in which Superman's refusal to kill his Warworld gladiatorial opponents—despite the pressure of Mongul and the psychological intrusion of the Cleric's mind-link—crystallizes the Post-Crisis hero's moral code at a moment when that code had driven him off-planet in guilt over executing three Kryptonian criminals. It also retcons Krypton's own history in a way that rippled forward for years: the Eradicator is revealed to have genetically tethered all Kryptonians to their homeworld, providing an in-continuity explanation for why so few could escape when the planet died.
Find on ebay
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The annual arrived on shelves on April 13, 1989, edited by Mike Carlin with Renée Witterstaetter as assistant editor, and carried a cover date of June 1989. It was assembled as a collaborative showcase: George Pérez—who would take over the monthly Action Comics title with issue #643 just months later—served as both writer and inker over Mike Mignola's pencils for the core story, while Roger Stern scripted sequences over Curt Swan's pencils and Jerry Ordway contributed both writing and art. The issue also includes a text piece by Pérez recounting how he came to join the Superman editorial group, giving readers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into DC's rotating-creative-team 'triangle era' approach to the Superman line that editor Carlin was then assembling. The creative genesis of the 'Exile' storyline itself apparently grew out of a dinner between Pérez, Ordway, Stern, Kerry Gammill, and Carlin where they mapped out what would become one of the defining multi-title Superman epics of the copper age.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of the Eradicator, introduced as an ancient Kryptonian artifact created by Superman's ancestor Kem-L to genetically bind all Kryptonians to their planet and prevent outside cultural influence.
- First appearance of the Cleric, an alien missionary who visited Krypton millennia before the planet's destruction and had unwittingly held the Eradicator for 200,000 years until encountering Superman on Warworld.
- First appearance of Draaga, Mongul's undefeated gladiatorial champion on Warworld, a character who returned in later Superman storylines.
- The issue is Part 9 of 13 of the 'Superman: Exile' arc; it continues from Adventures of Superman #454 and feeds directly into Superman (vol. 2) #32.
- The creative team includes writers/artists George Pérez, Roger Stern, and Jerry Ordway, with pencils by Mike Mignola and Curt Swan—this marks both Pérez's debut as a Superman writer and one of Mignola's earlier major DC assignments before his Hellboy work.
- Edited by Mike Carlin with Renée Witterstaetter; published with a Direct Edition and a Newsstand Edition variant; on-sale date April 13, 1989.
- The issue includes in-continuity Who's Who profile pages for Matrix (Supergirl) and Cat Grant, which were later reprinted in the Who's Who Omnibus.
- The main story has been reprinted multiple times, including in Superman: Exile (1998 trade paperback), Superman: The Secrets of the Fortress of Solitude (2012), The DC Universe by Mike Mignola (2017 and 2018 editions), Superman: The Exile and Other Stories Omnibus (2018), and Adventures of Superman: George Pérez (2020).
Key issues in Action Comics Annual
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.