1:2 The Iran-Contra hearings indicted Col. Oliver North (among others) for secretly selling weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of hostages in Lebanon. This was against U.S. policy, and so was the use of profits to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Supposedly the operation took place wiithout the knowledge of President Reagan and the Chiefs of Staff.

1:4 George Bush was indeed elected President of the US in the 1988 elections.

2:1 Swampy is seeking vengeance on Luthor because he provided the technology to Wicker's DDI team which ejected him from the planet in an attenpt to kill him in issue SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING #53.

2:2 See the logo in the lower right? It's an Apple!

3:4 In the background is an image of Alec Holland's fiery death. The image is taken from issue ???

3:5 In the background is an image of DDI agent Wicker. The image is taken from issue ???. The names "Wicker", "Foley", "Skinner", and "Cutley" can also be seen. Swampy got his revenge on these DDI agents in issue 63. They are seen in hell in issue 66 and briefly in 75.

3:6 In the background is an image of Luthor. The image is taken from issue ???.
The dissolution of the DDI will have implications for their comatose employee Matt Cable in issue #84.

5:4 Chester uses recreational drugs.

5:6 Where has Lois seen Liz before? A photo in one of Liz's books?

6:3 Dr. Huntoon was last seen in ST ????.

7:4 Clark has gone "jumping" "over the edge" of the roof.

7:5 The quoted lines are, of course, from the intro to the 1950's Superman TV series.

7:6 Superman has come up "empty handed."

10:3 Is Misty Brink a supporting character from Superman's series?

10:4 Morgan Edge, head of Galaxy Broadcasting in the Superman series, was the target of an intended assassin in SWAMP THING 68.

11:1 Link from 10:6 = "titillation"/"dress yourself"

11:4 Luthor lost his hand to radiation poisoning from wearing a Kryptonite ring.

12:1 Clark "removes his clothes"

14:5 Link from 14:4 = Swampy "cut to pieces"

17:5 Link from 17:4= "all is black"

22:1 Near the top left of the Daily Planet globe, the phrase "apartheid" refers to the South African policy of racial discrimination.

Near the bottom of the globe, the phrase "Star Wars" refers to the popular name of the controverisal proposal for a satellite-based U.S. defense plan of the 1980's.

Chester makes the comment about "Kryptonese Red", at the left, about halfway down this page. He is imagining a cosmic marijuana. The real-life drug has street names like Canadian Black, Jamaican Red, and Mexican Brown. Chester's comment is also an inside joke, referring to Red Kryptonite. Long-time Superman fans have fond memories of zany stories involving a variety of Kryptonites. Each color of Kryptonite could cause Superman to undergo strange mutations (such as giving him the head of a gorilla.) Some feel it is unfortunate that the Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated such "nonsensical" stories.

On the right side, about half way down the page, the comment about merchandising of "Superman" extending to vitamins and underwear could not be more true in the real world.

Near the lower right is a comment parodying the late 1980's television program "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous".

22:4 Lois actually hinted at this in 8:6.

COMMENT: Note that, aside from the principal characters, the "common people" we see in this story never mention the name "Superman." This emphasizes how they regard him as a god-like being, in the same way that the JLA members in issue #24 were never called by name.

COMMENT: The title of this issue is a reference to the classic play "Waiting for Godot". The musical group "The Flaming Lips" put out a song in 1999 called "Waiting for a Superman." I don't know of any direct connection between this story and that song.

COMMENT: Luthor's team had a confrontation with another plant-based DC character, BLACK ORCHID, in the mini-series of the same name by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (1988).

COMMENT: Swamp Thing first met Superman in DC PRESENTS #8 (cover at left) and again in DC PRESENTS #85 (written by Alan Moore) just three years prior to this issue, but since the continuity revisions of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, how/if that story happened in the current DC Comics universe is uncertain. ST does remember that earlier meeting in SWAMP THING ANNUAL #4.

COMMENT: In late 2006, DC Comics collected issues 77-81 and ANNUAL #3 in the trade book "Swamp Thing: Infernal Triangles". SWAMP THING ANNUAL #4 has not been reprinted yet.