http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/superman.html

I used to have a cool superhero anthology that had a story called, I think, One of the Guys where a superhero with the origins of Superman goes into how alien he really is despite the outward human appearance. He has a strange diet, his apartment is spartan and the temperature and humidity are always really high and his choice of being a good guy comes from wanting to be social rather than a moral choice.

I've posted this before (and others probably have too):

How the movie Superman should have ended:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW8UR81Us54

Fifth out from a red giant, I think. According to the Ultimate Guide, "Earth astronomers can view the star Krypton once orbited".
The story of Krypton resonates with me in a way Superman's creators could never have intended. They were thousands of years ahead of humans, had flying ships, Phantom Zone portals, world peace and super-advanced medicine. Space was theirs to explore. But they turned away. Introverted. Lost all interest in the universe beyond. Times became chaotic. And their homeworld was destroyed, leaving very few survivors.
We must not end up like Krypton.
As I said, I can't speak for Disinformed Comics.

__________________
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song

That's from a book called "Superheroes", the story was One of the Boys by Lawrence Watt-Evans. It had a less powerful Superman stand-in called Captain Cosmos. It ends with him contemplating killing a woman who discovers his identity, and whether that would change him from Hero to "alien monster".

EDIT: Oops, Spoiler Alert, I mean.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Thank you! Just wish I knew where the book went trotting off to.

Some interesting stories in here. Some about superheroes who are trying to deal with real-life problems, and some about the people who live around them and have to deal with always being the Innocent Bystanders.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Rats, that name is taken and I can never make a superhero called that!

__________________
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song

Spell it with a K. Or how about Commodore Cosmos? Commissar Cosmos? Or just call him Cosmos. Then he can walk around saying, "This world is faced with billions and billions of problems and there are billions and billions of people that need my help. And I will help them with my super strength equal to that of billions and billions of people."

I think it's like the sixth or so use of that name. I wouldn't worry. Mainstream comics rip off minor character names from each other all the time. As long as the concept's different enough, I doubt you'll need to worry about Lawyers In Black showing up on your doorstep.

"Doctor Cosmos" sounds better anyway.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

At least then, nobody will guess the secret identity.
Villian: I've got it! Under the mask, he must be... no, wait, he's dead. Curses! Oh, well, maybe he's really Peter Parker."

__________________
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song

Alliterative names are too cliche, how about naming him "Hugo Nebula".

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Why "Hugo"?
Super strength is not a good power by itself. You need at least invunerability or healing factors to back it up.
But that post was really funny.

__________________
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song

After the award.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_award
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_award

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Great idea! That would be really funny if our hero was an SF writer or fan.

__________________
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song

"The Adventures of Hugo Nebula in SPACE!...space!...space!...space!"

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

Hey, that's pretty catchy.
I've been rethinking this, and wouldn't that imply that the character is Russian, meaning that you would need to use the "K"?

__________________
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song

It's better than nothing. Besides, with superstrength you can wear some pretty heavy body armor and still walk and fight.

__________________
"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Illuminati's Razor-The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer. - Fazor
"Every book is a children's book if the kid can read." - Mitch Hedberg
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort

I agree, but compared to all the powers a writer can dream up, it's kinda boring by itself. That's why, in my Bad Astronomy comics, I gave the hero flight, but only average human strength. Seeing in almost the entire EMR spectrum and firing stun and explosion rays compensate.

__________________
"If you think the LHC will create black holes, you might as well believe Hobbits are at the bottom of your garden."- Dr. Mike Inglis
Rovers forever! - ToSeek
"Carl Sagan sent a message to ET,
Neil Armstrong walked in the Sea of Tranquility
Steve Squyers built Spirit and Opportunity
Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song